SOTL Research
Presentations and Current Projects
Teaching practice should be evidence-based - this requires a sound empirically tested conceptual model. Here are some of the contributions that I and my undergraduate Student Partners are making to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Learning from Your Mistakes: Student Partner Project
This study, begun in January 2019, is investigating the factors that motivated a much larger number of students to come for post hoc exam review in Commerce 2BC3 in Fall 2018. Typically we see about 10% of enrolled students, but this rose to 30% in Fall 2018. The findings due by May 2019 will help to inform design of post hoc exam review to increase student engagement in this important learning activity. This has been accepted for presentation at the 2019 CCSHE conference (Vancouver).
Building Classroom Community through Social Media and Other Modalities: Student Partner Project
This study, begun in 2017, examined two dimensions of Classroom Community (learning community and social community) through surveys, interviews, and focus groups. The survey findings confirmed higher perceptions of Classroom Community in a face-to-face course versus an online course, but use of a class-based Facebook group for one section of the face-to-face course did not make a difference. Interviews and fcus groups revealed that they did not have expectations of community at the class level and that they would be uncomfortable connecting with instructors using Facebook.
This research was presented at the E-learning and Ubiquitous Pedagogies conference (Toronto, 2017) and is currently being turned into a journal article.
Student Perceptions of Facebook Use in Academia: Student Partner Project
In the second year of the Classroom Community project we picked up on the theme of discomfort with academic use of Facebook by carrying out a critical review of the literature on student perceptions of Facebook use in academia using Mazman & Usluel's (2010) Educational Use of Facebook conceptual model as an integrating mechanism. Our review paper has been accepted for presentation at the 2019 STHLE conference (Winnipeg).