Financial Support and Dissemination Opportunities for SoTL: Whom Do We Reach and What Hurdles are Encountered?

Irma Meijerman, Manon Kluijtmans, Rik Vangangelt

Research output: Contribution to conferenceAbstractAcademic

Abstract

Like many institutions, Utrecht University encourages and supports academic teachers to engage in SoTL, by focussing on SoTL community building, incentives and recognition [1]. In 2019 an annual institutional SoTL conference and grant scheme were established. This study intents to gain insights in who applies for these new opportunities and which hurdles they encounter, aiming to improve support for applicants. We analysed 103 submissions by applicants, as well as approval and rejection arguments by the assessment committees. Data concerned the abstracts of four annual conferences and two years of grant applications. Submissions came from 76 different academics 32 of the 103 (31%) were rejected and 71 (69%) accepted. Most rejections were based on an insufficient scholarly approach: the research question, method and/or design were unsatisfactory, not justified, or not aligned. That scholarship proves challenging for lecturers is not surprising since it differs from their teaching expertise [2] and its research epistemology and methods are often different from research in their discipline [3]. Not all submissions were feasible or met the goals, which can be explained by ambiguous perceptions of SoTL [4]. Therefore, as part of the support efforts, the aim and scope of both the conference and grants - and what SoTL entails in general - should be clearly and repeatedly explained. Since scholarly elements form the backbone of acceptance for grants or conference presentations, defects are foundational and lead to rejection rather than revisions. However, this risks a discouraging effect: we found that many once rejected submitters, do not resubmit. Therefore, in an early stage, prior to future submissions, teachers need access to training resources and individual support for scholarly activities. This concerns research designs and its alignment with the teaching context, and use of literature [5].
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2022
EventISSOTL 2022 - Kelowna, Canada
Duration: 2 Nov 20225 Nov 2022

Conference

ConferenceISSOTL 2022
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityKelowna
Period2/11/225/11/22

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