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Teaching tips, SoTL, and Education research all work together to form an educational backdrop for teaching and learning.

Teaching tips are methods that instructors have used that have proven to be successful. Students have reported liking these methods so instructors implement them. They lack an in depth focus on how these methods actually affect student learning. These tips can be shared from one teacher to another.

SoTL is an in depth analysis of student learning. Professors gather evidence based on a question they investigate in their course. The goal is to report the data back and share it to the public to inform them of success.

Education research is a group that already exists and works to research teaching. The knowledge gathered here is to help other teachers in the same field do better.

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After reading the article, I took away that teaching tips, SoTL, and educational research all have the common goal of improving a students education. However they all have their differences when it comes to their full purpose. In SoTL the purpose is to study teaching and learning by collecting evidence and reflecting on results of different ways of teaching. Teaching tips are usually just various ideas teachers bounce off each other with hopes of engaging the students. DEBR uses already established research methods to compare how people learn throughout various different topics. These all build off of each other. Teaching tips can be used in the classroom, SoTL can then look into the logistics on why these certain tips work in that classroom, and then DBER is the study of how learning works in that entire field of study.

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The article itself seems to group these all under one umbrella, or tent, as they say. That can make it difficult to contrast the three from each other.

Teaching tips: This is kind of like a professors "ol-reliable" method. Or maybe its an activity that seems to go over well with students. They pick these up over time and tend to go back to them year after year.

SoTL: This is a much more focused, concerted effort from the professor on gathering data from their students and quantifying what is effective and what isn't in their teaching.

DBER: Is an more general effort from the learning community as a whole to figure out what is effective in learning across the board. DBER is all about large studies and general methods that have results that can be dissected and analyzed in an effort to discover what will maximize learning.

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Teaching tips: It is a method that the instructor and the students like to use to teach. This one is where the instructors try many different methods to see which ones are the best way to help teach the students.

SoTL: The effects of the teaching tips on the students and why it works. The instructor will do research to find new methos of teaching and using many research methods (polls, questions, etc.) to find which ones have the best scores.

DBER: It is like SoTL, but researchers are researching the teaching tips in many different classrooms and finding the best teaching tips for a generalized population.

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I’ve come to understand that teaching tips, SoTL, and DBER all focus on improving education, but they differ in depth and purpose. Teaching tips are usually quick, practical ideas that instructors share to make lessons more engaging or effective like trying a new activity or adjusting how something is explained. The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) goes a step further by studying teaching and learning more systematically. It involves collecting evidence, reflecting on results, and sharing findings so others can learn from them too. Discipline-Based Educational Research (DBER), pronounced “dee-burr,” is even more research-focused and theoretical. It uses established research methods to study how people learn within a specific field, like math or biology, and aims to build generalizable knowledge about learning in that discipline. So in short, teaching tips are about what works in the classroom, SoTL is about studying why it works, and DBER is about understanding how learning happens within an entire field.

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I learned that teaching tips, SoTL, and DBER all work towards improving learning within a population, but at different levels of ROI. Teaching tips are practical/informal, classroom strategies that work well in a specific setting, and are shared without formal research. An example, that helped me understand this is, a math teacher using pizza slices to help the students understand fractions better (real-life exposure). SoTL stands for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and its basically a method of studying how students learn, collecting data, and sharing the findings with other educators to help them improve their teaching styles. For example, a professor studies whether short video explanations of physics demonstrations improve homework performance, instead of just using static-notes where the students have to imagine the scenario. Then they write up their results for a teaching journal, and communicate their findings. DBER (Disciplinary-Based Educational Research) is the most formal of the three manners to approach improved learning. Researchers use theories, control groups, various data forms for a very specific learning discipline. Out of the three, I find this one the hardest to understand, but a good example of this is, a research team examines how cognitive load affects problem solving skills across different math levels. Overall the main difference between teaching tips, SoTL, and DEBER lies in their depth and purpose.

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As seen in fig 1 teaching tips and RUME are at the bottom of the triangle and SoTL is at the top of the triangle. This visualization shows us how they are all interconnected and provide resources.

Teaching tips: How I process what a teaching tip is is quite literally what the description is. As, pulled form the reading it is, "a description of a teaching method or innovation that an instructor reports having tries "successfully" and that the students "liked". So, its a very general overview of something that a teacher has implemented in the classroom that has worked and resonated with the students. The difference between this and SoTL is SoTL is much more evidence and research based where teaching tips is very general .

SoTL: How I would describe SoTL is a very indepth research process mimicing similar processes to a scientific study. THis includes starting with a question or problem, and then trying different experiments, and gathering data from this in order to form a conclusion. With being so in depth and technical this builds a basis for other people to replicate studies and build upon the literature.

DBER: This picks up where SoTL leaves off. So, as I said SoTL is the basis for research to be generalizable and build upon this is where DBER comes in. To me what DBER is is being able to take SoTL research and be able to replicate these studies and make them generalizable so they can start to be implemented.

Overall teaching tips is simple cause and effect with little scientific background, SoTL is specific and in depth research as to the why behind the cause and effect and DBER is building up what SoTL has found so it can be generalized and implemented.

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I see teaching tips as a general look from an instructor of what works in a classroom and what students like. They then pass off that information as a tip to other teachers in the field. If that instructor takes a harder look and gather evidence that is sufficient and organized enough that one could draw conclusions on the effect, and they publish their findings for peer review, they have moved closer to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning aspect of the teaching commons. Mathematics education research seems to me to be one step further. Rather than teachers engaging with scholarship in their own classrooms to test others scholarship or to share their own findings, this is a more formal approach. It is formal in the aspect that it focuses research methods like empirical studies and control groups. Mathematics education research plays an important role, and can be greatly helped by educators all over engaging with SoTL and publishing their findings, however, Mathematics education research is less likely to spread findings to teachers. I see this as a consequence of their separation from teaching. In SoTL, educators are participating in the scholarship and actively pulling in others findings to implement in their classrooms, and then they study the effect. In Mathematics education research, researchers study classrooms in a general sense to reach findings that can be analyzed and published. It is this separation in their field with the classroom that puts the burden on educators to seek out these findings and implement.

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Teaching Tips, SoTL, and DBER are all interconnected and related to one another in some way. In fact, after reading the article, I myself found it somewhat difficult to parse out some of the differences. They are enough alike that in the article, they were placed on sort of a "continuum triangle" allowing for there to be intermediate forms of Teaching Tips, SoTL, and DBER. That being said, there are differences between them, and what I think those differences are, are listed down below.

Teaching Tips: These are what I have found to be "tricks of the trade." Years of teaching and experience have led these teachers and professors to gain insight and tools that allow them to have some form of success with the students. This might be some form of analogy used for a complex chemical reaction, or giving students candy in an 8 AM class. These are methods learned from trial and error.

SoTL: A more in-depth method of Teaching Tips. Instead of just picking up some tricks and tips here and there, the professor or teacher actively begins to look at new methods of teaching, and at the same time begins to look into how the students are performing, perhaps even giving polls or asking questions about how the students are learning, or how they are doing with the new methods. This allows for quick applications of successful teaching methods and overall, a more "ramped up evolution" of a professors teaching theory.

Educational Research: DBER is just what it sounds like. This is research on more than just a classroom level. This research aims to go through many classes and professors, looking for techniques to generalize and apply to a general population for the greatest success. Granted, everyone learns differently, but we are all still pretty similar, and so a generalized (successful) teaching method might not fit us perfectly, but it will be close enough and have the best chance for getting the most students through. It's kind of like clothes. We have small, medium, and large, (and other sizes), and while the larges won't fit us perfectly, the get the job done for a good majority of people.

All of this said, there are quite a few similarities between Teaching Tips, SoTL, and DBER, but each have their own unique place in helping further good teaching methods.

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Teaching tips, SoTL, and Educational Research are related concepts that have many similarities and differences. Teaching tips are the most simple. They refer to teaching methods or ideas that teachers or professors have used and believe are successful and popular with students. However, there is no official study that has been carried out. If they were to create a study with sufficient evidence to make a conclusion and publish their findings, this would make it more similar to SoTL. SoTL is described as intellectual work that teachers perform to "investigate a question about their students' learning, submit their findings to peer review, and make them public for others in the academy to build upon." Educational Research is similar to both teaching tips and SoTL, but it focuses primarily on research rather than applying and sharing ideas and learnings.

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Teaching tips:

Personal experiences that have assisted a professor to make appropriate changes in their classroom. These experiences have led to practices or strategies that have worked for that professor and may work for others. It follows the principle of what works for me might work for you.

SoTL

A type of study that a professor may conduct in their own classroom over teaching and learning outcomes. Useful to gain actual data about teaching practices and learning results from students. A professor often conducts this in their own classroom to gain insights and publish their findings at the systemic level and public to other institutions, professors, and researchers.

Educational Research / DBER (Discipline-Based Educational Research)

More of a holistic/generalized approach to studying outcomes across an entire discipline (ie. chemistry, math, physics, biology, etc.) This form of research is usually a type of generalization about educational practices within disciplines. Most of the research is focused on how learning is taking place. May not be the most helpful in making systemic changes.

Each of these are helpful in their own ways to better understanding learning and student outcomes. Each one may come with its own benefits and drawbacks. Nevertheless, SoTL has been found to have a plethora of positive outcomes for both the professors, students, and institutions.

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I’ve come to see teaching tips, SoTL, and DBER as existing along a continuum of scholarly engagement with teaching.

Teaching Tips are practical ideas or strategies that an instructor has tried and found useful like an activity that students enjoyed or that seemed to clarify a concept. These are valuable for everyday teaching but usually lack analysis. SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) moves beyond sharing what works, it’s when educators investigate a question about student learning, use disciplinary knowledge to interpret findings, and make their results public. SoTL connects teaching with research-minded inquiry. DBER (Discipline-Based Educational Research) is the most formal level. It’s research on how students learn within a discipline coming from theory and methodology. DBER aims to produce generalizable, reproducible findings that advance both disciplinary and educational knowledge. To me, the key difference is the intent and level of scholarly rigor. Teaching tips share what works in practice; SoTL studies why and how it works; DBER seeks to explain and generalize those findings across contexts.