o   21.02.24 – how to encourage students to be engaged in learning

o   20.03.24 – the complex processes of learning

o   01.05.24 – how to develop critical and creative thinkers

o   18.01.24 – how identities affect both teaching and learning

o   13.11.24 - the practice, use, and growth of SoTL.

If any of these interest you and you think you would like to present, please contact us on the following emails: k.franck2@herts.ac.uk, e.abrahamson@herts.ac.uk, or p.dsena@herts.ac.uk.

Above is a link to a Padlet where you can share your best practices in this area or examples of what has worked in your classroom. Remember to give a little context so people can adapt ideas where possible.

https://padlet.com/kfranck2_1/issotl-grand-challenge-no-2-how-to-encourage-students-to-be--detp00lk3d7lbx9i

Dr. Jennifer Dalton is an Associate Professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences and Undergraduate Program Director of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, USA. Her research explores the scholarship of teaching and learning in the discipline of communication sciences and disorders. She employs quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate higher education pedagogy, including experiential education and high-impact teaching practices.

(Outline) Grand Challenge for SoTL #1: How to Develop Critical and Creative Thinkers

Introduction to Grand Challenge for SoTL #1: How to Develop Critical and Creative Thinkers

Understanding Critical and Creative Thinking

Significance of Critical and Creative Thinking in the 21st Century

Challenges Surrounding Critical and Creative Thinking

Strategies to Address the Grand Challenge

Approaches for SoTL practitioners to study the intersection of critical and creative thinking in higher education

TALK DESCRIPTION

This talk will delve into the intricate dynamics of hope, creativity, and criticality in higher education, exploring how these concepts intersect and influence one another. This discussion is particularly relevant in light of the SoTL grand challenges, which highlight the importance of fostering critical thinking, critical reflection, and creative capacities within educational contexts.

As we stand on the brink of a transformative shift in higher education, characterized by years of incremental change and deferred action, there is an urgent need for substantial reform. The decisions we make today will shape the trajectory of revolutionary change for individuals, institutions, and society as a whole. This pivotal moment prompts us to revisit fundamental questions about the nature of higher education and our societal obligations.

While the exact contours of the impending paradigm shift remain undefined, we are witnessing its early stages of emergence. With the right tools, mindset, and purpose, we have the agency to shape this evolving landscape. However, this endeavor necessitates a willingness to confront challenges, navigate complexities, and nurture bold imagination—a commitment crucial for systemic flourishing.

As we embark on this journey towards a new educational model, the panel will explore the potential shapes and forms this transformation may take. By engaging in thoughtful discourse and collective exploration, we aim to uncover insights that can guide us towards a more inclusive, innovative, and impactful higher education paradigm.

Dr. Jessica Riddell is a Full Professor of Early Modern Literature in the English Department at Bishop’s University (Quebec, Canada). She holds the Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence at Bishop’s University; in this capacity, she leads conversations about systems-change in higher education that shifts the focus from resilience to human flourishing. In her research, teaching, leadership, and administration, she participates in a wide range of interchanges at the national and international levels about how universities fulfil the social contract to a broader society. 

 
An award-winning educator and scholar, she has published on Shakespeare, institutional culture change, inter-institutional collaborations, experiential learning, and inclusive high impact practices. Her recent book, with collaborators Dr. Lisa Dickson and Dr. Shannon Murray, is called Shakespeare's Guide to Life, Hope, and Learning (University of Toronto Press, 2023) and was nominated for the Gordon Book Prize. Her newest book, Hope Circuits: Rewiring Universities and other Systems for Human Flourishing (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2024) offers a powerful critique of the fragmentation, weakening of purpose, and instrumental practices of higher education and an expansive call for the reinvention of universities and the renewal of their public mission.  
 
Dr. Riddell is a leading intellectual on the intersection between the humanities and higher education. She is one of Canada’s most prolific public scholars on the role universities play in a civil, just society and regularly convenes conversations about how education shapes creative democracy. As an inter-disciplinary researcher, she’s engaged in knowledge creation in diverse fields from Shakespeare to transformative learning, inclusive high-impact practices to systems- and design thinking.  
 
Dr. Riddell was awarded the William and Nancy Turner Award for Teaching Excellence (2011-2012) at Bishop’s University, received the 3M National Teaching Fellowship in 2015, was the recipient of a D2L Innovation Award for Teaching and Learning in 2022, and won the inaugural award from Forces Avenir (Quebec’s highest recognition in higher education) for Most Engaged Faculty/Staff Member in 2022.
 
She has received research funding from SSHRC, ECQ (Entente Canada et Quebec), and STLHE (Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education) and was awarded funding for innovation from the McConnell Foundation, The Jarislowsky Foundation, CEWIL (Canadian Experiential Work-Integrated Learning), Business Higher Education Round Table (BHER). 
 
Jessica Riddell has a robust leadership portfolio in higher education and serves on several boards, including the Board of Directors for the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), the Research Advisory Board for Future Skills Centre, and has served on the 3M National Fellows Council and as VP Canada for International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. 

Thomas’s doctrinal thesis takes an evidence-based approach to examining the individual during the creation of international law. The project sets out three new categories of non-state actors, a model that recognises the contribution of individuals and their work within the international system. Thomas’s research interests include Public International law, Land Law, Constitutional Law, and teaching the Law with digitial technology.

Attached you can find presentation slide about a student fan power project, for the module 'Automotive Sustainable Design'. This is an incredibly useful resource and hopefully encourages consideration of how project-based learning can be used across HE establishments.

Attached is the ‘rule book’ from one of the CDIO competitions. This was designed taking inspiration from F1 competition (FIA regulations) and provided to the students. This is an incredibly useful resource and hopefully encourages consideration of how project-based learning can be used across HE establishments.

• February 19th

• May 14th

• September 17th

• November 19th

All meetings will be held from 2-3pm GMT.

Each session will be dedicated to one challenging area of teaching that reflects the needs of the ISEEC community.

To do so, we ask that you share (anonymously) any of your own personal challenges on the MS Form above.

2. “What practices or conditions made your collaborative writing group feel supportive, productive, and inclusive—and which conditions do you think are essential for others who want similar success?”

Peter a Professor in History and Education, James a healthcare professional and Kim a social care worker will reflect on their experiences of collaborative writing including the outputs it generated the confidence it built and the challenges they encountered along the way. Their perspectives will highlight how writing groups can support inclusive SoTL practice and amplify voices that may be less visible in traditional academic spaces.

The session will also offer a brief and practical overview of the opportunities and challenges involved in establishing collaborative SoTL writing groups. Participants will be invited to share ideas consider different models and reflect on how writing groups might be designed to support colleagues within their own institutions and communities. This is an inviting and participatory session for anyone interested in writing as a shared scholarly practice and in nurturing supportive SoTL communities

What does a strong culture of SoTL look like at [name of university], and how would staff and students recognise it in everyday teaching practice?

What structural or cultural enablers are needed to support staff to engage in SoTL meaningfully alongside their teaching, research and professional responsibilities?

How can SoTL be better valued and recognised within promotion, appraisal and workload models to encourage sustained engagement across disciplines?

In what ways can students be actively involved as partners in SoTL, and how might this strengthen both educational practice and student experience?

What practical steps can the University take over the next 12–24 months to move from individual SoTL activity to a visible, connected institutional approach?

Commitment and advancement using a constructivist blended learning approach is central to her work inspiring students to bridge cognition gaps engaging them with technologies scaffolded and designed to regulate their metacognition.

With over 20 years of experience, she has led pioneering work in the design, implementation, and evaluation of collaborative and community-based learning, as well as the integration of technology in education at both national and international levels.