The seventh annual Scholarship of Educating and Studying (SoTL) convention happened on-site at EHL Hospitality Enterprise College on February 4, 2025. The theme for this occasion was the inclusion of many variations of partnerships in Greater Training Establishments (HEIs) that contribute to scholar success. The partnerships could possibly be faculty-student, faculty-faculty, or faculty-technology. As no man (or lady) is an island, working collectively is essential. SoTL appeared like the perfect venue for discussing how HEI stakeholders can encourage partnerships that may enhance engagement, motivation, and, probably, educational outcomes.
Empowering College students as Pedagogical Companions
After just a few opening remarks from the organizer, Dr. Sharon Flynn from the College of Galway gave the keynote tackle entitled «College students as Pedagogical Companions: Learnings from Two Nationwide Initiatives in Eire». With over 27 years of expertise working in larger schooling in Eire, Sharon is at present the Nationwide Coordinator of the bold N-TUTORR program, an revolutionary collaboration throughout the technological larger schooling sector to remodel the coed expertise. Between 2019 and 2022, she was the venture supervisor of the Enhancing Digital Educating and Studying (EDTL) venture, working with senior educational leaders throughout seven universities within the Irish Universities Affiliation.
In her session, Sharon shared particulars of the initiatives that emphasised the 2 roles college students play as pedagogical companions: Pupil Interns/Pupil Champions and ‘College students as Companions within the Innovation and Change Fellowship Program’.
The primary position in her EDTL venture was the initiation of scholar interns as a part of the partnership course of. These 6-month paid internship positions enable college students to make an actual distinction as they’re full members of the venture crew, not merely employees doing administrative duties. In the latest venture, just like scholar interns, Sharon defined the idea of ‘Pupil Champions’. This position, too, is a paid place the place the scholars are members of the crew who liaise with scholar teams, run student-led social media, and help actions.
The second initiative that Sharon introduced was the ‘College students as Companions in Innovation and Change Fellowship Program’. On this revolutionary venture, college students (minimal 2) and college members (minimal 1) collaborate on drafting venture proposals recommended by both stakeholder and specializing in one of many six pillars. In part one, 130 initiatives have been chosen and funded at €5,000 every. As Sharon continued, many contributors within the session began to surprise if they may arrange comparable partnerships in their very own HEIs. What an enriching begin to our SoTL day.
Rethinking Pupil Suggestions
The subsequent session was introduced by Dr. Sebastien Fernandez, a SoTL aficionado and Affiliate Professor of Organizational Habits. He’s a part of the crew of peer pedagogical coaches at EHL and is eager on creating new pedagogical approaches in his instructing. He intrigued us once more this 12 months with a session with a provocative title, «And what if we SIMPLY stopped listening to college students?». But, we quickly discovered that shifting one phrase adjustments the sense of the presentation. As he spoke, we understood what he meant.
Think about if the title learn: «What if we stopped SIMPLY listening to college students?» This, after all, has one other which means. To increase on these titles, Sebastien centered on one typical method we hearken to college students, i.e., the notorious scholar analysis on instructing (SET). On this session, the contributors selected between 4 approaches to gauge scholar suggestions that have been extra participative in nature: Brainstorming, Nominal Focus Teams, Pupil Analysis Staff Focus Teams, and ‘Focused’ Focus Teams. In small teams, we mentioned which of the 4 strategies can be most related and implement them in our programs.
Adapting Educating Methods for Gen Z and Alpha
The third session, “Dealing with the Challenges of Educating Generations Z and Alpha,” centered on how college members and educational employees may adapt our instructing and interactions based mostly on the generations in our HEIs. Ms. Gaby Probst, the top of pedagogical improvement on the College of Administration in Fribourg, led this session.
She started by summarizing the potential generational variations concerning how we study and, subsequently, how we educate. She additionally launched two methods of studying: Analogue-based studying, which is predominantly paper-based, and conventional versus technology-based studying, which is extra interactive and consists of using technological instruments.
Every participant shared how they most popular to study after they have been in HEIs. In any case, we have a tendency to show the way in which we prefer to study. Then, contributors tried to determine what this present era, and people that can observe, wants. Discussing these variations in small teams and what we may do to cut back the hole was fascinating.
Constructing a Peer Teaching Tradition
The primary session after lunch, entitled «A Recipe for Success: Develop your Peer Teaching System,» was led by Ms. Karen Earl Erpelding. Karen obtained a Masters in Instructional Psychology in 2021 and the HES-SO Pedagogical Counselor certification in 2024. She has been a part of EHL’s pedagogical Peer Coach (PPC) program and has actively supported quite a few colleagues of their instructing adventures since then.
Her presentation for SoTL started with the differentiation between a Peer Pedagogical Coach and a Pedagogical Counsellor. Probably the most vital distinction is accountability; PPCs don’t choose; they don’t consider; as an alternative, their sole purpose is to assist colleagues who would love assist to enhance their instructing and studying. Contributors got pedagogical eventualities and requested to think about what they’d do if confronted with the identical conditions. This led to animated discussions! Who knew pedagogical eventualities could possibly be so inspiring?
Exploring GenAI for Educating and Studying
Following the partnership with friends, Dr. Guillaume Tschupp shared his experience working with an revolutionary accomplice, Generative AI in HEIs. Dr. Tschupp is a lecturer on the Haute École Pédagogique du Valais, specializing in digital schooling and e-learning. He explores the potential of synthetic intelligence to help academics, have interaction college students, and improve pedagogical practices. Guillaume is devoted to offering sensible and accessible concepts to handle the challenges of contemporary schooling.
On this session, he started with a short demo of what’s doable, showcasing a number of the instruments he has used that work nicely and add pedagogical worth. After that, Guillaume guided contributors by just a few hands-on assessments, throughout which they experimented with a number of the strategies introduced. Nonetheless, he additionally identified the potential educational integrity points and the way they are often addressed. Lastly, Guillaume wrapped up by facilitating a brief dialogue on the potential of utilizing these instruments in HEIs sooner or later. Do not forget: AI is an aide, not a alternative.
Investigating GenAI in Tutorial Writing
Dr. Laura Zizka introduced the ultimate session. As a Peer Pedagogical Coach, she conducts seminars and workshops on instructing and studying subjects with college students and employees. Thus, on this session, Laura provided an instance of probably the most conventional SoTL software that included an in-class exercise resulting in a number of educational publications.
She demonstrated how a query in instructing or studying can culminate in contribution(s) to the extant literature. Her venture investigated the potential pitfalls of utilizing Generative AI in educational writing. Her findings complemented the earlier session, the place Guillaume introduced the instruments that could possibly be used (if used successfully). In her classroom exercise, Laura aimed to point out college students how a Generative AI like ChatGPT works and analyze the output.
Contributors have been requested to run the identical immediate after which examine their output with others. They discovered the identical or comparable concepts and, usually, the identical references. This confirmed that college students who solely have a look at their very own output could possibly be led to imagine that it’s ‘adequate’ when, actually, it’s (too) just like the work of their fellow college students who enter the identical immediate into the identical Generative AI. What an eye-opener!
SoTL: A Steady Journey of Inquiry and Trade
On the finish of the day, the core query for SoTL contributors stays: What drawback/points/questions have I recognized in instructing or studying that may be investigated and elaborated upon for a SoTL venture? To conclude, whether or not we’re discussing present instructing and studying practices or future instructing and studying practices, the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning conference will proceed to be a venue for trade and sharing. In case you are fascinated with instructing and studying, want to share finest practices or your most vital considerations, or want to meet a number of the most exceptional college members ever, come and be a part of us in February 2026 for our subsequent convention.
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