The event features a poster session and a catered reception, providing an opportunity for faculty to share their SoTL projects and reflect on their research journeys. It is co-sponsored by the Center for Engaged Learning (CEL), the Center for Research on Global Engagement (CRGE), the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL) and the Center for Writing Excellence (CWE).
Faculty members who have participated in programming from these centers will present their research on innovative teaching practices. This year’s presenters include:

From the (CEL):

• Aaron Trocki, associate professor of mathematics, presenting his 2023-2025 CEL Scholar work.
• Olivia Choplin, associate professor of French, presenting her multi-institutional team’s project from the 2023-2025 research seminar on Mentoring Meaningful Learning Experiences.

From the Center for Writing Excellence (CWE) and the Writing Across the University (WAU) program:

• Travis Maynard, assistant professor of English/professional writing & rhetoric, presenting on his WAU-supported work.
• Cheng Chen, assistant professor of communication design, and Qian Xu, professor of Strategic Communications, presenting on their WAU-supported work.

From the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL):

• Elizabeth von Briesen, assistant professor of computer science.
• Courtney Liu, assistant professor of music theatre.

From the Center for Research on Global Engagement (CRGE):

• Sandy Marshall, associate professor of geography and CRGE Intercultural Learning Scholar, presenting his work on Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL).
• Bill Burress, director of assessment and accreditation; Heidi Hollingsworth, associate professor of education and director of Master of Education; Mark Enfield, associate professor of education and chair of the Department of Education and Wellness; and Jeffrey Carpenter, William S. Long Professor and professor of Education, presenting their research on the benefits of international field experiences for pre-service teachers.

A longtime leader within ISSOTL, Moore has contributed extensively to the organization’s mission. She chaired the ISSOTL Communications Committee from 2014 to 2020, served as U.S. regional vice president from 2016 to 2018 and co-chaired the Publications Committee from 2020 to 2022. Her dedication was recognized in 2019 when she received ISSOTL’s Distinguished Service Award.

Moore’s new editorial position underscores her ongoing commitment to fostering scholarly collaboration and shaping the future of teaching and learning research. As co-editor, she will work alongside a team of global scholars to ensure that Teaching & Learning Inquiry continues to serve as a vital resource for educators and researchers around the world.

about Moore’s appointment and the TLI editorial team.

Wigger, who holds a doctorate in human development and social policy from Northwestern University, teaches statistics and data-focused courses in the Love School of Business. Her research centers on the intersections of education and housing policy, with a focus on racial inequality and desegregation. Wigger’s work with the “Quant4What? Collective” and the Data Nexus Faculty Advisory Committee underscores her commitment to advancing equity through quantitative methods.

Kleintop, who earned her doctorate in history from Northwestern University, specializes in digital humanities and data-intensive history courses. Her forthcoming book, “Counting the Costs of Freedom: The Fight over Compensated Emancipation after the Civil War” (UNC Press, 2025), highlights her expertise in uncovering historical data related to slavery and emancipation. She is a leader in developing digital tools and methodologies for historical scholarship at Elon, having been trained at the Enslaved.org’s National Endowment for the Humanities Institute and by the University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab.

As CEL Scholars, Wigger and Kleintop will develop open-access resources, including teaching guides, annotated bibliographies, and blog posts to bridge disciplines and promote equity. The committee praised their collaborative approach, noting its alignment with CEL’s mission and institutional goals of fostering interdisciplinary connections. Wigger will lead in year one, followed by Kleintop in year two.

Wigger and Kleintop join an esteemed group of CEL Scholars, including David Buck, Caroline Ketcham, Ketevan Kupatadze, Buffie Longmire-Avital, Phillip Motley, Amanda Sturgill and Aaron Trocki. Applications for the 2026-28 CEL Scholar will open in Fall 2025.

This prestigious three-year fellowship, awarded by the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education, recognizes leaders who are advancing transformative efforts in postsecondary education. Named in honor of Russ Edgerton (1938-2022), a visionary advocate for higher education reform, the fellowship celebrates innovative contributions to improving student success and institutional outcomes.

Bunnell, an internationally respected leader in the scholarship of teaching and learning and faculty development, has dedicated her career to fostering inclusive and impactful educational practices. As a Russell Edgerton Innovation Fellow, she will benefit from mentorship, collaborative cohort engagement and annual participation in the Gardner Institute Symposium on Transforming the Postsecondary Experience. The fellowship also provides unique opportunities to network with the Gardner Institute’s Board of Directors, the Edgerton Fellowship selection committee, and other prominent educational leaders, amplifying the impact of her transformative work in higher education.

The Gardner Institute, a non-profit organization committed to leading educational innovation and improving teaching, learning, retention and completion rates, emphasizes that fellowship is more than individual recognition. It is a call to action for transformative leadership that honors Russ Edgerton’s extraordinary legacy.

For more information about the Russell Edgerton Innovation Fellowship or the Gardner Institute’s initiatives, visit . To learn more about the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, visit /u/academics/catl/.

Educators will find a diverse range of resources tailored to meet various teaching and learning needs and to create inclusive and transformative experiences for all students. Featured resources include introductions to engaged learning topics, white papers (“Elon Statements”) and video series.

Faculty seeking to enhance experiential learning can explore insights on , , and work-integrated learning- resources intended to help students forge real-world connections with their academic studies.

The collection offers resources on to support the development of meaningful culminating projects, along with the Facilitating Integration and Reflection of the Elon Experiences FIRE Toolkit, which provides guidance for mentoring students’ reflection on their academic and co- curricular learning.

For those focusing on inclusion and equity, the section includes resources like and , which offer evidence-based strategies to create equitable learning environments for all students.

Further insights include and to foster community-centered learning environments, as well as and for faculty guiding students in academic research and personal growth. To encourage collaboration in and beyond the classroom, there are featured resources and , as well as materials like and to enhance writing skills. Faculty can also explore the Video Series, which offers accessible and engaging content on various aspects of engaged learning.

To explore all these resources and see how they can enhance your approach to fostering students actively and intentionally participating in their own learning, not only at discrete moments but rather as an ongoing, lifelong activity, visit the section of Center for Engaged Learning’s website.

Bitting and Merricks’ project, titled “Impacts of Community-Engaged Courses on First-Generation Students, Students of Color, and Women in STEM Disciplines,” seeks to understand how integrating STEM education with service-oriented projects that address local needs can help students bridge academic knowledge with real-world challenges. By examining the impacts of community-based learning (CBL) on historically underrepresented students in STEM, their work will assess whether these courses boost students’ confidence, strengthen their sense of belonging, and encourage them to persist in STEM fields. The study will also explore how students with diverse and intersecting identities—such as first-generation students, students of color and women—perceive the value of CBL in fostering a meaningful connection between STEM and community impact. Their study will analyze survey responses and conduct in-depth interviews to understand how CBL may enhance motivation to persist in STEM fields and contribute to meaningful, community-focused work.

Wu’s project, “Dialogues at Tian’anmen: Students, Government Officials, and Beyond, 1989,” will immerse students in the varied perspectives of the 1989 Tiananmen Protests using Reacting to the Past (RTTP) pedagogies. In this application of RTTP, students will be assigned to roles such as activists, government officials, journalists, and workers, in order to help them learn about the complex social and political landscape of the time. As part of this project, Wu will develop instructional materials to share with other educators, including collaborators at Emory University, Virginia Military Institute, The Citadel and Angelo State University. By engaging students directly with historical narratives and perspectives, the project aims to foster critical thinking, public speaking and historical empathy, deepening students’ understanding of this significant event in Chinese history.

The CATL Scholars program accepts applications each fall, and all full-time faculty are encouraged to apply. Visit the CATL Scholars website or email CATL at catl@elon.edu for more information.

This insightful volume equips educators and scholars with a comprehensive guide to navigate the evolving field of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Thoughtfully crafted, it offers both depth and clarity for those looking to enrich their teaching practices through scholarly inquiry. In a field that has evolved significantly in the past three decades, this guide acts as an essential roadmap for educators who seek to deepen their involvement in SoTL.

As SoTL moves beyond its grassroots beginnings, “Becoming a SoTL Scholar” explores the process of becoming a scholar in this dynamic, multidisciplinary space. As SoTL scholars transition from interested faculty members to fully engaged SoTL practitioners, this book outlines how they can navigate the liminal “borderland” that SoTL inhabits—often outside the confines of traditional academic disciplines. For many, there are moments of uncertainty as they begin to assume their new academic identity, but ultimately, the SoTL community offers access to an abundance of personal and professional growth.

In addition to the guidance this book offers for early-career educators and students exploring a career path in the SoTL, it also addresses the needs of mid-and-later career SoTL professionals, exploring how they can make meaningful contributions to the field. Readers will find practical strategies and gain inspiration from experienced SoTL professional narratives and learn how to build an impactful career as an SoTL scholar.

Whether you’re new to SoTL or looking to enrich an established career, Becoming a SoTL Scholar offers multiple entry points into SoTL and empowers readers to embark on the journey of becoming part of this dynamic scholarly community.

The Center for Engaged Learning Open Access Book Series publishes concise, peer-reviewed books that caters to a diverse audience in higher education interested in engaged learning practices. Edited by Jessie L. Moore and Peter Felten, this series emphasizes research-informed practices that enhance teaching and learning

Read this open access collection for free at 

Contents

Chapter 1: Developing Sustained SoTL Journeys and Identities 
Janice Miller-Young and Nancy L. Chick

Section 1: Beginning a SoTL-Centric Career 
Janice Miller-Young and Nancy L. Chick

Chapter 2: Becoming a Teaching and Learning Scholar by Design: Strategies for Scaffolding a SoTL Career Trajectory 
Lorelli Nowell

Chapter 3: SoTL Citizen: A Memoir of Home and Exile in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 
Sophia Abbot

Chapter 4: The Braided Threads of Learning, Changing, and Becoming: Reflections on My SoTL Adventures (So Far) 
Corinne A. Green

Chapter 5: Learning the Landscape: Using Journal Clubs to Introduce Graduate Students and Early-Career Researchers to SoTL 
Celeste Suart, Michelle Ogrodnik, and Megan Suttie

Chapter 6: Planning a SoTL Research Career: A Cautionary Tale from Australia 
Paula Baron and Silvia McCormack

Section 2: Shifting Focus toward a SoTL Research Agenda 
Janice Miller-Young and Nancy L. Chick

Chapter 7: Guiding Principles for STEM Faculty Interested in SoTL 
Matthew A. Fisher

Chapter 8: Engaging with Nuance: Authentic SoTL Engagement for Scholars in the Humanities 
Nancy L. Chick

Chapter 9: From Industry to SoTL: Making the Case for Taking the Leap 
Heidi L. Marsh and Eileen De Courcy

Chapter 10: It Wasn’t What I Came for But I’m Sure Glad I Stayed: From Writing Studies to SoTL 
Kristin Winet

Chapter 11: Reaching Across the Disciplines to Build a Grassroots SoTL Community 
Bruce Gillespie, Michelle Goodridge, and Shirley Hall

Section 3: Sustaining SoTL Engagement 
Janice Miller-Young and Nancy L. Chick

Chapter 12: You’re Here! Now What? A Taxonomical Pathway for Sustained SoTL Research Engagement 
Jeff Paul, Jillian Seniuk Cicek, and Renato B. Rodrigues

Chapter 13: Complex Journeys and Theory as Scaffolding: An Illustrated Guide to the SoTLscape 
Janice Miller-Young

Chapter 14: SoTL Mentoring for the Mind and the Heart 
Brett McCollum

Chapter 15: Cultivating International Collaborations Towards Sustained SoTL Engagement 
Michelle J. Eady

Section 4: Becoming a SoTL Scholar 
Janice Miller-Young and Nancy L. Chick

Chapter 16: The Importance of Autonomy and Community for SoTL Engagement: How Six Scholars Embraced Change to Assert Their SoTL Values and Identity 
Andrea Webb, Barbara Kensington-Miller, Ann M. Gansemer-Topf, Heather Lewis, Geneviève Maheux-Pelletiernand Analise Hofmann

Chapter 17: Navigating Boundary Experiences in SoTL: Pinch Points, Paradigms and Perspectives 
Janice Miller-Young, Michelle Yeo and Karen Manarin

Chapter 18: Learning from Each Other’s Journeys: Editors’ Epilogue 
Nancy L. Chick and Janice Miller-Young