In this workshop, we will use the lens of SoTL (the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) as a way to focus our attention on the processes and products of transformative learning. We may not be able to see the big picture on a day-to-day basis in our classrooms or programs, but what can we see more clearly by taking a scholarly view of learning and teaching? The workshop will introduce novices to some practical SoTL methods that can be applied in many disciplines and contexts, and it will encourage more experienced SoTL scholars to hone their ongoing inquiries. At the end of the workshop, participants will have a sketch of a SoTL project they can use to envision their own students’ transformative learning.  

Transformative learning can be hard to see as it is happening.

The rearview mirror is one helpful tool for spotting it. While we are speeding through our own lives (or witnessing our students zip through college), we can catch glimpses of significant change here or there. The full picture, however, tends to come into focus only when we have covered enough distance to have a clearer perspective. Looking back, we often can see how the pieces fit together.

Another way we look for transformation is to try to see patterns and trends among a large sample of individuals. This is how educational research often works. Scholars typically cannot tell us if a certain practice (undergraduate research, service learning, and so on) will lead to transformational learning for a particular student, but they can assure us that in general certain experiences yield specific outcomes.

Both the rearview mirror and large-scale research have their uses, but how can individual faculty and staff develop a clear image of transformative learning in their classrooms and interactions with students? We rarely have the gift of time (“Let me know if ten years if this helps”) nor do we work with large enough groups of students to effectively identify significant patterns. How can we see what is happening with our students now in ways that can help us challenge and support them in their transformation?

In this workshop, we will use the lens of SoTL (the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) as a way to focus our attention on the processes and products of transformative learning. We may not be able to see the big picture on a day-to-day basis in our classrooms or programs, but what can we see more clearly by taking a scholarly view of learning and teaching? The workshop will introduce novices to some practical SoTL methods that can be applied in many disciplines and contexts, and it will encourage more experienced SoTL scholars to hone their ongoing inquiries. At the end of the workshop, participants will have a sketch of a SoTL project they can use to envision their own students’ transformative learning.  

Johansson, C. & Felten, P. (2014). Transforming students: Fulfilling the promise of higher education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Felten, P., Bauman, H. D., Kheriaty, A., & Taylor, E. (2013). Transformative conversations: A guide to mentoring communities among colleagues in higher education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Workshop

Measuring Transformative Learning