The 2^nd Annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference

The Center for Educational Innovation at Zayed University recently hosted the 2nd Annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference. This year's theme, Improving Teaching Through Research, highlighted the benefits of faculty conducting inquiry into their teaching in an effort to improve their teaching practices and their students' learning outcomes.

Engaging in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is considered as the most effective and transformative method of teacher professional development at the higher education context. While as higher education faculty we practice scholarly teaching that is informed by the research of others, as active SoTL practitioners we inform our practice by the research that we conduct in our own classrooms. Because SoTL research is always contextualized, carried out in naturalistic environments, and focused at specific student needs, it is therefore always meaningful and when shared with others who are working in similar contexts facing similar challenges in the classroom, it can be extremely powerful in developing individuals and bringing about change at a large scale by increasing the quality of teaching and learning in higher education institutions.

The 2nd Annual SoTL Conference featured 17 presentations by faculty from higher education institutions in the region. Each presentation was a classroom-based inquiry with the ultimate aim to inform practice and promote evidence-based teaching. Participants from ZU and the wider academic community found the sessions informative and inspiring, while there were opportunities for networking and discussion in an effort to promote collaboration and sharing of knowledge among participants and presenters.

Dr. Christina Gitsaki
Assoc. Professor - Research Coordinator
Center for Educational Innovation, Zayed University