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Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

 cadet in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Program.

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) represents a growing national and international professional movement that recognizes, publicizes, funds, and advocates the scholarly approach to understanding factors that impact student learning. SoTL and innovation go hand-in-hand.

Those engaged in SoTL have inquiring minds and the motivation to try new approaches and measure how cadet development and learning are impacted. They push boundaries and ask questions pertinent to their classrooms, their programs, the USAFA, and to higher education at large. The SoTL Program provides support for faculty, cadets, and staff at USAFA who are engaging in or applying SoTL research as a means by which to enhance cadet education and development.

Core Competencies
  • Educational resources for evidence-based teaching approaches
  • Research method design for educational research
  • Guidance for ethics approval (IRB) for the use of human subjects’ data
  • Funding support for SoTL Program project implementation and dissemination
Major Projects
  • Investigation of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) integration on teaching and learning across the disciplines and professional domains of faculty members at USAFA.
  • Investigation of an intervention to promote cadet feedback literacy in academic and leadership realms.
  • Investigation of a design cognition approach to developing strategic thinkers within complex and ambiguous contexts.
Annual Events
  • Annual SoTL Forum: Held each fall semester, this daylong event showcases USAFA SoTL research, brings in an internationally renowned speaker, and includes panels, workshops and poster presentations. Attendees include USAFA faculty, staff, and cadets, and faculty from institutions along the Front Range. (Program for the 2023 SoTL Forum)
  • Annual Martinson SoTL Research Award: This institutional-level award recognizes impactful SoTL research at the annual USAFA Research Awards Ceremony

Dr. Lauren Scharff
(719) 333-3277
lauren.scharff@usafa.edu