Institute for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISoTL)

ISoTL was established by UBC Senate in May 2004, in order to support research, inquiry and reflection on teaching and learning at the University of British Columbia. In the context of UBC’s strategic plan and the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT), new structures have enabled a re-focusing and strengthening of the Institute’s mandate. Currently, the following objectives guide specific ISoTL initiatives and programs:

  • Support faculty members in engaging in reflective practices and pedagogical research in the disciplines.
  • Promote the dissemination of curriculum and pedagogical research in ways that inform and enhance educational practice across the disciplines at UBC and beyond.
  • Provide international leadership and collaborations for SoTL research.
  • Provide training and professional development opportunities for faculty members who seek to engage in SoTL.
  • Promote a culture of teaching as a scholarly activity.

Directorship and Advisory

Dr. Elisa Baniassad, Associate Professor of Teaching serves as ISoTL Director as of July 2022.

In 2020, an interdisciplinary Advisory Committee was established with the goal of providing advice and strategic recommendations on the activities and programming of the Institute. This includes identifying strategic lines of scholarly activity that the Institute may want to support/promote, advising on plans of action to align ISoTL programming with UBC’s strategic plans, promoting ISoTL in their home departments/units, and generally offering feedback and guidance on ISoTL service offerings.

The ISoTL Advisory Committee is chaired by the Director, Institute for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, current advisory board members can be viewed here.

Services and Offerings

  1. Support and funding: the SoTL Seed Program and the SoTL Dissemination Fund offer in-kind and financial resources to conduct and disseminate SoTL work.
  2. Events and professional development: a range of year-round events fostering scholarly interactions among faculty interested in SoTL. Round tables, discussions, presentations, and interactive workshops allow opportunities for sharing, networking and peer feedback.
  3. Celebrate SoTL: a full-day event that invites SoTL practitioners, new faculty and students across UBC to engage in dialogue around teaching and learning and to advance SoTL work.
  4. ISoTL Newsletter: an outlet to inform UBC’s SoTL community about upcoming SoTL events and oportunities within and outside of our institution, share resources, and spotlight UBC faculty’s SoTL work.
  5. Consultations and collaborations: the ISoTL team is available for consultations at any stage of the inquiry process, including publication of SoTL work. We also engage in scholarly collaborations with faculty pursuing work at an institutional-level.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude and enormous thanks to Dr. Gary Poole for his outstanding leadership (as founding Director) and scholarly contributions to the Institute for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.