CFP: SoTL at Pacific Division meeting

I hope folks will consider answering this call for proposals. Philosophy lags behind other disciplines in awareness and implementation of SoTL.

The APA Committee on the Teaching of Philosophy invites proposals for a session on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in Philosophy at the Pacific Division meeting of the APA, April 4-7 2012, in Seattle, Washington. Ideally, the panel would include at least one presentation explaining what SoTL is and its value in contributing to the teaching of philosophy, and at least one presentation explaining a SoTL project that has been conducted in regards to teaching philosophy (or is in the process of being conducted, or is in the early stages of development).

Though definitions of SoTL vary and are often disputed, the following three points capture many of the main concerns of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and can be found on the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching website (which offers a useful introduction to and history of SoTL):

• asking questions about student learning and the teaching activities designed to promote student learning in an effort, at least in part, to improve one’s own teaching practice,
• answering those questions by systematically analyzing evidence of student learning, and
• sharing the results of that analysis publicly in order to invite review and to contribute to the body of knowledge on student learning in a variety of contexts.

Both individual submissions as well as proposals for several panelists together are welcome. Please send a title, an abstract of no more than 500 words, and your name, email, and affiliation (if applicable) to clhendricksbc@gmail.com. Deadline is Oct. 3, 2011.