Topic 3: Why research in ODeL? (Scholarship of ODeL Teaching and Learning)

Specific Learning Outcome
By the end of this topic you should demonstrate an understanding of the relevance of conducting research in an ODeL environment, and in one's own teaching space (i.e. the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, SoTL)

Introduction
One of the overarching purposes of research is to impact on practice. This topic addresses this important role in the context of ODeL research.

Guidance
To begin, thoroughly read through the document below by Laverty (2018) entitled 'Educational Research: A practical guide' This guide offers an introduction to the SoTL for educators interested in researching and/or studying their teaching practices. It includes approaches to formulating questions, considerations for the methodology and selection of methods. Once complete, have a look at the videos (under the resources) examining some of the key characteristics of the SoTL followed by some key pointers when conducting research in an ODeL space. Lastly, undertake the learning activities for this topic.

Time needed
You'll need approximately 2.3 hours to engage with the content in this topic.

Resources

 * Laverty, C. (2018). Educational research: A practical guide (PDF – 1,802KB)
 * Key Characteristics of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (Center for Engaged Learning, 2013) (Video - 12m56s) - https://youtu.be/yvDKHHyx7YY
 * Research in Open and Distance Learning (Commonwealth of Learning) (Video - 19m03s) - https://youtu.be/SfsxOfvJlPY

Learning Activities
Activity 1.3.1 : Reflect on your practice using Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Describe how you could use Scholarship of Teaching and Learning to improve your teaching/research practice.

Activity 1.3.2 : Identify factors that may be empirically investigated as a SoTL research project.

Once you have completed the two learning activities, kindly move onto Topic 4: Academic Writing.