SoTL Enquiries in Four Disciplines: Unlocking the Potential of Interdisciplinary Approaches and Methodologies

Abstract

Enquiry into discipline-specific student learning is a central element of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Discipline-specific teaching and learning approaches have been called ‘signature pedagogies’ (Shulman, 2005), which raises the question of how applicable and/or relevant such pedagogies are beyond specific disciplines. In this Reflection, we explore a tension within SoTL between discipline-specific approaches and methodologies on the one hand, and approaches that cross disciplines on the other. As part of a Special Interest Group on interdisciplinary SoTL, the authors, who are professionally situated in a range of different disciplines, explore how transferable pedagogies that are used in particular disciplines potentially are. By extension, we reflect on the potential benefit of exploring interdisciplinary approaches via SoTL, and whether they could open up the possibility of cross-fertilisation between different disciplines, and potentially lead to renewal and reinvigorated pedagogical approaches. The planned case studies for our project were based in four disciplines, but each disciplinary enquiry would involve an interdisciplinary approach to the investigation. We conclude in this Reflection that working across different disciplines to develop a common language to explore SoTL projects is a valuable exercise, despite clear challenges, and that it offers much potential for innovative practice, as it forces participants to think outside the disciplinary square.