Developing university teaching through the scholarship of teaching and learning

Based on what we know about university teaching and how teachers develop, engaging in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) has strong potential as part of a strategy for supporting academics to develop their teaching. However, despite its benefits, using SoTL to this end can be challenging because of such factors as academic identity located in the discipline, variations in disciplinary epistemologies and methodologies, and institutional cultures. There is also a lack of consistency in how SoTL is defined and understood. The goal of this chapter is to present the results of a systematic search of empirical literature that focuses on making use of SoTL to support the development of university teaching. The main objectives are to offer researchers of university teaching evidence on what works and what does not in the development of university teaching through SoTL. Findings highlight the benefits and the challenges of focusing on SoTL for academic development as identified in the current research literature. Finally, we propose a future research agenda based on the gaps identified in the reviewed literature.