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McKinney and Jarvis Help Take SoTL Global
Drs. McKinney and Jarvis with Lee Shulman
Drs. Kathleen McKinney and
Patricia Jarvis with Dr. Lee Shulman
(center), President of the
Carnegie Foundation for SoTL.
In an effort to foster global collaboration on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), Drs. Kathleen McKinney and Patricia Jarvis recently represented ISU at the inaugural meeting of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (IS-SoTL). About 400 members of the higher education community from several nations were on hand for the inaugural conference, held at Indiana University. Dr. Jarvis, Professor of Psychology, and Dr. McKinney, Cross Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, both presented on their own SoTL projects and worked with the SoTL Cluster of ten institutions from around the United States that is led by Illinois State University. "SoTL research plays a critical role in our mission to provide the highest quality of teaching at Illinois State," said Dean Olson. "Dr. McKinney has made ISU an international leader in SoTL research, and Drs. McKinney and Jarvis are to be commended on their efforts."

Key representatives from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American Association for Higher Education were also active in the conference. In addition, discussions of a possible Illinois State University-Sheffield Hallam University (England) SoTL research collaboration continued.

IS-SoTL is the result of several years of discussion and collaboration by individuals representing many organizations from around the world. According to its website, the mission of IS-SoTL is "to foster and disseminate inquiry on the factors that can best improve and articulate post-secondary learning and teaching and to encourage the application of the results broadly." IS-SoTL is "especially interested in expediting the flow of new findings and applications across national boundaries and in fostering collaboration among scholars in different countries." McKinney is a member of the Founding Committee of IS-SoTL and will be active in the planning of the 2006 IS-SoTL meeting to be held in Vancouver. IS-SoTL is also planning to begin publishing an official newsletter and journal.

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