This article builds upon a previous piece titled “What is SoTL?” from the Center for Teaching newsletter.
Curiosity to Inquiry
Teaching is full of moments that make us pause and reflect. After class, we might wonder, what made that discussion work so well? Or imagine a new way to try an activity next time. The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) grows out of these moments of curiosity. It turns our everyday teaching experiences into opportunities to explore questions about learning and to share what we discover with colleagues across higher education. SoTL allows us to study our teaching and students’ learning with the same curiosity we bring to our academic disciplines (Ciccone, 2018; Poole, 2018).
SoTL often begins with one of these classroom moments, like an experience, idea, or observation that makes you want to learn more (Chick, 2018; Felten, 2013). The next step is to mold it into a research question that guides your inquiry. From there, SoTL involves designing a project, gathering evidence, and sharing it with others. This article focuses on two key parts of that process: (1) identifying the kind of research question you’re asking and (2) designing a project that aligns with that question.
SoTL allows us to study our teaching and students’ learning with the same curiosity we bring to our academic disciplines.
Four Types of SoTL Research Questions
A research question can help guide your SoTL project and shape decisions about how to collect and analyze data. Hutchings (2000) proposed a taxonomy of SoTL questions to clarify the scope and design of a study or project. This framework highlights four broad ways to approach a question:
- Testing the effectiveness of a teaching strategy
- Envisioning a new teaching innovation,
- Exploring an aspect of our teaching or student learning, or
- Developing a model within a teaching context.
The type of question you choose will influence every part of your project, beginning with the design to the evidence you gather. The categories in this taxonomy often overlap, and many SoTL studies draw on more than one.
Overview of SoTL Taxonomy
SoTL Taxonomy | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| What works? | testing the effectiveness of a teaching strategy | How do peer-led reflection sessions affect students’ use of feedback during revision? |
| What might be? | envisioning a new teaching innovation | How can rubrics help foster the impact of feedback on students' learning outcomes? |
| What is? | exploring aspects of teaching and student learning | How do the students describe the role of peer-led feedback on their learning outcomes? |
| What explains? | developing a model within a teaching context | What model of critical thinking development emerges from students’ reflections across assignments? |
Research Questions
The “What works?” Research Question
These questions look at whether a specific teaching strategy, approach, or intervention is effective. They often involve comparing groups or results and use tools like pre/post assessments or course performance data.
- Want to hear a real example? Listen to this 60-second podcast on a “What works?” project.
The “What might be?” Research Question
These questions focus on trying out new ideas in teaching. Faculty who experiment with different methods often want to understand how these changes affect student learning or engagement. This type of SoTL research supports taking pedagogical risks in the classroom. Even if the results aren’t what you expected, the process can still reveal useful insights and expand new directions to explore.
- Want to hear a real example? Listen to this 60-second podcast on a “What might be?” project.
The “What is?” Research Question
These are foundational questions that help you understand what’s currently happening before deciding what to change. They may describe students’ knowledge, behaviors, skills, perceptions, or experiences, often initiated by surprising classroom observations. This type of inquiry may reveal patterns, challenge assumptions, or guide the development of future interventions.
- Want to hear a real example? Listen to this 60-second podcast on a “What is?” project.
The “What explains?” Research Question
Sometimes, SoTL inquiry reveals patterns, models, or themes that inspire new ways of understanding teaching and learning. These “theory-building” questions tend to focus on broader insights rather than specific teaching strategies. They often arise after exploring other types of SoTL questions and may involve connecting findings across different contexts or datasets.
- Want to hear a real example? Listen to this 60-second podcast on a “Theory-Building" project.
Designing a SoTL Project
Once you’ve developed your research question, the next step is to consider what you want to explore or measure and how you will gather evidence to address your question (Bishop-Clark & Dietz-Uhler, 2012). In many cases, the question itself can guide both the type of evidence to collect and the overall approach to your project (Yeo et al., 2024).
For example, a “What Works?” question focuses on examining the effectiveness of a teaching strategy by gathering evidence such as test scores or pre- and post-survey data that can be compared across groups or time points. These studies may include control or comparison groups, but their main purpose is to understand whether a particular instructional approach leads to measurable improvements in student outcomes. In contrast, a “What Is?” question aims to understand what is currently happening in the classroom. Evidence for these studies may include interviews, focus groups, observations, or survey responses that capture students’ learning experiences, perspectives, or learning.
Evidence in SoTL can take many forms. Quantitative evidence includes numerical data such as test scores, frequencies, or ratings (Holton & Burnett, 2005). Qualitative evidence involves non-numerical data such as written reflections, interview transcripts, or observation notes (Creswell, 2007). Mixed-methods studies include both types of evidence to draw on the strengths of each approach (Creswell & Creswell, 2005). While many SoTL studies draw from social science traditions, the field also welcomes a wide range of approaches, including narrative inquiry (Ng & Carney, 2017) and arts-based or humanities-informed work, such as methods in textual interpretation, thick description, or discourse analysis (Center for Engaged Learning, n.d.). The SoTL field values different perspectives and ways of understanding teaching and learning (Nasrollahian Mojarad et al., 2024).
Final Thoughts
You do not need a perfect research question or fully developed project design to begin exploring SoTL. A great place to start is simply with your curiosity and an interest in gathering evidence to better understand your teaching or your students’ learning. This process can be deeply reflective and meaningful, no matter how formal your research question or design may be. Over time, refining your question and aligning your project design with the type of evidence you collect can lead to SoTL research with opportunities to share your scholarship with the broader SoTL community.
At the Center for Teaching, we would love to support you as you develop your SoTL ideas, research questions, project design, or methods. To learn more or schedule an individual SoTL consultation, contact us at teaching@uiowa.edu or visit our website to explore our SoTL programs.
We would also like to invite you to attend our SoTL Institute on Friday, April 10, 2026. This campus-wide event features keynote speaker Dr. James Lang, a nationally recognized expert on teaching and learning and the well-known author of Write Like You Teach and Small Teaching, along with networking opportunities, and a SoTL poster session. For more information or to register, please complete this online form.
Please stay tuned for the next piece on nurturing SoTL scholarship in this series, which will appear in an upcoming newsletter.
References
Bishop-Clark, C., & Dietz-Uhler, B. (2012). Engaging in the scholarship of teaching and learning: A guide to the process, and how to develop a project from start to finish. Stylus Publishing.
Center for Engaged Learning. (n.d.). Arts & Humanities and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/studying-engaged-learning/arts-humanities-sotl/
Chick, N. L. (Ed.). (2018). SoTL in action: Illuminating critical moments of practice. Routledge.
Ciccone, A. (2018). Learning matters: Asking meaningful questions. In N. L. Chick (Ed.), SoTL in action: Illuminating critical moments of practice (pp. 15–22). Routledge.
Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2005). Mixed methods research: Developments, debates, and dilemmas. In R. A. Swanson & E. F. Holton (Eds.), Research in organizations: Foundations and methods of inquiry (pp. 315–326). Berrett-Koehler.
Felten, P. (2013). Principles of good practice in SoTL. Teaching and Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal, 1(1), 121–125. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/504206
Hutchings, P. (2000). Introduction: Approaching the scholarship of teaching and learning. In P. Hutchings (Ed.), Opening lines: Approaches to the scholarship of teaching and learning (pp. 1–10). The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Holton, E. F. III, & Burnett, M. F. (2005). The basics of quantitative research. In R. A. Swanson & E. F. Holton (Eds.), Research in organizations: Foundations and methods of inquiry (pp. 29–44). Berrett-Koehler.
Nasrollahian Mojarad, S., Santucci Leoni, A., Manarin, K., Miller-Young, J., & Yeo, M. (2024). Positioning theory in SoTL inquiry: Converging perspectives. Transformative Dialogues: Teaching and Learning Journal, 17(1), 14–24. https://doi.org/10.26209/td2024vol17iss11809
Ng, L., & Carney, M. (2017). Scholarly personal narrative in the SoTL tent. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 5(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.5.1.10
Poole, G. (2018). Using intuition, anecdote, and observation: Rich sources of SoTL projects. In N. L. Chick (Ed.), SoTL in action: Illuminating critical moments of practice (pp. 7–14). Routledge.
Yeo, M., Miller-Young, J., & Manarin, K. (2024). SoTL research methodologies: A guide to conceptualizing and conducting the scholarship of teaching and learning. Routledge