Purpose
Purpose
We are interested in the impact of a range of innovative and non-traditional pedagogies on the development of particular dimensions of integrative learning in the undergraduate curriculum.
Specifically, within the theme of integrative learning, our research interests are focused around the broad theme of “Deepening and integrating learning through the representation of knowledge for others.” We are interested in tracking learning that emerges from situated and communication-focused pedagogies (explained more in the next section). The complexity and subtlety of the questions we’re exploring require the scholarship of teaching and learning in order to advance our understanding.
But we also believe that these are complex questions that require a network of researchers across the boundaries of disciplines and institutions. In short, we see both a need and an opportunity to cultivate an extended model of networked collaborative inquiry that will not only advance our knowledge of learning in these areas, but also advance the work of the scholarship of teaching and learning movement by modeling a large and visible collaborative inquiry project (as a broad research program) as a central piece of our work as a leadership site.
Second, we want to continue our leadership in exploring “knowledge-building”
practices for the scholarship of teaching and learning, especially in
the areas of collaboration, in general, and the role of networked digital
environments, in particular. Our prior experience and track record for
leadership in the scholarship of teaching and learning puts us in a strong
position to provide leadership for a large-scale collaborative SoTL project
built around these larger issues. Georgetown has been the home to the
Visible Knowledge Project, one of the largest collaborative SoTL projects
in the United States, and we will be the host of the 2006 meeting of the
International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. We
also served as the leader for the cluster on Advancing the Scholarship
of Teaching and Learning as a Networked Community Practice.
We are prepared for this next phase with three key pieces in place: (1)
We have strong central administrative support for these directions, as
well as access to funding and support to link scholarly work on teaching
to strategic initiatives, particularly the Undergraduate Learning Initiative,
the primary initiative on Georgetown’s main campus for strategic
innovation around undergraduate learning. (2) We have an infrastructure
in place—the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship—that
can provide support to the leadership site with infrastructure and as
an intellectual home to faculty researchers. (3) We have a national project
with an internationally visible set of digital resources—the Visible
Knowledge Project Online Galleries and SoTL Index—that can be expanded
as a dissemination venue and context for sustaining and extending the
collaborative networks that will be integral to the GU Leadership Site.