Postdoctoral scholars in academic development and SoTL: making our way through collaborative self-study

ABSTRACT

Postdoctoral scholars are important members of the research community who make substantial contributions to research productivity. Three postdoctoral scholars at a Teaching and Learning Institute in Canada engaged in collaborative self-study to explore our initial experiences as postdoctoral scholars in the emerging fields of academic development and SoTL. This self-study reveals some of the challenges of integrating into the academic development world within the liminal space in which postdoctoral scholars generally exist. While postdoctoral scholars offer significant opportunities to increase research in teaching and learning, their roles in academic development and SoTL require further conceptualizing to ensure their success.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic development
• postdoctoral scholars
• scholarship of teaching and learning
• self-study
• SoTL

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Natasha Kenny and Dr. Nancy Chick for their support, advice, and encouragement. We also thank the Vice-Provost Research and Provost of our institution for funding our postdoctoral fellowships.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lorelli Nowell

Lorelli Nowell RN, PhD, is an Eyes High Postdoctoral Scholar and Educational Development Consultant at the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning.

Kimberley A. Grant

Kimberley A. Grant PhD, is an Educational Development Consultant at the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning.

Kiara Mikita

Kiara Mikita PhD, in an Educational Development Consultant in Research in Teaching and Learning at the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning.