Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Our Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research stream is the first established in academic pharmacy in Canada. Aiming to address contemporary challenges facing pharmacy education, faculty members in SoTL engage in rigorous scholarly inquiry into their teaching and their students' learning, with an eye to increasing the Faculty's educational research capacity, and to enhancing teaching practice, student learning and curriculum decision-making. 

 
SUPPORTING OPTIMAL LEARNING IN PHARMACY AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is emerging as a critical area of scholarly activity within the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Our SoTL research stream seeks to increase educational research capacity within the Faculty and beyond through systematic and evidence-based improvements to the way we teach, to the way our students learn, and to how we shape curriculum. This stream fills a need in the current research landscape within pharmacy and is critical for addressing contemporary challenges facing pharmacy education. Aligned with national and international trends in higher education, the SoTL research stream builds on UBC’s long history at the forefront of the SoTL field and the Faculty’s reputation for active involvement in SoTL activities locally, nationally and internationally. The stream offers state-of-the-art facilities and a core group of SoTL scholars with training in curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and faculty development practices, as well as expertise in diverse research methodologies including quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods approaches. 

Although our SoTL stream does not currently offer a graduate program in pharmacy education, we can advise prospective students on existing programs in the UBC Faculty of Education. Additionally, stream members are available to participate on advisory/supervisory committees for students pursuing such programs. The stream offers a supportive, collaborative environment for faculty members engaging in rigorous scholarly inquiry into their teaching practices, the learning achieved by their students, and the outcomes of innovations in instructional, assessment, and curricular design and implementation strategies. 

Effective and appropriate SoTL research requires that researchers be familiar with the relevant theories and literature on learning-centred teaching and curriculum design. It also demands that research questions be significant; that there is congruence between the research questions and the methods used; that current standards for ethical treatment of human subjects are adhered to; and that findings are open to peer review and public sharing.