Call for Proposals

The theme of the 2025 Symposium is Opening Borders: Cultivating an Inclusive and Sustainable SoTL. As the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning progresses, SoTL scholars have the opportunity to co-create a forward looking field that intentionally welcomes a breadth of perspectives and positionalities. Opening Borders invites us to examine and expand the boundaries of SoTL at a time of complexity, opportunity, and rapid change. Our intent is to encompass pathways that promote multiple viewpoints and positionalities, enacting principles of justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility through engagement with SoTL.

Proposals are encouraged from students, faculty, administrators, or community members committed to the systematic scholarly inquiry into aspects of teaching and learning in higher education. We invite proposals that demonstrate collaborative approaches with students and/or across disciplines and contexts. We welcome all submissions but preference is given to proposals that align with this year’s theme.

Formats

We are offering four different formats for engaging in discussions:
I) oral presentation,
II) roundtable discussion,
III) poster presentation,
and IV) pre-conference workshop

Oral Presentation (40 mins): If you are ready to disseminate your research, or parts thereof, consider an oral presentation. Whether a single presenter or a research team, you will have access to a mid-sized room with row seating for attendees, and a visual projection system. (maximum 30 mins presentation + 10 mins for discussion).

Roundtable discussions (3 x 20 min): In this popular roundtable discussion format, presenters will be seated at a table to have conversations and share their projects in an informal, low-tech format. This is especially suitable for work-in-progress, calls for collaboration, or those newer to SoTL. Multiple roundtables will run simultaneously in a larger room, and you’ll have the opportunity to engage with three small audiences during the session.

Posters Session The poster session is a long-standing and popular tradition of the Symposium. Presenters are invited to go public with their ideas during an evening event with refreshments and hors d'oeuvres. What do you want to share? And how do you wish to engage with attendees at the event? Interactive and creative posters are encouraged but not required (think: stickies, QR codes, opening flaps). Most important is that you have ideas to share and you’re looking for direct feedback through conversation.

Pre-conference Workshop There are a limited number of pre-conference workshops offered. Submit a proposal if you are interested in offering one of these 3-hour sessions. Pre-conference workshop proposals should be active in design.

Conference tracks

We invite proposals that match one of the Conference tracks (see below) from individuals or teams of scholars.

• Research on teaching and learning – sharing findings from in-progress or complete SoTL inquiry projects, such as investigations of innovative pedagogies, student learning, or other aspects of post-secondary teaching and learning, with the full breadth of research methodologies welcome.
• Challenging ways of being, knowing, and doing - Discussions and research focused on critical issues in SoTL, such as social justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, students-as-partners, decolonization, and Indigenization.
• Theories and methods of SoTL - exploring conceptual issues, methodological approaches, and/or thought provoking questions about SoTL as a field.

Submissions

Scholarship is at the center of all successful proposals. We do not accept faculty development workshops at this symposium. Rather, we follow Peter Felten’s (2013) Principles of Good SoTL Practice in seeking abstracts that demonstrate the following elements:

• inquiry into student learning,
• grounded in context,
• methodologically sound,
• conducted in partnership with students, and
• appropriately public.

The following is required for all submission formats:

• names, affiliations, and contact email addresses for each presenter
• session title
• identify appropriate conference track
• maximum 150-word brief description for the symposium program to be published as-is
• maximum 300-word abstract for review, including in-text citations (3-5)
• maximum optional 50-word statement on how the proposal aligns with the theme
• bibliography listing 3-5 references, cited in your abstract

At least three experienced SoTL practitioners will anonymously review all proposals for relevance, fit to conference track, quality, and (when appropriate) audience engagement. While they review the session description, they will consider the following questions and criteria:

• Does the session description identify and explain how the content relates to important question(s) related to SoTL that would be of interest to SoTL practitioners?
• Does the session description demonstrate an understanding of SoTL issues and/or existing scholarship in the field?
• Is it grounded in context and methodologically sound?
• Where appropriate, are research questions, research methods/methodologies, and/or theoretical or conceptual framings articulated?
• Does the session include a relevant bibliography of up to 5 references?
• Where appropriate, is an indication of audience engagement described?
• How well does the proposal align to the conference theme and conference track(s)?

Felten, P. (2013). Principles of good practice in SoTL. Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 1(1), 121–125. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.1.1.121