EuroSoTL 2017 – Transforming patterns through the scholarship of teaching and learning

As part of a course in collegial teaching and learning in STEM education (CPC2016) arranged by bioCEED for educators at UiB and UNIS, participants presented our course projects as full papers on the EuroSoTL 2017 conference at Lund University on June 7th-9th (for a view of the papers click here). The conference addressed a wide range of topics related to educators` work to improve teaching and learning, and included workshops where new tools were demonstrated. I found potentially new uses for my childrens old LEGO after joining the LEGO Workshop using construction as a tool for reflection, and was inspired to test the use of electronic notebooks for field cruises. From having a background in joining conferences in natural science, joining a conference focused on education was a new but refreshing experience. The high quality of the presentations and the following discussions gave new insights I can use when developing my own teaching. As an additional inspiration for further development as an educator, my colleagues Chris Borstad, Mads Forchhammer and I received The Joanna Renc-Roe Award for our course project on active learning and course alignment based on our work from UNIS courses. Receiving the award will inspire us to keep pushing the boundaries of SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) within the framework of bioCEED at UNIS. Although it was my first SoTL conference, it will definitely not be my last – and I am very much looking forward to the ISSoTL 2018 conference in Bergen.

Tove M. Gabrielsen

 Photo: Anders Ahlberg