Why Does SoTL Happen in a Librarian-Free Zone?

Abstract

This exploratory study seeks to gather preliminary information about the roles that academic librarians in the United States (US) and Canada play in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) work on their campuses. It also provides insight into how librarians at US Carnegie Research 1 (R1) classified universities and U15 Group of Canadian Universities (U15) participate in SoTL, to discover ways by which these librarians might grow these roles, as well as their understanding of SoTL expertise, to better support students. Data was collected through an internationally distributed survey. The authors used thematic analysis along with descriptive statistics to examine how academic librarians participated in SoTL practices as consultants, developers, partners, and scholars. Results from this study expand upon prior research on the role of librarians in this field of study and examines how barriers can be broken down to improve the working relationships between teaching faculty and librarians at research intensive universities to enhance student learning.