Elevating Teaching with a SoTL Approach

Kennesaw State University’s strategic plan prioritizes fostering pedagogical innovation and inquiry. The Course Redesign Institute (CRI) is designed to address this goal and support faculty in becoming leaders in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). The CRI will introduce SoTL as both a mindset and a methodology for course improvement. Faculty will bring their curiosity about how student learning can be transformed into meaningful inquiries, how evidence can be gathered from everyday teaching contexts, and how findings can inform iterative course redesign. Emphasis is placed on thoughtful curation and alignment of learning outcomes, assessments, and learning activities that will produce a strong learning experience for the students and serve as a foundation for a high-quality SoTL project.  

This CRI is an opportunity for faculty to transform existing courses using evidence-based approaches supporting each element in the course design process. Upon completion, faculty will be better prepared to take a scholarly teaching approach and study the impact of their redesign.  

For the purposes of this institute, we take an expansive definition of SoTL as systematic and/or reflective scholarship on higher education that involves methodologically sound application of appropriate scholarly methods, academic peer review, and distribution as scholarly work. In this definition, SoTL is inclusive of similar terms that describe higher education scholarship such as Discipline-Based Educational Research (DBER).  

This institute is open to full-time, contracted faculty who teach in all delivery modalities (online, blended, or traditional face-to-face) who are just beginning their experience with SoTL at a SoTL Learner level. The institute is intentionally designed to be an inclusive and interdisciplinary environment. During the institute, participants are exposed to course design theory and theories of scholarly teaching grounded in an inquiry approach, while integrating foundational SoTL principles.  

Throughout the institute, participants are provided time to work on their course alone, get feedback from colleagues, and receive assistance and feedback from workshop facilitators. Each day, participants work on different elements of their course and share their outcomes in a SoTL Planning Journal.  

Faculty accepted to this Institute will be paid a stipend of $1,500 upon completion of the requirements. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the Course Redesign Institute:

  • May 14th, 15th, 19th, and 20th, 2026, with a workload of 36 hours over the course of the two weeks. The institute will be 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. each day.

  • Upon completion of the institute requirements, each accepted faculty member will receive $1,500* in summer pay for their participation in this Institute. Each faculty member is responsible for ensuring the assignment does not go over their summer workload limits. 

    *Summer compensation counts towards the 33.33% maximum per faculty member. Overages may not be shifted to development funds in the future. All participants must provide the expected deliverables to receive the compensation.

  • All KSU full-time, contracted faculty members, who are just starting their experience with SoTL at a SoTL Learner level, and who are contracted to teach the course during the Fall 2026 semester are eligible for this program. Faculty are required to watch the “What is SoTL” video (1 minute) and complete the Getting Started with SoTL micro-credential (15 minutes) prior to submission of the application. 
  • Follow the online application submission instructions. Only completed online applications that include approval from the supervisor(s)/chair(s)/director(s) will be accepted.
  • To receive the summer pay, faculty who are accepted into this Institute must do the following by June 2, 2026:  
    • Earn the SoTL Learner level of the KSU SoTL Scaffold prior to May 1, 2026. 
    • Participate in the Institute (4 days) in its entirety. 
    • Produce a completed SoTL Planning Journal addressing the the prompts for a course to be taught in Fall 2026. 
    • Produce an updated syllabus draft for a course to be taught in Fall 2026.  
    • Complete the SoTL Fundamentals Micro-credential  

    In addition, participants are expected to do the following after receiving the summer pay:

  • The application deadline for the 2026 institute is Monday, February 16, 2026, at 11:59pm. 

  • All applicants will be notified of the decision within approximately three weeks after the application deadline.
  • Up to 16 faculty members can be funded for this institute.

Application and Selection Process

The Faculty Development Committee reviews applications as part of a competitive application process. A limited number of participants are selected. Applications will be scored on the following criteria:

  • Their interest in/commitment to scholarly teaching and studying the impact of course redesign
  • Clear description of course to be redesigned, including name, modality, and number of students
  • Their interest in learning more about the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

Please notify your supervisor/chair/director of your intent to apply for this institute. Once you apply through the InfoReady application, they will receive an email prompting them to approve your application for review and confirming your eligibility.  

InfoReady Application