Distinguished Lecture in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Dr. Janice Miller-Young

About this event

About the series

The Distinguished Lecture in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) an annual lecture series that showcases leading scholars whose work has shaped thinking and practice in teaching and learning in higher education. The series provides a forum for engaging with impactful SoTL research, tracing scholars’ pathways into SoTL, and exploring how evidence-informed pedagogical inquiry can enhance student learning.

Speaker Biography

Janice Miller-Young, PhD, P.Eng. (external link)  is a Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Director of Engineering Experiential Learning at the University of Alberta. She conducts Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research in her own teaching context and enjoys mentoring colleagues interested in researching their teaching and contributing to the field. She has authored, co-authored, and co-edited numerous articles, book chapters, and three books which describe SoTL projects, SoTL methodologies and frameworks, and SoTL identity. Her most recent empirical work has examined students’ sense of belonging in engineering.

Abstract

This Distinguished lecture traces my personal and scholarly journey in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), beginning with my first small study and expanding outward into multi-year and mixed method research programs.  I begin by reflecting on my first SoTL project, as an engineering faculty member seeking to better understand my students’ visualization skills through think-aloud interviews.  This early study laid the foundation for my sustained interest in both understanding student experience and experimenting with research methodologies that are new to me. 

I describe how my work evolved as I became increasingly comfortable with qualitative approaches, moving from method exploration to intentional methodological design. Over time, this trajectory led me to favour mixed methods research, particularly for studying complex learning phenomena in engineering education where cognitive, social, and contextual dimensions intersect. Through selected examples, I illustrate how methodological choices shaped not only my findings, but also how I came to conceptualize student learning, student experience, and evidence in SoTL.

Beyond individual studies, I engage with emerging conversations in the SoTL literature about what is needed to move the field forward. In particular, I discuss the value of ecological frameworks and (critical) realist research paradigms for addressing complexity, linking individual learning to broader educational systems, and strengthening the explanatory power of SoTL research.

Rather than offering a prescriptive roadmap, this lecture invites attendees to view SoTL as an ongoing scholarly journey—one that requires curiosity, humility, reflexivity, and collaboration. By sharing both my intellectual development and the evolving nature of my research practice, I aim to open space for others to reflect on their own SoTL trajectories and on the kinds of scholarly practices needed to sustain and advance the field.

Facilitated by

Jacky Deng, Educational Developer, Teaching Development

Host

This event is presented by the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching.

Registration Support: If registration is closed, or you require support registering for this event, please email askcelt@torontomu.ca.