Advanced Program

professor with student in lab with test tubes

As a result of your participation in the Peer Review of Teaching Project, now known as Faculty-Led Inquiry into Reflective and Scholarly Teaching (FIRST), do you have more questions about your students' learning that you would like to explore? The advanced program provides you the structure to further your inquiry into your teaching and your students’ learning.

The advanced program offers a space for continued conversations and written reflection about teaching and improving student learning. Specifically, the advanced program is designed to support faculty interested in developing a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) project. The advanced program seeks to provide you with the resources to develop manuscripts and/or presentations that have a reach beyond the University of Nebraska.

What is a SOTL project?

In comparison to the benchmark portfolio that you developed in the first-year program, a SOTL project can be thought of as more akin to an inquiry portfolio that focuses on answering a specific question or issue regarding teaching practices, course structures, and/or student learning over time (e.g., effectiveness of a semester project or impact of essay examinations on you students’ learning). As such, a key aspect is posing a question you want to answer about your teaching and/or students’ learning and then mapping out an assessment plan to be able to answer it.

How is the program structured?

The program is structured in a very similar way as the first-year program. Participants attend meetings and retreats where they are provided with guidance from the leadership team. The leadership team facilitates group conversations and guides your progress throughout the year. In addition, these leaders will be available to answer questions and offer advice to you as you develop your SOTL project. We offer structure and support in assisting with the approval for human participation research, methods and data analysis consulting, and identifying suitable outlets for work.

Is the advanced program like the first-year program?

Like the first-year program, the advanced program offers you structure, set-aside time, and guidance to develop your project. In contrast to the first-year program, the audience is broader for your advanced project with the goal of contributing to the scholarship of teaching and learning generally or within your specific field. If you participate in the fall-start program, then you must focus on a spring semester course; if you participate in the spring-start program, then you must focus on a fall semester course. In the first semester, you will define your project and then in the following semester when teaching the course, you will collect examples of student learning.

As an advanced participant, you will also be required to present your work in a poster session at the end-of-the-program retreat in May for the fall-start project and December for the spring-start project.

What financial support Is provided?

Upon successful completion of the program, you will receive a stipend of $500. Successfully completing the program involves attending the meetings, completing the assignments (including the poster session), and submitting your project as a presentation to a conference or for publication to a journal or as a book chapter.

When are the required meetings for the 2024 Spring-Start cohort?

  • Saturday, March 2 – 10:30 am to 12 pm 
  • Tuesday, May 21 – 11:00 am to 3:00 pm 
  • Friday, August 23  - 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
  • Saturday, October 26 - 11:00 am to 3:00 pm 
  • Tuesday, December 17 - 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

To apply for the program, please complete this short questionnaire.

Space is extremely limited and preference for participation is given to faculty members who have not previously participated in the advanced program.

The deadline to apply for the 2024 Spring-Start cohort is February 9, 2024

The deadline to apply for the 2024 Fall-Start cohort will be in July 2024