Our current SoTL Scholar Feature focuses on Amanda Storm, a faculty member in the Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Storm has extensive research experience in understanding how aspects of protein sequence and structure translate into functional diversity. She has taught at WCU for over 7 years. Her courses include General Biology II, Biotechnology First Year Seminar, Introduction to Genetics, Principles of Biotechnology and Protein Bioinformatics.  

What started you on your SoTL journey?  

I was first introduced to learning theory and pedagogy when I was able to take some science education courses and attend a Lilly Conference during my PhD. My interest in science and ‘how things work’ extends to ‘how we learn’ (which is basically biochemistry) but, though I applied ideas from SoTL, I hadn’t made time to start a SoTL project myself until recently. The main obstacle was the time and guidance needed to plan and apply the systematic aspects of intentional data collection and analysis.  

How has joining the SoTL Academy impacted your work? 

With all the responsibilities that faculty have to juggle, for me to add the SoTL plate to the mix required the encouragement, support and accountability that the SoTL Academy offered. The retreat offered a dedicated time to plan, the continued, periodic events kept progress moving, and the connection to people of various expertise helped navigate challenges and best practices.

What type of SoTL research are you conducting? 

My current project relates to understanding student use of course materials. It stemmed from an initial pilot of switching my sophomore Genetics course from a textbook to OER material, so I was providing students with course material in different formats including presentation slides, online articles and textbook sections, tutorial videos, animations, and interactives. I wondered if students would have a preference for a particular format of course material, given the choice.  So, that is what I ended up just asking students through peer-led interviews conducted by a student researcher while also monitoring if there are differences in what course materials students access on Canvas.  

Anything else you would like to share? 

To add a plug for the CFC – even if you don’t have an interest in adding another project to your life, SoTL events never fail to be an encouraging, up-lifting experience for me. They are an opportunity to validate the challenges of teaching, celebrate our successes and affirm the importance of the efforts we put into quality teaching. 

Want to Learn more about SoTL at WCU?
Check out the CFC’s Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) page

Riouff has extensive experience in the Public Health field and has taught at WCU for 5 years. Her courses include Introduction to Public Health, Introduction to Global Health, Food Protection and Sanitation, and Institutional and Residential Environments. 

I became interested in SoTL because I haven’t had formal teaching training. I came from Public Health practice, and education was a big part of what I did. However, the student demographics were different. I wanted to have a resource for improving teaching techniques and have a way of following data to see where or how I could reach my students effectively and efficiently. 

How has joining the SoTL Academy impacted your work? 

The value of SoTL is the collaboration amongst peers and the mentorship that took place between the SoTL Faculty Fellows and SoTL Scholars. I had many ideas and bouncing them off others was powerful in deciding where my focus should land. In addition, the Institutional Review Board process can be challenging, and having a mentor was quite helpful in making this process seamless. 

What type of SoTL research are you conducting? 

The SoTL Project I landed on was evaluating curriculum to reflect the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) workplace competencies. I am striving for intentional academic practices that will help students transition into their desired career to be work-ready and life-long self-directed learners.  I hope that by doing this, they will be able to tie the content learned to practice and help them gain confidence in the work that they will be doing. 

Anything else you would like to share? 

Being a SoTL Scholar is important to me because I am a lifelong learner, and I want to lead by example.  Adjusting teaching practices to provide an equitable approach that enables all students to learn and grow their educational and professional interests is the value of SoTL. 

Want to Learn more about SoTL at WCU?
Check out the CFC’s Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) page