What happens when instructors stop wondering “is this working?” and start designing studies to find out? That’s the driving question behind the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Scholars Fellowship at the Institute for Teaching, Innovation, and Inclusive Pedagogy (TIIP), and this year, we welcomed our first cohort of fellows to find out together.
The SoTL Scholars Fellowship supports Rutgers – New Brunswick faculty in designing and conducting SoTL research, providing structure, community, and guidance through every stage of the process, from research questions to Institutional Review Board to findings. This year’s inaugural cohort includes two fellows whose work could not look more different on the surface, but share a deeper question: what does technology actually do for the students who need it most?
Dr. Christine Cahill, Department of Political Science
Dr. Christine Cahill teaches Introduction to Political Science Research Methods, a high-enrollment course that, like many courses across Rutgers – New Brunswick, has had to grapple with the widespread use of generative AI. Rather than simply restrict or permit AI tools, Dr. Cahill wanted to understand whether thoughtful AI integration could close achievement gaps rather than widen them.
Dr. Cahill says, “I wanted to do this overhaul with an emphasis on equity while preserving learning objectives, but I found very little literature that investigates how strategic AI interventions in quantitative courses affect achievement gaps. This motivated me to do my own study.”
Her study uses a controlled comparison design across two sections of 75 students each. In one section, the course runs traditionally, with AI discussed as a concept but not permitted for assessments. In the other, students first learn coding and data visualization the traditional way, then practice using AI to do the same tasks, and finally write a memo to a hypothetical supervisor explaining the strengths and weaknesses of AI-assisted work. Pre- and post-semester surveys, course grades, and assignment responses will help Dr. Cahill track changes in achievement, sense of belonging in quantitative spaces, and self-efficacy with coding and data visualization.
Data collection is ongoing, and the full picture is still emerging. But the study is already yielding something valuable: a carefully designed framework for asking equity-centered questions about AI in STEM and quantitative courses, where that literature is still limited.
Dr. Sara Sáez-Fajardo, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Dr. Sara Sáez-Fajardo is in the middle of building something new: an entirely redesigned Spanish-language program spanning multiple course levels and asynchronous online and hybrid modalities. The challenge she kept running into was one many online instructors face. Asynchronous courses, by design, lack the spontaneous live interaction that language acquisition research consistently identifies as essential. So, she built it in and then designed a study to find out whether it worked.
Her two-semester study introduces students in online Spanish courses to three types of interactive speaking tasks: peer conversation partners, international conversation partners through a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) partnership with a university in Colombia, and a rule-based chatbot designed for structured, low-stakes practice. Pre- and post-assessments measure speaking proficiency, and surveys capture students’ perceptions of each modality.
Data collection is ongoing, but survey results are already generating interesting insights. Most students preferred interacting with human conversation partners for the authentic, natural communication they provide. But a meaningful number preferred the chatbot, citing the ability to practice without social pressure, work at their own pace, and notice and correct errors in a more targeted way. Dr. Sáez-Fajardo hadn’t anticipated how much that low-stakes quality would matter to some learners.
“I assumed that all learners would prefer talking with a human conversation partner,” Dr. Sáez-Fajardo reflects, “but did not anticipate the affordances that chatbots could offer to more shy or self-conscious students.”
What They’ve Learned So Far
Both fellows are quick to say that the process itself has been as instructive as the data. A few pieces of advice they’d pass along to colleagues curious about SoTL:
You probably already have more than you think. Dr. Sáez-Fajardo points out that many of the practices instructors already use, such as end-of-semester surveys, background questionnaires, and formative assessments, can be integrated into a SoTL study with relatively little additional burden. “All they need is a clear theoretical framework for their investigation and an IRB if they want to publish their results,” says Dr. Sáez-Fajardo.
Community makes it feasible. Dr. Cahill credits early conversations with a colleague for helping her turn a vague idea into a workable project. Finding someone a few steps ahead, whether through the fellowship, a community of practice, or a lunch conversation, can be the difference between an idea that stays in your head and one that becomes a study.
Structure helps you stay the course. Dr. Sáez-Fajardo found that the accountability built into the fellowship, monthly meetings, conferences as milestones, opportunities to share work in progress, gave a long multi-semester project the scaffolding it needed to stay on track.
Join the Next Cohort
Applications for the 2026–2027 SoTL Scholars Fellowship are now open! This year, we will be accepting three SoTL Scholars. Whether you are just beginning to explore or have years of experience, we want to support your projects! Applications are due June 1, 2026. Please click this link to find out more.
If you have a teaching question you’ve been sitting on, this is the year to design a study around it. Contact Crystal Quillen, Assistant Director for Teaching and Learning Scholarship, to learn more.
Not ready to commit to a full study? The SoTL Community of Practice is a community for Rutgers instructors at any stage of SoTL engagement, whether you’re curious, just getting started, or looking to connect with colleagues who share your interest in teaching and learning research. Contact Crystal to get involved.