The Center for Engaged Learning invites scholars to contribute data sets to the new, curated Center for Engaged Learning Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Data Archive (CEL-SoTL).

About the CEL-SoTL Data Archive

The Center created the data archive to facilitate additional analysis of – and across – existing SoTL data sets. CEL-SoTL accepts both quantitative and qualitative SoTL data. Although anonymous users can search the database and see basic descriptors of the available data, view/download access to CEL-SoTL data sets are password protected. Additionally, some data sets are only available to affiliated research teams until the teams’ publications are complete.

In 2013 Lee Shulman addressed the challenge of balancing large-scale studies and bodies of published research (Evidence 1) with continual data collection and assessment in local contexts (Evidence 2). He argues that education stakeholders need a “systematic set of protocols” for reexamining evidence, for analyzing the categories of evidence in play, and for combining types of evidence to form practical arguments (Evidence 3).

Of course, to reexamine evidence, scholars need shared access to that evidence. The Center for Engaged Learning Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Data Archive (CEL-SoTL) is designed to provide that access.

Using CEL-SoTL data sets, researchers can: conduct content/text/discourse analyses of similar data sets from different institutions or time periods, complete secondary analyses of related data sets from different learning contexts, or pursue meta-analyses, among other possibilities.
Projects included in the CEL-SoTL Data Archive are curated to ensure quality, access, and confidentiality.

Quality

During the submission process, principal investigators provide descriptive information about the data set, indicate which institutional or ethics review board approved the study, and describe confidentiality measures to protect the participants. These submission steps help curators include data sets that reflect principles of good practice in SoTL and inventory them in ways that make it easier for users to find relevant studies through the site’s search tools.

Access and Membership

Although anonymous users can search the database and see basic descriptors of the available data, view/download access to CEL-SoTL datasets is password protected. Additionally, some datasets are only available to affiliated research teams until the teams’ publications are complete.
Membership is free to active scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) scholars but must be authorized by the CEL-SoTL Data Archive curation team.

Confidentiality

Submitted studies are screened for confidentiality and privacy concerns. Data sets must be deidentified (removing names, addresses, social security numbers, etc.) before they are accepted into the data archive.

Please direct questions about the CEL-SoTL Data Archive to Jessie L. Moore, Director of the Center for Engaged Learning.

How to cite this post:

SoTL Data Archive. 2018, January 22. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/sotl-data-archive/