Special Interest Groups (SIG)

EuroSoTL facilitates teachers and other education professionals to exchange expertise. One way to do this is by participating in, or starting, a new Special Interest Group (SIG). See below for all current SIGs or how to start a new SIG.

A Special Interest Group (SIG) is a community where lecturers, researchers, and other higher education professionals come together around a shared interest in teaching and learning. Within a SIG, participants focus on a theme that matters to them, exchange experiences, and develop new approaches to academic teaching and learning.

At EuroSoTL, SIGs serve as platforms for collaboration and knowledge sharing across Europe. They are designed to connect colleagues from different institutions, disciplines, and countries, fostering dialogue and joint initiatives that strengthen SoTL within Europe.

While our focus is on building strong Europe-based networks, we warmly welcome colleagues from outside Europe to join and contribute their perspectives. In this way, SIGs grow into vibrant, inclusive communities where education is explored, developed, and advanced together.

Do you have an idea for a Special Interest Group (SIG)? At EuroSoTL we warmly welcome initiatives that help strengthen SoTLacross Europe. The purpose of SoTL is to encourage interaction, collaboration, and shared learning—and we see SIGs as an important way of bringing people together around common interests.

While we especially encourage SIGs that are rooted in Europe and foster collaboration between European colleagues and institutions, participants from outside Europe are very welcome to join and enrich the discussions. To make your submission easy, you can use our Word template: Download the EuroSoTL SIG Proposal Form.

To propose a new SIG, please provide:

  1. A brief description of the SIG (its focus, goals, or themes), along with:
    • A picture or figure to illustrate your SIG. Please provide the appropriate image credits.
    • A contact name and email address (this will be published on the SIG’s page so colleagues can contact you directly to join).
  2. The names and email address of one or more leaders who will act as the main contacts for EuroSoTL.
  3. A short news-style message (max. 200 words) for the EuroSoTL website’s News page, written in an engaging tone to enthuse colleagues to join your SIG. Please also include:
    • Please include a picture or figure to go with your news post. It will show up both on the website and in the newsletter for subscribers. You’re welcome to use the same image as the one for your SIG, or choose a different one if you like. If you choose a different one, please provide the appropriate image credits.

Once your SIG is approved by the EuroSoTL Board, we will publish it on the website and circulate your news message to all EuroSoTL News subscribers. We also encourage you, as initiators, to share an announcement on the EuroSoTL LinkedIN group (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13051592/) to broaden outreach and attract members.

Would you like to start a SIG? Contact Katarina Mårtensson – katarina.martensson@uvet.lu.se.

Arts-Based Research


The EuroSoTL Special Interest Group (SIG) on “Arts‐Based Research” welcomes all individuals interested in connecting with others who share similar interests.
The group focuses on exchanging knowledge about research that utilizes arts‐based and related methodologies in higher education settings.

The primary objectives of the group include advancing related topics, fostering expertise, and expanding competencies. These goals are primarily achieved through virtual meetings and specialized sessions held during EuroSoTL conferences. With a flexible and adaptive approach, the SIG does not have a predetermined outcome. Nonetheless, its members aim to collaborate on discussions, potential research initiatives, and writing opportunities, driving collective growth and innovation.

Interested to join? Please contact Theresa Valentin: theresa.valentin@uni-muenster.de

Sustainability in Higher Education

Explore, share and develop pedagogical research and teaching practices related to education for sustainability in higher education contexts.

Goals: build a network for SoTL practitioners exploring sustainability education; exchange and co-create evidence-informed practices for integrating sustainability into curricula and pedagogy; promote interdisciplinary collaboration across institutions, disciplines and countries; facilitate joint projects that advance SoTL in sustainability (e.g. research, workshops, writing groups); inspire action and raise awareness of sustainability’s role in higher education.

Interested to join? Please contact Victoria Willis: v.h.c.willis@bath.ac.uk

Image: Willis, V (2025), generated using DALL-E

Learning to do SoTL

The EuroSoTL Special Interest Group (SIG) “Learning to do SoTL” is a platform for EuroSoTL members to develop their SoTL competencies. With a focus on SoTL concepts, researchable teaching questions, research design, research methods and ways of dissemination, the SIG promotes knowledge sharing, discussion and collaboration.

The goals of the Learning to do SoTL SIG are

  • to collate existing and develop new resources and tools to help colleagues do SoTL,
  • to share understanding of SoTL concepts, good practice in designing SoTL projects, knowledge of SoTL research methods, and opportunities for dissemination,
  • to establish collaborations that enable colleagues with varying expertise to join forces and learn from each other while working on a specific SoTL project.

To achieve these goals, the SIG will build a bank of resources, run online seminars and coffee chats, and connect colleagues with different SoTL expertise.  

Interested to join? Please contact Milada (Millie) Walkova: M.Walkova@leeds.ac.uk

Image: generated using Gemini and CoPilot



Case Method in Higher Education

“Case Method in Higher Education” welcomes colleagues interested in exploring, sharing, and advancing scholarship and practice around the use of the case method in teaching and learning.

This SIG provides a collaborative platform for educators and researchers who wish to engage with the case method as a pedagogy and as a subject of SoTL inquiry. The group focuses on the design, facilitation, and assessment of case‐based learning, as well as its role in fostering critical thinking, collaboration, problem‐solving, and real‐world application across disciplines.

Goals:

  • Build a network of SoTL practitioners and educators who use or study the case method in higher education.
  • Exchange knowledge, strategies, and evidence‐informed practices for case design, teaching, and assessment.
  • Explore innovations in case‐based learning, including digital, interdisciplinary, and cross‐cultural approaches.
  • Facilitate collaborative projects (e.g. research studies, writing groups, workshops, and conference contributions).
  • Promote reflection on the case method’s impact on students, teachers, and institutions.

Interested to join? Please contact Natasha Katuta Mwila: natasha.mwila@wbs.ac.uk

Image: generated using ChatGPT

SoTL in Business Education

Whether you are just beginning your SoTL journey or already engaging in advanced inquiry, we invite you to join SoTL in Business Education – a SIG dedicated to strengthening the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning within business education; a space to learn, develop your work, share resources, ideas, challenges, and successes. 

You can look forward to conversations and events focused on current issues in business education, hands-on workshops, opportunities to co-create discussions on SoTL in business education, and networking with colleagues who share similar interests across Europe and beyond. 

Interested to join?  You can find out more and sign up here.

Contact via link above. Main contact person: Gorana Mišić