Welcome to eSTEeM

Centre for Scholarship and Innovation

eSTEeM is the Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Centre for Scholarship and Innovation based at The Open University. Established in 2010, eSTEeM brings together STEM academic, academic-related staff and students to promote the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) in open and distance learning.

Our portfolio of projects includes work on assessment, technologies for STEM learning and improved methods of student support. Many of our scholarship projects focus on how we can enhance the student experience with an increasing number investigating and evaluating innovative approaches to teaching and learning in STEM.

What is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)?

We define SoTL as "systematic and ethically reasoned investigation of aspects of teaching and student learning by applying disciplinary knowledge, resulting in reflections and outcomes that are publicly shared for peer-review and for others to build upon." (Minocha and Butler, 2021)

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning is important in three respects:

For students allowing us to systematically evaluate our teaching to improve the quality of student learning;

For academic disciplines and institutions ensuring that we base innovation and future development on robust evaluation and enabling our teaching and learning to be recognised externally for its excellence and impact;

For practitioners allowing staff to develop their professional practice in the field of teaching and learning.