2.7 Measuring impact

Hutchings (2019) encourages SoTL practice to expand by including projects beyond individual classrooms and as a process of cultural change in an institution. SoTL should not be a set of isolated projects but a weave of interests, investigations, values and habits of educators and the institution to strengthen the learning experience of students.

There is, however, a concern that increasing quest for impact at institution level in higher education and integration of impact in the narratives of accountability and performance measurement could be counter-productive to SoTL. A focus on metric-driven impact assessment of SoTL may restrict the creativity and innovation of educators and limit the scope of individual inquiries which, ultimately, would negatively affect an educator’s reflective practice and student experience. Hence, the drive towards metric-driven impact evaluation should be approached with caution and care.