Participatory Action Research as a Rationale for Student Voices in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

The growing number of institutions in higher education where students are actively entering into the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) attests to a powerful paradigm shift in which students are recognized and supported as important partners in understanding and improving teaching and learning. This chapter offers participatory action research (PAR) as a valuable alternative to other research approaches for SoTL and provides a methodological rationale for including students as co-researchers. To explain Western Washington University’s PAR-SoTL model, the chapter describes PAR as a research method and methodology. It then examines our TLA as a PAR-SoTL case study and detail seven significant ways it incorporates PAR principles. Finally, drawing upon our anthropological training, the chapter reflects upon the participant observation in the TLA, describes the process of coming to the realization that SoTL work in the TLA is a PAR process, and shares the profound impact of the authors' new collective knowledge made possible by the inclusion of student voices.