Looking back at ISSOTL23: A successful adventure in SoTL

In 2022, Irma Meijerman received a call from the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL). In this call the question asked who would be interested in organizing the annual ISSOTL conference. This conference fitted perfectly with the SoTL and HER initiatives at Utrecht University. Academic Director Manon Kluijtmans immediately responded very enthusiastically to the idea and together with her and the CAT, Irma prepared a proposal. This resulted in the gratifying news that Utrecht University was allowed to host the conference in 2023!

In my role as Senior Fellow and later as Principal Fellow at the CAT, I was partly responsible for the introduction of SoTL at UU. says Irma. This included activities such as the Utrecht SoTL conference, SoTL grants and the Roadmap for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. SoTL stands for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, a structured approach to innovate and evaluate teaching to improve student learning within one's discipline.

According to ISSOTL's expectation, 400-500 participants would apply. But when the abstracts came in, that expectation was exceeded with more than 580 abstracts. Putting together a good content program around specific themes was a challenge, according to Irma, but in the end the team succeeded. This resulted in a varied program full of inspiration for all participants.

Preparations and challenges

As coordinators, Marit Boekema and Esther van der Sluis were responsible for organizing the conference. Marit highlights both fun and challenges during the preparations. Two months before the conference we were fully booked with 650 international participants. The Railway Museum served as our main venue, along with Leeuwenbergh, Sonnenborgh, the Academy Building and Paushuize. During the conference there was an abundance of creativity, ranging from a silent disco to poster sessions in train compartments, the fringe session "Dutch for beginners," sparkling keynote speakers, yoga at lunch and lunch tickets in the form of train tickets.

Despite these original ideas, the preparation also brought challenges. Marit continues: Surely the biggest challenges were managing the maximum capacity of spaces and effectively directing participants to all venues. Fortunately, successful collaboration and clear communication resulted in transforming the conference into a brilliant event.

Esther adds: It was also both fun and challenging to work with ISSOTL's standing community and organization. This of course includes certain expectations that we had to be creative with given some of the limitations at our locations, as well as learning to communicate with people in another time zone and learning a thing or two about overseas business politics. In addition, thanks to this community, there was already a very positive and enthusiastic atmosphere prior to the conference and it was great to be able to facilitate this and see it come to life.

Cooperation and pride

After the conference, Marit and Irma look back on several highlights. The poster session on Friday afternoon, spread between train compartments, created a relaxed atmosphere where participants shared ideas, according to Marit. Also the poster journey in train compartments provided an approachable meeting between disciplines. indicate Marit and Irma proudly. Irma continues: A highlight that I definitely want to mention is working with the great team at the CAT to organize such a great conference. Besides Marit and Esther, the cooperation with Anne Geesink and Mirjam van de Kraats was also very nice. Of course there were moments of stress and sleepless nights, but these did not outweigh the enthusiasm, creativity and pleasure with which we were able to design and organize this congress. Something we look back on with great pride.

Future of SoTL at UU

With the involvement of inspired colleagues and the participation of faculty from almost all UU faculties, Irma and Marit hope that SoTL will continue to grow in the coming years. It provides an opportunity not only for evidence-informed teaching, but also for faculty development in the field of education. The ISSOTL23 conference is not only a highlight, but also a leap forward in enriching education at Utrecht University.