Reflections on My PSA Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Experiences

Abstract

This essay reflects upon the author’s Pacific Sociological Association (PSA)-related experiences with regards to the scholarship of teaching and learning over the past 28 years. Labeling this time period the “Golden Age of Scholarship on Teaching and learning,” the author proposes that the PSA has promoted and encouraged scholarship in this area in three ways: 1) by providing access to best practices, 2) by facilitating members networking with scholars who share similar interests, and 3) by exposing graduate students to best practices of teaching and learning. The author then supports this contention with examples of the increase in the number of sessions at the annual PSA meetings on both Service-Learning and On-Line Teaching during this time period. The author concludes this essay by noting how his research on supporting first-generation college students greatly benefited from PSA-facilitated networking with other scholars working in this area.