GAUISUS - Scholarship on Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University

SELECTED SCHOLARSHIP ON TEACHING AND LEARNING at ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY

Seal of the Cross Endowed Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Office of the Cross Endowed Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

WELCOME TO GAUISUS

Gauisus is the internal, peer-reviewed scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) publication at Illinois State University (ISU). At ISU we define the scholarship of teaching and learning as the “systematic reflection/study on teaching and learning [of our ISU students] made public.” SoTL is an action item in ISU’s strategic plan, Educating Illinois. The first volume of Gauisus appeared in 2009 in print and pdf form and contained 13 traditional scholarly articles or notes. The second and subsequent volumes are multi-media publications and will appear on line every late spring. Each will contain several representations of SoTL work. Representations may be scholarly papers or notes, online posters, videos, wikis or blogs and so on.

The purposes of Gauisus are the following: 1) to provide instructors writing about their teaching and learning a local but peer reviewed outlet to share what they and their students have done and learned and 2) to offer other instructors and students an accessible publication to read to obtain a sense of, and learn from, some of the scholarly teaching and SoTL projects conducted by their colleagues on our campus.

The name of the volume, Gauisus: Selected scholarship on teaching and learning at Illinois State University, stems from a “name the publication” contest in 2008. Pete Juvinall’s entry was chosen. Gauisus means glad, gladly, or joyful in Latin, as in the Illinois State motto/logo, “Gladly we learn and teach.” Reviewers are volunteers from ISU, and sometimes beyond, who must apply and are selected based on their experience with SoTL and reviewing scholarly work.

The office of the Cross Endowed Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University is the primary unit supporting SoTL work and is the publisher of this volume. K. Patricia Cross endowed the Cross Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University in honor of her father, Clarence L. Cross, a beloved teacher of physics at Illinois State for more than 30 years.