Marna Winter, teaching professor of education and associate director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, will present two projects at the 2026 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Summit hosted by Kennesaw State University.
Marna Winter, teaching professor of education and associate director of Elon University’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL), will present two projects exploring student reflection, joy and engagement at the 2026 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Summit, held virtually Sept. 16-18.
The conference brings together educators from colleges and universities across the United States and internationally to share SoTL research and approaches to teaching. Since its beginning in 1993, the summit has developed into a space for both experienced and emerging teacher-scholars to exchange research across disciplines and explore new approaches to student learning.
In “When Students Wonder, Instructors Learn: Building a Metacognitive Feedback Loop,” Winter will present alongside Lauren Scharff, professor of psychology and director of SoTL at the United States Air Force Academy.
Their work grew from the “I Wonder” project, an activity originally used by Winter at the end of a semester to encourage students to reflect on lingering questions about their learning. Winter found that those reflections could also reveal misconceptions, gaps in understanding and areas of curiosity that could inform teaching. After presenting initial work at the 2025 SoTL Summit, Winter connected with Scharff, leading to a contribution to the Improve with Metacognition blog and ongoing collaboration. At the summit, Winter and Scharff will share new findings and introduce a metacognitive instructional cycle for using student reflection to inform pedagogical decisions.
Winter’s second presentation, “From Play to Pedagogy: Reflective Inquiry into Joy and Student Engagement,” explores how brief, intentional “mini play sessions” at the beginning of class can help students pause, connect and transition into learning. Drawing on student reflections and survey data, Winter’s ongoing SoTL inquiry considers how small moments of play can foster curiosity, focus and engagement, positioning joy not as an addition to learning but as part of creating the conditions for meaningful learning.
Together, Winter’s two presentations reflect a broader focus on her active scholarship on creating learning environments that are responsive to students and attentive to how they experience the classroom.
For Winter, presenting at the SoTL Summit offers an opportunity not only to share what she has learned through her own teaching, but also to continue developing that work through conversation with educators examining similar questions about student learning and engagement.