Contributor: CELT Photo: News Center Editor: Zhang Yeye Review: Pang Haishao

On the 21st,22nd&23rd of August 2020, the SoTL-China international conference was held in Beijing. The conference was organized in conjunction with Beijing Institute of Technology（BIT） and the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL), CHED, CASE etc. and it is the first high-level international conference on scholarship of teaching and learning held in China. The conference’s theme was set as SoTL：Global Vision and Local Practice. Experts and scholars from many countries were invited to explore the theme in different dimensions, such as the content of SoTL from an international perspective and the practice of SoTL in higher education in China.

Ten keynote speakers addressed these aspects in various ways. ZHANG Jun, he president of BIT, reflected on teaching and learning of higher education in the new era. GUO Dongming,the president of Dalian University of Technology, analyzed the educational plan of "Classmate Friendship" for elite talents in Chinese and foreign first-class universities. REN Youqun, director of of Teacher Education of MOE explored how to deepen the reform of university teachers’ evaluation system and inspire their innovative vitality. Professor Anthony Ciccone, the former CASTL director, demonstrated the history evolution and principles of SoTL and explained challenges and lessons learned from practice. Professor ZHAO Juming discussed some major academic issues in SoTL. Poon Wai-Yin Isabella, the vice president of Chinese University of Hong Kong, introduced the implementation of real-time synchronized online teaching. Professor CHEN Xiangming shared her experiences from a study on prospective teachers’ internship to explore how to develop a theoretical framework in qualitative research. Michelle Yeo, the president of ISSOTL, considered informing and invigorating practice are the most important reasons people engage in SoTL. Professor Milton Cox discussed the scholarship of learning communities from an international perspective and evidence. Professor FAN Yihong demonstrated the essence of multiple scholarship and presented the practice of holistic education which aims to foster creative talents.

In the Beijing Time 19:00-22:00 of the 21st and 23rd, nine workshops were arranged. Moderators and participants conducted in-depth study and lively discussions on the following issues: team learning and teaching in SoTL (Moderators SANG Xinmin & XIE Yangbin ), integrating SoTL into Your Teaching: How Teaching is Research (Moderators Spencer Benson ), Exploring Research Questions in Classroom Teaching (Moderators DING Yan ), practical strategies of SoTL activities (Moderators LI Saiqiang & YANG Xianmei ), PBL interdisciplinary course design in the perspective of multiple scholarship(Moderators FAN Yihong ), instructional design on student-centered blended learning( Moderators PANG Haishao & WANG Qing), how Teachers Do Teaching Research(Moderators WANG Qiong ), SoTL and Faculty Development(Moderators GAO Qi ), course-embedded assessment of learning outcomes for ideology nurturing embedded in college teaching(Moderators SUN Jianrong ) and so on.

At the Beijing Time 19:00-22:00 of the 22nd, 82 speakers delivered 54 brilliant reports at 11 parallel sessions. They mainly focus on five issues: the domains of scholarship in different cultural backgrounds, SoTL from an international perspective, the practice of SoTL in higher education in China, SoTL in different disciplines, the domains of scholarship and faculty assessment.

The conference received 101 submissions from different countries and regions, including 58 full-text papers and 19 posters. More than 130 experts, scholars, university teachers and students presented at the conference in different forms, bringing an academic feast of SoTL. 45 foreign scholars from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Singapore and other countries meet Chinese scholars online, enthusiastically participated in speeches and discussions, shared academic ideas on SoTL, and exchanged teaching innovation experiences.

The 2020 SoTL -China international conference is a high-level and international event in the field of SoTL. The three-day international conference attracted 1,039 official participants from home and abroad to gather at VooV Meeting. A total of 75,028 people from all over the world watched the opening ceremony and the plenary session through the online live broadcast platform of BIT Yanhe Classroom and XuetangX, of which 8,778 were watched by the English Channel. The advanced research field, substantial content, unobstructed communication, elaborate organization, together with superior difficulty and multilateral technical assistance, won high praise from the participants. The feedback surveys after the conference showed that the participants' satisfaction with the meeting was up to 98.7%. The representatives left thousands of messages in the feedback questionnaire, Wechat group, QQ group, etc., such as，‘Thanks to this conference, I have a glimpse of the academic frontier, deepen the understanding of SoTL, and expand the vision of multiple scholarship. ’
The 2020 SoTL-China international conference will attract more faculties to join the SoTL ‘big tent’ to form many diverse SoTL communities, and promote the SoTL scholars’ cooperation between China and around the world.