Overview

TEN is funding a PEER Field school at Rutgers-New Brunswick to support instructors who are interested in and/or engaging in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and education research!

In a PEER Field school, you will work intensively on your research project with your co-participants and our expert facilitators. The PEER curriculum covers fundamental skills like generative writing and collaborative feedback as well as foundational topics like choosing theoretical frameworks and matching research questions with data streams.

The Field School will be held in-person on the College Avenue Campus (RU-NB) June 1 – June 4, with a required kick-off meeting held via Zoom on Friday May 15th. See below for location details and meeting times on each day.

Apply by Sunday, May 10th

Instructors interested in participating in the PEER Field School should apply using this form (https://rutgers.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e3w4KeQROfmWdb8) no later than Sunday, May 10th. Space is limited. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

PEER Field School Details

Dates: June 1 – 4, 2026, in-person meetings (AB 1125 on College Ave Campus) + Kickoff meeting May 15th 1 – 3:30 pm (virtual, via Zoom)

Location: In-person session will be held in the College Ave Campus Learning Center (first floor of AB-West at 15 Seminary Place, New Brunswick). Closest faculty/staff parking lots are College Avenue Deck or Lot 30 behind the College Avenue Gym).

Objectives: Instructors who participate in the PEER Field School will:

• Learn about and develop SoTL and education research skills
• Work on their own projects and ideas
• Meet colleagues interested in SoTL and education research
• Build lasting collaborations

What is PEER?

The Professional development for Emerging Education Researchers (PEER) program helps faculty, postdocs, and graduate students learn how to do SoTL and education research through intensive workshops, research projects, mentoring, and community involvement. The central activity for PEER is participation in a Field School: an intense week of professional development workshops which jump-start your research project – whichever stage your project is currently in (from general idea to data collection/analysis, to dissemination). PEER participants learn to design research projects, collaborate ethically, conduct research, and write papers for peer-reviewed publication.

Guiding principles of PEER: PEER is responsive, playful, and communicative. These principles are reflected in the activities conducted at PEER workshops and field schools.

Additional information about PEER: https://zaposa.com/services/peer-institute

PEER facilitators: Dr. Eleanor Sayre and Dr. Myrtle Jones

• Dr. Eleanor Sayre is an Professor in the Department of Physics at Kansas State University and a Research Affiliate at Rochester Institute of Technology’s CASTLE.
• Dr. Myrtle Jones is an anthropologist who specializes in ethnography and digital communications.  She has facilitated at PEER field schools for 8 years.

Participation

Instructors participating in the Field School commit to attending the virtual kick off meeting and the four days of in-person meetings held in the College Ave Campus Learning Center.

• Kickoff meeting (virtual, via Zoom): Friday, May 15th, 1 pm – 3:30 pm.
• Monday, June 1, 9 am – 1 pm
• Tuesday, June 2, 9 am – 4 pm
• Wednesday, June 3, 9 am – 4 pm
• Thursday, June 4, 9 am – 1 pm

Lunch and morning coffee/refreshments will be provided during the Field School, as well as afternoon coffee/refreshments on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sessions will be tailored to the needs and interests of the instructors who participate in the Field School. See the FAQ below for example sessions within each of these broad categories of session topics:

• Getting started with research design
• Analysis methods
• Publishing and research communication
• Research life
• Research ethics
• Teaching students

Outcomes

Participants in the Field School can expect to

• Develop and practice fundamental research skills
• Plan their own research projects
• Build their self-efficacy in doing education research
• Receive individual feedback/consulting from PEER facilitators on their SoTL/education research ideas/projects at any stage
• Connect to support through the semester as you work to implement your course transformation

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What if I cannot attend the kick-off meeting on May 15th? Can I still apply?

Attending a kick-off meeting is required, but we might have some flexibility to offer a make-up kick-off meeting on another day. Please apply, and in your application, note that you have a conflict on May 15th.

What if I cannot attend all four days of the PEER Field School? Can I still apply?

The Field School is designed to be an intensive and comprehensive workshop. To achieve the intended outcomes requires full participation at all four days of the workshop. You can indicate your interested and availability on the application form; acceptance into the Field School will based on an instructor’s availability to participate in all four days of the Field School.

What if I cannot attend in person? Will there be a virtual option for the PEER Field School?

The Field School is designed as an in-person workshop. Instructors who are accepted into the Field School are expected to attend the in-person sessions.

Is PEER right for me?

PEER participants come from all stages of their journey into education research, from graduate students working on their dissertations to classically-trained faculty looking to switch to education researchers who want to revitalize their research lives or pivot in a new direction.

PEER is right for you if you want to grow your skills and build your community. You’re ready for PEER when you have a project in mind: from refining your ideas to getting started in paper-writing, PEER will take you to the next step.

You’re not ready for PEER if you think there’s only one right way to do education research, or if you don’t have enough freedom in your current professional life to engage in education research.

What is required on the application form?

In addition to your contact information, the form asks for

• information about the undergraduate courses you teach (and which, if any, align with your SoTL/education research interests
• confirmation that you can attend the Field School sessions
• your general SoTL/education research area(s) of interest (~1 paragraph)
• your knowledge/experience with SoTL/education research
• the kinds of sessions you’d be interested in attending
• a brief description of what you hope to gain/learn from participating in the Field School

What kinds of sessions will be offered at the PEER Field School?

The needs and interests of the instructors who participate in the Field School will influence the selection of sessions that will be offered.  Example topics are provided here, grouped by theme:

• Getting started with research design
  • building research interests into robust research projects
  • planning your research project
  • common data sources in education research
  • theories in education research
  • iterative design
• Analysis methods
  • video-based qualitative research methods
  • emergent coding
  • survey design and analysis
  • autoethnography
  • conducting research interviews
  • design-based research projects
• Publishing and research communication
  • doing lit reviews
  • structuring and publishing papers
  • making beautiful posters
  • practicing your research elevator pitch
  • talking about your research with skeptical audiences
• Research life
  • principles for being an active
  • productive researcher
  • balancing research, teaching, and life
  • our personal professional pathways
• Research ethics
  • how to collaborate ethically
  • mentor students
  • author papers together
  • work with human subjects/participants in research projects
• Teaching students
  • the challenge of listening to students
  • fostering inclusivity and equity in classrooms
  • mentoring undergraduates in research

Why do participants recommend PEER to their colleagues?

Read the testimonials at RIT’s PEER Program’s webpage.

What grounding principles guide the design of the PEER program?

Guiding principles of PEER. PEER is responsive, playful, and communicative. These principles are reflected in the activities conducted at PEER workshops and field schools. At PEER workshops and field schools, participants generate research projects, a community is formed, and the PEER team researches and iteratively improves the professional development model.

The following publications have resulted from research on PEER:

• El-Adawy, S., Alexis, C., & Sayre, E. C. (2023). Emerging STEM education researchers’ positioning and perception of discipline-based education research (arXiv:2308.04401). arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2308.04401
• El-Adawy, S., Franklin, S. V., & Sayre, E. C. (2023). Emerging Physics Education Researchers’ Growth in Professional Agency: Case Study (arXiv:2307.06149). arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2307.06149
• Hass, C. a. F., & El-Adawy, S. (2022). Emerging Mathematics Education Researchers’ Conception of Theory in Education Research. Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10339675-emerging-mathematics-education-researchers-conception-theory-education-research
• Hass, C. A. F., Hancock, E., Wilson, S., El-Adawy, S., & Sayre, E. C. (2021). Community Roles for Supporting Emerging Education Researchers. 172–177. https://www.per-central.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=15748

I’m not going to be available to participate in the PEER Field School? What other ways can I connect to the SoTL Community at Rutgers?

Rutgers-NB’s TIIP includes SoTL resources and information about the SoTL community on their website.

View TIIP’s Getting Started with SoTL infographic.