When Associate Professor of Management Josie Sosa-Fey opened the boxes containing the inaugural Southwest Teaching and Learning Journal (SWTLJ) in her office earlier this year, she felt a feeling of accomplishment.
“I felt like we had accomplished something very significant,” said Sosa-Fey, the journal’s founder and editor in chief.
The inaugural edition of the journal, published November 2011, includes 10 articles, centered on discussing techniques and methods to reach and educate traditionally underserved student populations.
The journal’s first pages describe the intended goal:
“We hope to bring together scholars not only from throughout the Southwest region of the United States, but also from around the country to share their expertise. Our hope is that by bringing together this powerhouse of knowledge and experience, we might be able to build and extend pathways to better educational opportunities for educators and for students.
The editorial board includes business faculty: James Hackard, Tracy Hurley, Judy D. Lewis, Syed M. Harun, Kenneth Henrie and Bethuel Robert Vinaja.
The inaugural journal includes 10 articles; five are co-authored.
Ten submissions are published by faculty teaching at A&M-San Antonio, four from the University of Incarnate Word, one from the University of Montana Western and one PhD student in the Department of Literature and Languages at A&M-Commerce.
“[The journal] gives insight to professors on how to improve the teaching in the classroom,” Sosa-Fey said. “The conference is about teaching and learning and bringing more effective ideas to teach.”
The journal entries evaluate the use of technology and online programs such as Centra, Skype e-books and web conferences in the classroom. Other entries examine tactics useful in the classroom like mathematical vocabulary, an in-class response system and bridging the gap between theory and application.
The journal is published annually by the Southwest Teaching and Learning Conference at Texas A&M-San Antonio. Manuscripts submitted to the journal receive a double-blind, peer review prior to acceptance or rejection for publication.
Each year, the Southwest Teaching and Learning Conference, a two-day conference, selects a different theme.
This year’s conference takes place from March 30-31 at Main Campus Building, One University Way. The theme is “Teaching & Learning: How Technology Enhances the Teaching & Learning Process.”
The SWTLJ is open to all scholars, students and professors from all over the country with accurate research to build better educational opportunities for educators and students.
“Any faculty member from any university could submit a paper,” Sosa-Fey said. “We are hoping to get more faculty from all of the schools from the University involved.”
Students are encouraged to attend the conference as well as share research.
“Some students have presented papers to the conference in the past,” Sosa-Fey said. “In the future we are trying to get more and more students to present their papers.”
The deadline for submitting papers has passed.
For more information visit, http://swtlc.wordpress.com/.
