What's the Problem Now?

Abstract

Revisiting an essay from 1999, this article explores the current conditions in higher education, and society more broadly, that help shape the roles for the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and educational development. By seeing the current "crises" of higher education not only as "problems" to be investigated but as a "wicked problem," we might be able to elevate and complicate the role that inquiry into teaching and learning might play in institutional change and the expansion of higher education. The article argues for the necessity, even urgency, of seeing educational development as a lever for change, fully engaged with the most important questions surrounding the role of higher education in shaping the future.