WIP: Faculty Perceptions of Change Efforts in Department-Based Teaching Reform

Jill Nelson; Jessica Rosenberg; Sarah Ochs

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Faculty Development Division Technical Session 4
Page Count: 6
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41605
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41605
Download Count: 200

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Paper Authors

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Jill Nelson George Mason University

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Jill Nelson is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at George Mason University.

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Jessica Rosenberg

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Sarah Ochs George Mason University

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Abstract

This work-in-progress paper studies the perceptions of STEM faculty as they engage in departmental efforts to transform teaching in highly enrolled gateway courses. Specifically, this paper describes an investigation of how physics instructors perceive the purpose and value of active learning, specifically adopting a student-centered tutorial model for recitations.

This study is part of a larger project that uses department-based communities of transformation to effect change in the teaching of gateway courses and to develop a departmental (and university) culture that values evidence-based teaching practices. Specifically, the NSF-funded project aims to make active and collaborative learning (ACL) the default method of instruction in early STEM courses across the institution. The project builds on existing work on grassroots change in higher education to study the effect of communities of practice on changing teaching culture. Within departments, project leadership has created course-based communities of practice that include instructors for the targeted courses, as well as other department faculty interested in broadening adoption of evidence-based teaching practices.

The Physics and Astronomy Department at the R-1 institution at which this study takes place began engaging in change efforts in Fall 2019. At this time, faculty met to discuss how to target efforts to increase active learning in the introductory courses. The group discussed problem-solving tutorials that could be used in recitation as one member of the group had already started to develop these materials. Through the fall and into the spring, efforts to pilot both lecture demonstrations and tutorials were started. As courses moved online in Spring 2020 due to COVID, these materials became more comprehensive and, in some courses/sections, central to supporting students’ problem-solving skills.

As part of the effort to study teaching culture change in the department, faculty who have been participating in the discussions described above are invited to participate in interviews roughly yearly. Four physics faculty were interviewed in Spring 2021, and nine were interviewed in Winter 2022. In these semi-structured interviews, faculty were asked to describe how they structure lectures and recitations and if/how they use active learning strategies, in particular tutorials.

The Spring 2021 interviews revealed that participating instructors were proponents of active learning and had been using ACL strategies to varying degrees in their courses, even before the change effort began. That said, the movement to online instruction (which continued through at least Spring 2021 for the targeted courses) was a barrier for some instructors who reverted to an “instructor solving problems at the board” model in lectures and recitations. This paper considers the perceptions of three instructors interviewed in Winter 2022, all of whom had been using active learning techniques before the departmental change effort began. Through interview responses, the instructors describe their perceptions of the definition and value of active learning, challenges faced when implementing tutorials in recitations, and various approaches they used to overcome those challenges.

Citation
Format

Nelson, J., & Rosenberg, J., & Ochs, S. (2022, August), WIP: Faculty Perceptions of Change Efforts in Department-Based Teaching Reform Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41605

TY - CPAPER
AB - This work-in-progress paper studies the perceptions of STEM faculty as they engage in departmental efforts to transform teaching in highly enrolled gateway courses. Specifically, this paper describes an investigation of how physics instructors perceive the purpose and value of active learning, specifically adopting a student-centered tutorial model for recitations.

This study is part of a larger project that uses department-based communities of transformation to effect change in the teaching of gateway courses and to develop a departmental (and university) culture that values evidence-based teaching practices. Specifically, the NSF-funded project aims to make active and collaborative learning (ACL) the default method of instruction in early STEM courses across the institution. The project builds on existing work on grassroots change in higher education to study the effect of communities of practice on changing teaching culture. Within departments, project leadership has created course-based communities of practice that include instructors for the targeted courses, as well as other department faculty interested in broadening adoption of evidence-based teaching practices.

The Physics and Astronomy Department at the R-1 institution at which this study takes place began engaging in change efforts in Fall 2019. At this time, faculty met to discuss how to target efforts to increase active learning in the introductory courses. The group discussed problem-solving tutorials that could be used in recitation as one member of the group had already started to develop these materials. Through the fall and into the spring, efforts to pilot both lecture demonstrations and tutorials were started. As courses moved online in Spring 2020 due to COVID, these materials became more comprehensive and, in some courses/sections, central to supporting students’ problem-solving skills.

As part of the effort to study teaching culture change in the department, faculty who have been participating in the discussions described above are invited to participate in interviews roughly yearly. Four physics faculty were interviewed in Spring 2021, and nine were interviewed in Winter 2022. In these semi-structured interviews, faculty were asked to describe how they structure lectures and recitations and if/how they use active learning strategies, in particular tutorials.

The Spring 2021 interviews revealed that participating instructors were proponents of active learning and had been using ACL strategies to varying degrees in their courses, even before the change effort began. That said, the movement to online instruction (which continued through at least Spring 2021 for the targeted courses) was a barrier for some instructors who reverted to an “instructor solving problems at the board” model in lectures and recitations. This paper considers the perceptions of three instructors interviewed in Winter 2022, all of whom had been using active learning techniques before the departmental change effort began. Through interview responses, the instructors describe their perceptions of the definition and value of active learning, challenges faced when implementing tutorials in recitations, and various approaches they used to overcome those challenges.

AU - Jill Nelson
AU - Jessica Rosenberg
AU - Sarah Ochs
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - WIP: Faculty Perceptions of Change Efforts in Department-Based Teaching Reform
UR - https://peer.asee.org/41605
DO - 10.18260/1-2--41605
ER -