The importance of context: an exploration of factors influencing the adoption of student-centered teaching among chemistry, biology, and physics faculty

Background: Research at the secondary and postsecondary levels has clearly demonstrated the critical role that individual and contextual characteristics play in instructors’ decision to adopt educational innovations. Although recent research has shed light on factors influencing the teaching practices of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty, it is still not well understood how unique departmental environments impact faculty adoption of evidence-based instructional practices (EBIPs) within the context of a single institution. In this study, we sought to characterize the communication channels utilized by STEM faculty, as well as the contextual and individual factors that influence the teaching practices of STEM faculty at the departmental level. Accordingly, we collected survey and observational data from the chemistry, biology, and physics faculty at a single large research-intensive university in the USA. We then compared the influencing factors experienced by faculty in these different departments to their instructional practices. Results: Analyses of the survey data reveal disciplinary differences in the factors influencing adoption of EBIPs. In particular, the physics faculty (n = 15) had primarily student-centered views about teaching and experienced the most positive contextual factors toward adoption of EBIPs. At the other end of the spectrum, the chemistry faculty (n = 20) had primarily teacher-centered views and experienced contextual factors that hindered the adoption of student-centered practices. Biology faculty (n = 25) fell between these two groups. Classroom observational data reflected these differences: The physics classrooms were significantly more student-centered than the chemistry classrooms. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that disciplinary differences exist in the contextual factors teaching conceptions that STEM faculty experience and hold, even among faculty within the same institution. Moreover, it shows that these differences are associated to the level of adoption of student-centered teaching practices. This work has thus identified the critical need to carefully characterize STEM faculty’s departmental environment and conceptions about teaching before engaging in instructional reform efforts, and to adapt reform activities to account for these factors. The results of this study also caution the over generalization of findings from a study focused on one type of STEM faculty in one environment to all STEM faculty in any environment

Promoting insight into algebraic formulas through graphing by hand

Teaching and Teacher Learning (ICLON

Schoolvakken in perspectief: Scheikunde

The book is part of a trilogy about subject-specific pedagogy

Perspectives for Teaching About How Science Works

An integrative, perspective-directed, and practical approach to teaching the nature of science is elaborated in this contribution. The approach is integrative in the sense that students reflect on general and domain-specific aspects of knowledge development. In order to do this, students contribute to knowledge development using domain-specific perspectives that guide them in formulating questions as well as answers and criteria to assess those answers. The approach is practical in the sense that three heuristics were developed that offer teachers practical design support for redesigning their regular lessons into integrative, perspective-based lessons

Fostering educator participation in learning space designing: Insights from a Master of Education unit of study

Educators can play a vital role in creating environments that enhance student learning and wellbeing. Consequently there is a teacher education need to empower teachers as learning space designers. The Master of Education program at Queensland University of Technology offers a unit entitled Designing Spaces for Learning which enables students to explore and practice the principles of consensus values-based designing. This chapter outlines the conceptualisation and ongoing development of the unit, which builds upon the doctoral research of Dr Raylee Elliott Burns. By outlining the design and implementation of the unit, the chapter models an innovative pedagogical approach that engages educators (as learners) in the evaluation and conceptual redesigning of learning spaces. The learning experience includes site visits, a charrette (collaborative designing workshop) and the compilation of a theoretically justified design brief and online portfolio. The chapter concludes by discussing how this unit fosters the learning and wellbeing of the educators who undertake the unit, and often also that of their students who engage in school-based designing projects