Analyzing a faculty online learning community as a mechanism for supporting faculty implementation of a guided-inquiry curriculum

Abstract

Background Adoption and use of effective, research-based instructional strategies (RBISs) for STEM education is less widespread than hoped. To promote further use of RBISs, the propagation paradigm suggests that developers work with potential adopters during the development process, and provide ongoing support after adoption. This article investigates the impact of a faculty online learning community (FOLC) as a professional development mechanism for supporting faculty adopting a research-based curriculum. A FOLC uses video conference technology and online platforms to connect geographically dispersed faculty with similar backgrounds (e.g., physics faculty) and supports their teaching development. In the context of a specific FOLC, this article seeks to determine the outcomes the FOLC achieves, and how. Results Analysis of a FOLC meeting identified opportunities for rich, complex social interaction centered on the research-based curriculum. By functioning as a sounding board for ideas, a space to share experiences, a source of affective support, and a venue for troubleshooting, the FOLC mediates the achievement of a range of outcomes related to implementation of the curriculum. Survey results indicate that members feel a sense of community in the FOLC and that it provides encouragement through teaching challenges. Further results indicate participants’ increased confidence in using the curriculum; familiarity with the curriculum structure and content; increased knowledge of pedagogical techniques; reflection on teaching practices in the curriculum; and use of pedagogical techniques aligned with the curriculum’s core principles. Emerging evidence supports more distal outcomes, including student learning, persistence in using the curriculum, reflection in teaching practice across courses taught, and use of research-based pedagogy in other courses. Conclusions The propagation paradigm emphasizes the need for ongoing support for adopters of RBISs. The FOLC model provides participating faculty with ongoing support through participation in a community and is an effective support mechanism for adopters of a research-based curriculum. In this study, FOLC members are increasing their knowledge and use of pedagogical techniques in the curriculum-specific course and beyond. This is facilitated by the opportunities in the FOLC for troubleshooting, idea sharing, and receiving encouragement through challenges. This model has the potential to support adopters of additional educational innovations.

A systematic review on trends in using Moodle for teaching and learning

“…Recent studies focussing on STEM education suggest that various LMSs and associated tools increase student engagement, motivation, collaboration (Araya & Collanqui, 2021 ; Campbell et al, 2020 ; Hwang, 2020 ; Jones et al, 2021 ), performance, retention, and critical thinking (Alkholy et al, 2015 ; Ardianti et al, 2020 ; Bernacki et al, 2020 ; Cadaret & Yates, 2018 ; Hempel et al, 2020 ; Oguguo et al, 2021 ). In addition, LMSs allow STEM educators to track learning outcomes, predict achievements (for early detection of students at risk), and then use the identified information to adapt and modify teaching practices (Dominguez et al, 2016 ; Hempel et al, 2020 ; Price et al, 2021 ; Sergis et al, 2017 ; Zakaria et al, 2019 ; Zheng et al, 2019 ). The future of STEM education can continue to be improved with innovative LMSs and technology-enhanced learning materials (Zhao et al, 2018 ), such as online laboratories (Henke et al, 2021 ), online tutorials (Rissanen & Costello, 2021 ) and virtual reality applications (Christopoulos et al, 2020 ).…”

Research on Teaching Resource Recommendation Algorithm Based on Deep Learning and Cognitive Diagnosis

“…e learning management system of online teacher community is an online resource developed, which supports teachers in different fields to learn the advantages of their resources and contain realistic case experiences. e investigation shows the effectiveness of this resource [7]. e relevant literature is described above, but there are different degrees of influence on the recommendation effect of teaching resources.…”

“…e three parts are segmented by word segmentation technology, and each word is converted into a word vector by randomly initializing values or pretraining word embedding model. Finally, the test questions are expressed as a dense number matrix T j ∈ R P×l by connecting the word vectors in the test questions information, as shown in (7), where P is the dimension of the vector and L is the number of word vectors.…”

The Taxonomy of Opportunities to Learn (TxOTL): a tool for understanding the learning potential and substance of interactions in faculty (online) learning community meetings

“…There is evidence that FOLCs are effective at supporting faculty in trying and persisting in using research-based teaching strategies and materials, and in reflecting on their teaching practice ( Dancy et al 2019 ; Corrales et al 2020 ; Price et al 2021 ). That said, not all FOLC groups unfold in identical ways, and their norms and conversational patterns can be quite distinct ( Lau et al 2019 ; Corrales et al 2018 ; Turpen et al 2018 ).…”