How faculty learn about and implement research-based instructional strategies: The case of Peer Instruction

Abstract

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Preparing and Supporting University Physics Educators.] The lack of knowledge about how to effectively spread and sustain the use of researchbased instructional strategies is currently a significant barrier to the improvement of undergraduate physics education. In this paper we address this lack of knowledge by reporting on an interview study of 35 physics faculty, of varying institution types, who were self-reported users of, former users of, or knowledgeable nonusers of the research-based instructional strategy Peer Instruction. Interview questions included in this analysis focused on the faculty's experiences, knowledge, and use of Peer Instruction, along with general questions about current and past teaching methods used by the interviewee. The primary findings include the following: (i) Faculty self-reported user status is an unreliable measure of their actual practice. (ii) Faculty generally modify specific instructional strategies and may modify out essential components. (iii) Faculty are often unaware of the essential features of an instructional strategy they claim to know about or use. (iv) Informal social interactions provide a significant communication channel in the dissemination process, in contrast to the formal avenues of workshops, papers, websites, etc., often promoted by change agents, and (v) experience with researchbased strategies as a graduate student or through curriculum development work may be highly impactful. These findings indicate that educational transformation can be better facilitated by improving communication with faculty, supporting effective modification by faculty during implementation, and acknowledging and understanding the large impact of informal social interactions as a mode of dissemination.

Perceived affordances and constraints regarding instructors’ use of Peer Instruction: Implications for promoting instructional change

“…For example, some instructors that reported on a survey to be former users of PI had never fully implemented PI as a package, but rather only had tried a few selected features [25]. This did not, however, prevent these instructors from using their personal experiences with a partial implementation to judge the effectiveness of PI.…”

“…understanding of what constitutes the innovation may vary greatly from that of the developers or highly knowledgeable science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education experts [26,36]. In this way, we see the meaning that instructors are making of a particular RBIS as emerging from a combination of influences: (1) how the RBIS was portrayed in informal communication channels where instructors negotiate understandings with their colleagues; (2) how the RBIS was cast in formal communication channels, such as books, articles, presentations, or workshops; and (3) the particular lens or schema that an instructor brings to making sense of these experiences.…”

“…Instructors' perceptions depend on the specific innovation being considered and are influenced by the means by which they learned about the innovation.-Instructors are exposed to RBIS through a variety of means, most typically through conversations with professional colleagues, journal articles and (or) books, formal presentations, or workshops [26,34,35]. Through these communication mechanisms, instructors (at times in negotiation with others) develop some understanding of what a particular RBIS is and this invariably has some dependence on the form of the particular innovation.…”

“…III, this led us to categorize respondents in this study based on the number of PI features that they described using rather than their self-described user status (for more details see Ref. [26]). …”

Pedagogical sensemaking or “doing school”: In well-designed workshop sessions, facilitation makes the difference

“…In physics, one-third of faculty who try out RBIS discontinue their use after a single semester [16], and many perceive barriers to using these strategies [23]. Moreover, some faculty who use RBIS modify them in ways that seem likely to decrease their potential impact [24]. These limitations are perhaps not surprising: most faculty primarily learned to teach by watching their own instructors, and therefore are more comfortable using "traditional" instructional methods like lecture [25].…”