Research and Assessment (91) The proposed project is a mixed-methods study that is collecting time-sensitive and critical data that document classroom, faculty and departmental change that are part of the Science Education Initiative (SEI) at the University of Colorado. It is exploring the extent and nature of the changes made to date, and seeking to understand the processes by which these have come about. The results from this study are illuminating the attitudinal and cultural shifts necessary in individual faculty values and within departments to bring about widespread adoption of classroom practices that embody understanding of how students learn most effectively.
The study is exploring two research questions. First, what are the linkages between individual faculty members' instructional practices and their belief systems around teaching and learning, and what consequences do these have for the extent and pace of uptake of research-based STEM educational approaches? Second, what are the linkages between individual faculty members' belief systems, and departmental and institutional structures and cultures that affect the uptake of research-based STEM educational approaches?
The research design is using embedded case studies. Five departments are being studied. Each represents a culture of faculty belief systems. Case studies can increase understanding of complex social phenomena in a way that allows investigators to retain the holistic and meaningful characteristics of processes or events. Other social science methods, such as experiments, often separate a phenomenon from its context in an attempt to control variables. Case studies, however, investigate phenomena in their real-life context and are thus better able to explain the social and cultural processes by which outcomes are achieved.
