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8 Translating Research into Teaching Practice: The Influence of Discipline-Based Education Research on Undergraduate Science and Engineering Instruction
Pages 165-185

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From page 165...
... As discussed in Chapters 4 through 6, DBER scholars often develop research-based teaching strategies and test those strategies in their own classes. Clearly, DBER has informed teaching practice in these classes, with demonstrated gains in student learning in many cases.
From page 166...
... Second, because faculty members may draw on similar findings from DBER, cognitive science, educational psychology, science education, education, and/or the scholarship of teaching and learning to inform their practice, it is difficult to disentangle the effects of DBER from those of related research. Third, DBER and related research can influence teaching practices to varying degrees, from increased awareness of student learning challenges to complete transformation of instructional approaches.
From page 167...
... In addition, the findings in the geosciences and physics are based on faculty self-reports, which may overestimate the extent of change in teaching practice. The engineering surveys report on department chairs' perceptions of faculty members' teaching practices, which also might not be accurate.
From page 168...
... argue that current physics education research dissemination approaches (such as journal articles, conferences, and workshops) have been more successful in raising widespread awareness of new instructional practices than in helping faculty understand the underlying principles of these practices, or how to deploy them effectively.
From page 169...
... EFFORTS TO PROMOTE RESEARCH-BASED PRACTICE IN THE SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING Efforts to increase the impact of DBER on instruction must be viewed in the broader context of currently proliferating efforts to promote researchbased undergraduate instruction in science and engineering. Professional societies, federal funding agencies, and accreditation organizations, all located outside academic institutions, have worked to inform faculty members about research that can inform their teaching and encourage them to change their teaching practices.
From page 170...
... Participation in the approval process is voluntary, and the committee did not find evidence demonstrating the impact of the approval process on chemistry programs or student learning. Through these and other efforts, science and engineering faculty and future faculty have many options for professional development that is focused on integrating research into practice, ranging from campus-based initiatives to national programs.
From page 171...
... For these reasons, the committee's analysis of the extent to which DBER has informed instruction excluded more general professional development programs. Large-Scale, Discipline-Specific Professional Development Disciplinary and cross-disciplinary societies have implemented national professional development programs and workshops designed to encourage the use of research to change teaching practices.
From page 172...
... As a result, no conclusions can be drawn about the influence of DBER on instruction from evaluations of these programs. However, the evaluations do offer some insights into the broader challenge of translating research into practice, and of accurately measuring faculty members' instructional practices.
From page 173...
... . Surveys of participants in the National Academies Summer Institute workshops conducted before, shortly after, one year after, and two years after their participation, indicated substantial increases in scientific teaching practices over time (Pfund et al., 2009)
From page 174...
... Faculty members are more • likely to make significant changes in their teaching practice if they receive coaching and feedback when trying a new instructional practice (Henderson, Beach, and Finkelstein, 2011)
From page 175...
... , the research on change in undergraduate science and engineering education shows that faculty are more likely to change their teaching practice when they engage in deep conceptual change (e.g., Gibbs and Coffey, 2004; Ho, Watkins, and Kelly, 2001)
From page 176...
... involves a core network of 6 universities and an expanded network of more than 30 universities to provide professional development opportunities for doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Evaluations of the impact of CIRTL-related professional development rely largely on faculty self-report data.
From page 177...
... . PUTTING REFORM EFFORTS INTO CONTEXT Regardless of the availability of quality research and quality professional development to translate that research into practice, change in the teaching practices of science and engineering faculty does not come easily.
From page 178...
... .7 For example, in 1993, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute applied findings from physics education research to establish a studio physics course in a special classroom designed to support small-group collaboration and problem solving (Cummings, 2008)
From page 179...
... Sixty-two percent of respondents reported they had developed learning goals and used those goals to guide instruction, 56 percent reported they used information on student thinking and/or attitudes to guide their teaching, and 47 percent used pre/post measures of learning to inform their teaching practice. In addition, respondents indicated that more than 55 courses incorporated more research-based teaching practices than in the past (Wieman, Perkins, and Gilbert, 2010)
From page 180...
... Students Because students can exert a strong influence on the learning process (Brower and Inkeleas, 2010; Smith et al., 2004) , student responses to new teaching practices informed by DBER and related research may facilitate or discourage adoption of such teaching practices.
From page 181...
... (2003) observed that science faculty who experienced a mismatch between their personal beliefs and their teaching practices were more likely to be dissatisfied with their teaching and more open to developing new knowledge and beliefs.
From page 182...
... DBER papers emphasized the strategy of disseminating curriculum and pedagogy, faculty development research sought to develop reflective teachers, and Science Educa on Research (DBER) Faculty Development Research Higher Educa on Research 70 Percentage of Articles Reviewed 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Enact Policy Develop Disseminate Develop Shared Vision Curriculum Reflec ve and Pedagogy Teachers FIGURE 8-1 Change strategies used by different research communities (as sum marized by Henderson, Beach, and Finkelstein, 2011)
From page 183...
... In addition to fostering greater communication among the research communities seeking to influence instructional practices in undergraduate science and engineering, these efforts must attend to the broader system in which that education takes place (Austin, 2011; Quinn-Patton, 2010)
From page 184...
... DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Although it is inherently difficult and complex to assess the extent to which DBER has informed instruction, the understanding of this topic is particularly limited because the research base is particularly sparse. The first step is to develop and test a model of what influences the teaching practices of individual science and engineering faculty members and of how teaching is situated in the larger organizational context.
From page 185...
... This gap in the research on change initiatives that are based on DBER and related research represents an important opportunity for future study.


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