Melissa H. Dancy

Pedagogical practices and instructional change of physics faculty

We report on the initial results of a web-based survey of 722 physics faculty in the United States regarding their instructional practices. The survey responses indicate that most faculty report knowing about many physics education research curricula and pedagogies and are interested and motivated to try them in their teaching. However, self-reports of actual classroom practices indicate that the availability of these curricula and pedagogies has not led to fundamental changes in instruction. Faculty report that time is the biggest impediment to implementing more research-based reforms. These results suggest a need for research-based dissemination that accounts for the complexity of instructional change.

Physics faculty and educational researchers: Divergent expectations as barriers to the diffusion of innovations

Physics Education Research (PER) practitioners have engaged in substantial curriculum development and dissemination work in recent years. Yet, it appears that this work has had minimal influence on the fundamental teaching practices of the typical physics faculty. To better understand this situation, interviews were conducted with five likely users of physics education research. All reported making changes in their instructional practices and all were influenced, to some extent, by educational research. Yet, none made full use of educational research and most had complaints about their interactions with educational researchers. In this paper we examine how these instructors used educational research in making instructional decisions and identify divergent expectations about how researchers and faculty can work together to improve student learning. Although different instructors emphasized different aspects of this discrepancy between expectations, we believe that they are all related to a single underlyin...

Teaching thermodynamics with Physlets® in introductory physics

This paper describes the use of interactive, Physlet®-based curricular material designed to help students learn concepts of thermodynamics with a particular focus on the use of kinetic theory models. These exercises help students visualize ideal gas particle dynamics and engine cycles, make concrete connections between mechanics and thermodynamics, and develop a conceptual framework for problem solving. Examples of curricular material from thermodynamics will be presented as well as the Web address for its download.

Teaching with Physlets®: Examples From Optics

Physlets are scriptable Java applets that can be used for physics instruction. In this article we discuss the pedagogical foundations of Physlet use and provide a sample of Physlet-based exercises that could be used to teach optics.

The Impact of Physics Education Research on the Teaching of Introductory Quantitative Physics

During the Fall of 2008 a web survey, designed to collect information about pedagogical knowledge and practices, was completed by a representative sample of 722 physics faculty across the United States (a 50.3% response rate). This paper presents results of one part of the survey where faculty were asked to rate their level of knowledge and use of 24 Research‐Based Instructional Strategies (RBIS) that are applicable to an introductory quantitative physics course. Almost all faculty (87.1%) indicated familiarity with one or more RBIS and approximately half of faculty (48.1%) say that they currently use at least one RBIS. Results also indicate that faculty rarely use RBIS as recommended by the developer, but instead commonly make significant modifications.

Beyond the individual instructor: Systemic constraints in the implementation of research-informed practices

Anecdotal evidence suggests that findings of educational research and resulting curricula are, at best, only marginally incorporated into introductory physics courses. Based on interviews with four non‐PER physics faculty we investigated why incorporation of research‐based curricula is uncommon. Elsewhere, we report that these instructors have PER‐compatible beliefs about teaching and learning, but largely traditional instructional practices. In this paper we explore the significant role that systemic influences play in this apparent discrepancy and present a theoretical model to describe the interplay between individual beliefs and systemic influences.

Teaching, Learning and Physics Education Research: Views of Mainstream Physics Professors

This paper presents the preliminary results of interviews with four thoughtful senior faculty who are not part of the Physics Education Research (PER) community. The interviews focused on their general beliefs about teaching and learning as well as their use of and attitudes towards PER and PER‐based instructional strategies. We found that these instructors have beliefs about teaching and learning and instructional goals that are more PER‐compatible than their self‐described instructional practices. We hypothesize that one factor impeding more complete incorporation of PER is instructors’ either misinterpreting or having a low opinion of the trustworthiness of educational research results.

Experiences of new faculty implementing research-based instructional strategies

As part of an ongoing study to better understand and improve the diffusion of research-based pedagogies, we are following 15 faculty for 5 semesters after attending the Physics and Astronomy New Faculty Workshop. In this paper we report on the experiences of these faculty the first semester after the workshop. Faculty were interviewed both before and after the semester. Instructional artifacts and course outcome data were also collected. We discuss how the New Faculty Workshop experience impacted these faculty, the concerns and challenges the faculty encountered and how these faculty report spending their time. Implications for the diffusion of innovations are discussed.

Faculty Perspectives On Using Peer Instruction: A National Study

We previously reported on the results of a national web survey of physics faculty about their instructional practices in introductory physics. A subset of 72 survey respondents were interviewed to better characterize how faculty interact with research‐based instructional strategies (RBIS), use RBIS, and perceive their institutional contexts. Drawing from 15 interviews with self‐reported users of Peer Instruction, we describe what faculty mean when they identify themselves as users of Peer Instruction. Meanings range from professors adopting the general philosophy of the instructional strategy (or what they believe to be the general philosophy) while inventing how it concretely applies in their classrooms to professors who use the instructional strategy as is, without significant modification. We describe common modifications that are made to Peer Instruction and the associated prevalence of these modifications.

Faculty perspectives about instructor and institutional assessments of teaching effectiveness

Faculty and their institutions should have a shared set of metrics by which they measure teaching effectiveness. Unfortunately, the current situation at most institutions is far from this ideal. As part of a larger interview study, physics faculty were asked to describe how they and their institutions evaluate teaching effectiveness. Institutions typically base most or all of their assessment of teaching effectiveness on the numerical ratings from student evaluations of teaching effectiveness. Faculty, on the other hand, base most or all of their assessment of teaching effectiveness on student test performance and ongoing formative assessments. In general, faculty are much more positive about the methods that they use to evaluate their teaching than the methods that their institution uses to evaluate their teaching.