Teaching Science in Higher Education: Faculty Professional Development and Barriers to Change

Abstract

The focus of this research was to better understand the change processes necessary for university science teaching reform to be successful. The professional development processes involved faculty cognitive perceptions of learning, teaching skills, and pedagogical knowledge, as well as faculty culture in teaching science courses. A series of faculty development programs were conducted at nine U.S. locations to explore, develop strategies, and implement changes in science classrooms. A review of research and these professional development experiences provided a base to carry out research activities related to understanding change in science faculty. Faculty participants in the program from 30 institutions were selected to be involved in the study. Ethnographic and case study approaches were used to collect and analyze data. Many faculty members encountered in this study had conceptions of the change process that inhibited successful action. These research efforts provide a predictive model for assisting faculty change and help determine which faculty professional development efforts may be successful in overcoming barriers to change in undergraduate science classrooms.

Faculty Perspectives on the “3+3+4” Curriculum Reform in Hong Kong: A Case Study

“…Another common finding is that teachers perceive an increase in workload and a lack of support in the process of change (Bantwini, 2010;Flores, 2005). In addition, Sunal et al (2001) found that teachers' existing conception of teaching and learning often act as barriers to change.…”

“…Despite the vast amount of literature on curriculum reform, existing studies (e.g. Muller, Jain, Loeser, & Irby, 2008;Sunal, Hodges, & Sunal, 2001) focusing on faculty views of curriculum changes in higher education are scarce. The present study which investigates teacher perception of the curriculum reform in the Science faculty at a research intensive university in south-east Asia, aims to identify areas in which they require assistance in their professional development and address their concerns in order to help facilitate their transition to the new curriculum.…”

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

“…pedagogical training, lack of incentives or recognition for excellence in teaching, lack of resources, lack of time or overwork, and strained relationships with dogmatic or prescriptive change agents [20,[44][45][46][47][48][49]. Few studies, however, have documented how salient these barriers are to faculty.…”

Challenging instructors to change: a mixed methods investigation on the effects of material development on the pedagogical beliefs of geoscience instructors

“…Despite the evidence in favor of the adoption of reformed teaching methods, many instructors in K-12 and higher education institutions have been reluctant to adopt these new strategies (Barak and Shakhman 2008;Henderson and Dancy 2007) and participation in professional development may be insufficient to promote the transition of these alternative approaches to instruction (e.g., Ebert-May et al 2011). University faculty members report several barriers to instructional reform including limited training, insufficient time, and lack of instructional and peer support (Dancy and Henderson 2010;Fairweather 2010;Henderson and Dancy 2007;Sunal et al 2001;Wieman et al 2010).…”