Perspectives of Pedagogical Change Within a Broadcast STEM Course

Abstract

As calls for pedagogical transformation of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) instruction intensify, the pace of change remains slow. The literature shows that research-based instructional strategies transfer only sporadically into STEM instructional practice. Difficulties associated with implementation and sustainment of instructional change may appear daunting— if not insurmountable—to many STEM change agents and teaching faculty. Subsequently, the path towards systematic and lasting pedagogical transformation in post-secondary STEM stands largely uncharted. To understand how challenges faced by STEM educators engaged in pedagogical change may be overcome, this paper uses qualitative inquiry to explore an emergent process of teacher change. The change process took place during implementation of an online innovation within an undergraduate engineering calculus course taught via synchronous broadcast at a mid-size, Western, public university. The instructional innovation required first year calculus students to participate in an asynchronous, online discussion forum for graded credit. Data, consisting of written reflections and transcribed interviews, were gathered from three STEM faculty members who each played a different role in the change process: a mathematics instructor implementing the online forum within his course; an engineering faculty peer-mentor assisting with the implementation of the online forum; and a STEM education faculty member evaluating the implementation and observing the process of change. Situated within the interpretive research paradigm, this study uses exploratory thematic analysis of narrative data to understand the ways in which contextual factors may influence pedagogical change. Introduction Amid increasing calls for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pedagogical transformation 24 and growing concerns over the lack of transfer of research-based instructional strategies to STEM 24 classrooms, several scholars advocate for a deeper understanding of instructional change within STEM disciplines. Henderson et al. summarized the situation saying, “the state of change strategies and the study of changes strategies are weak and ...research communities that study and enact change are largely isolated from one-another” (p. 1). Borrego and Henderson suggested that efforts toward pedagogical change in STEM remain unsystematic and that STEM fields have not, as yet, developed an understanding of how and when to implement the variety of change approaches now documented within the research literature (pp. 222-223). Therefore, the current state of the instructional change literature in STEM indicates a need for more exploratory work and provides impetus for this study. Background to the Study This qualitative study concerning STEM instructional change emerged from a larger, three-year study funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM (TUES) program titled “Online learning Forums for Improved Engineering Student Outcomes in Calculus” 21, . The purpose of the TUES study is to explore use of online learning forums to improve student achievement and engagement in STEM courses. The TUES project plan requires the principal investigator (PI) to assist a mathematics instructor (MI) in implementing an asynchronous, online learning forum within distance-education calculus courses taught via synchronous broadcast. In synchronous broadcast course delivery, a single faculty member simultaneously instructs students located in the same room and other, geographically dispersed students located throughout the state at several regional campuses. Real-time instruction is provided to all students via two-way audio/video conferencing. During the TUES project, the research team gathers mixed-method data to assess achievement and affective outcomes among students who did and did not have access to the online intervention. As the TUES project recently moved into its third year, the members of the research team noted a process of teacher change occurring as a result of project activities. Periodic reflective interviews with the MI, as well as informal discussions in research team meetings, suggested that the MI is doing more than simply implementing a prescribed instructional innovation. Rather, the research team witnessed as the MI moved from a state of reluctance to one of enthusiastic adoption of the online intervention. Sensing this deep attitudinal shift on the part of the MI, the research team pursued the current qualitative study in order to explore an emergent process of pedagogical change in STEM.