Abstract
To identify and describe the basis upon which instructors make curricular and pedagogical decisions, we have developed an artifact-based interview and an analysis technique based on multilayered concept maps. The policy capturing technique used in the interview asks instructors to make judgments about concrete instructional artifacts similar to those they likely encounter in their teaching environment. The analysis procedure alternatively employs both an a priori systems view analysis and an emergent categorization to construct a multilayered concept map, which is a hierarchically arranged set of concept maps where child maps include more details than parent maps. Although our goal was to develop a model of physics faculty beliefs about the teaching and learning of problem solving in the context of an introductory calculus-based physics course, the techniques described here are applicable to a variety of situations in which instructors make decisions that influence teaching and learning.
Highlights
Even the most effective curricula materials, tools, and pedagogies must be accepted by instructors if they are to have an impact on students
The first step of effective dissemination of curriculum or pedagogy developed by physics education research must occur in the design process
Drawing on the tradition of artifact-based interviews in education and commercial product design we have developed a tool to probe physics faculty beliefs and values related to the teaching and learning of problem solving in the context of an introductory physics course
Summary
Even the most effective curricula materials, tools, and pedagogies must be accepted by instructors if they are to have an impact on students This is true in higher education, where academic freedom gives faculty members a great deal of autonomy in choosing both a curriculum and its teaching. Product designers know that to gain market share, they must construct their product to match the characteristics that influence customer choices Following this model, the first step of effective dissemination of curriculum or pedagogy developed by physics education research must occur in the design process. Drawing on the tradition of artifact-based interviews in education and commercial product design we have developed a tool to probe physics faculty beliefs and values related to the teaching and learning of problem solving in the context of an introductory physics course. The goal of this paper is to make our measurement and analysis process as explicit and transparent as possible to begin the process of arriving at a better understanding of the physics instructor as a key step to any process of educational reform
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