Faculty Beliefs Research Articles

Factors and mediators impacting the number of undergraduate research mentees at a research-intensive Hispanic-serving institution.

Engaging in undergraduate research experiences is known to have broad and positive impacts on college students. Despite the benefits, achieving faculty buy-in and support can be challenging even when faculty have strong research funding. In order to understand how to better support undergraduate research programs, we applied quantitative models to explore how the impact of research funding is mediated by faculty beliefs about undergraduate research mentoring in STEM disciplines. The results indicate that faculty characteristics and beliefs about the benefits and barriers of mentoring undergraduate students in research impact the number of students mentored even when accounting for research funding levels of the individual faculty. Practical recommendations are presented based on the models from this research project in order to provide insight into how centers or units on a campus may work with faculty to support and encourage mentoring of undergraduates in research in the biomedical sciences.

“Only some can succeed Here”: A mixed methods study of how faculty unproductive mindsets relate to Gender, Racial, and First-Gen representation in higher education

Gender, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities pervade academia. Though there are a wealth of established reasons for these gaps, recent research has begun to examine how faculty beliefs contribute to representation outcomes for groups stereotyped as lacking intelligence. Extending prior research and using a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach, the present study investigates how field-specific ability beliefs (beliefs about the importance of brilliance) and fixed mindsets (beliefs about the immutability of intelligence) relate to the representation of women, racial/ethnic minorities, and first-generation students at various levels of academia. In a quantitative study of 1,025 faculty from 83 departments, self-reported beliefs exhibited negative correlations with representation outcomes in the small to very large range (−.16 > r’s > -0.44). Qualitative findings, however, suggest a more complicated relationship. Focus group data from undergraduate and graduate students in two departments differing in faculty beliefs (N = 32), suggested that both explicit and implicit messages from professors, peers, and the learning environment are important contributors to students’ experiences, beliefs, and decisions. The results call for more intentional considerations, both in research and in practice, of the messages students receive from the environments in which they learn.

Disciplinary writing in EMI courses: Faculty beliefs and practices in the Korean higher education context

Disciplinary writing in EMI courses: Faculty beliefs and practices in the Korean higher education context

Higher education faculty beliefs in preparing the early learning and care workforce to work with dual language learners

ABSTRACT Dual language learners (DLLs) represent a large portion of children ages birth through five in the United States. California (CA) is one of the states with the largest DLL populations with about 59% of people in CA identifying as DLLs. While DLLs constitute a large portion of children in California, early learning and care (ELC) educators in California do not receive adequate preparation to work with this population. Institutions of higher education (IHE) are key in supporting the ELC workforce to obtain the skills necessary to work with DLL children. A mixed-method study was conducted to identify the beliefs faculty in California hold regarding preparing the ELC workforce to work with DLLs. One hundred and forty-one early childhood education/child development (ECE/CD) faculty throughout California participated in the study. Results indicated that most of the participants have positive attitudes toward embedding DLL content in ECE/CD courses, but some have reservations about offering DLL-specific courses and teaching courses in languages other than English. Implications for IHEs, policymakers, and research are provided.

Teacher educators as interpreters: The role of faculty in guiding student learning of DAP within sociocultural, institutional, and individual contexts

ABSTRACT The construct of Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) has become a hallmark for educational practice in the United States. From DAP's initial publication in 1986 to the most recent revision published in 2022, DAP serves as a reference point for teacher education to support effective teachers' development and practice. However, DAP is a construct shaped by individuals' experiences and sociopolitical contexts and not a uniformly understood construct. Teacher educator faculty's role is central to supporting students' understanding and faculty serve as interpreters of information by making choices and drawing on their beliefs and experiences to shape students' understanding and implementation of DAP. Faculty use reflection as a tool to support their choices of resources, assignments, and content related to DAP. This manuscript will offer important considerations related to students' understanding of DAP and illustrate how faculty beliefs and reflection guide faculty in this role of interpreter of the construct of DAP within the sociopolitical contexts that influence teacher education.

Utilizing Storytelling to Impact Faculty Attitudes and Beliefs About Transgender People

Health care education about transgender/gender-diverse (TGD) individuals is often lacking regarding the complex care of these patients. This educational research initiative aimed to assess the pedagogical impact of digital first-person narratives/storytelling (DST) on health care faculty to illuminate the particular health care needs of TGD patients. In a continuing education offering, empathy, self-knowledge, self-reflection, and bias-reduction were promoted while evaluating attitudes and beliefs of clinical faculty using a valid pre- and post- tool. Qualitative statements from volunteer faculty provided more context to their ratings and to note comfort level when thinking about teaching about the care of gender-diverse patients as well as interest in using DST with future students. This study lacked a significant change in measured attitudes and beliefs from volunteer faculty participants, but a strong articulation of greater comfort level and satisfaction with using DST as a tool and a commitment to teaching about the care of TGD patients and families.

Faculty beliefs and the need for teaching improvement: a conceptual replication study

Faculty beliefs and the need for teaching improvement: a conceptual replication study

Musculoskeletal Faculty Beliefs about the Therapeutic Relationship

Introduction. Contextual factors like the therapeutic relationship (TR) are shown influence patient outcomes, sometimes more so than specific physical therapy interventions when treating musculoskeletal (MSK) pain. However, physical therapists are often unaware or lack the skills to develop a TR. This lack of competence appears partly from inadequate entry-level education training. Considering that teacher beliefs play a substantial role in what and how content is taught, having an awareness of these beliefs may provide a deeper understanding of this problem. Fourteen MSK faculty from different physical therapy programs with varying levels of teaching and clinical experience. This basic qualitative design explored physical therapy MSK faculty's beliefs regarding TR using semi-structured interviews. Inductive thematic analysis focused codes and categories into themes. Emergent themes helped answer the study's research questions. Participants' perceptions of the TR were more detailed than others, but all fell within the confines of the conceptual framework. All believed that therapists needed to be intentional in developing a TR and should be considered a top priority when treating patients with MSK pain. All participants integrated the TR into the MSK curriculum at varying levels. Participants' understanding of pain science and the perceived importance of contextual factors like the TR led to an evolution in their curriculum. Participants reported decreasing the emphasis on specific factors while increasing the emphasis on the TR. Participants reported replacing specific factor content with teaching activities for the TR. These changes appear to be an appropriate response to what the evidence suggests about the TR’s impact on MSK pain. However, it is uncertain whether these changes are mainstream or sufficient to improve physical therapists' abilities in this domain.

The level and influencing factors of graduating nursing students' professional commitment from the perspective of Ecological Systems Theory: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundIncreased professional commitment is essential for relieving the nursing workforce shortage, which is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The professional commitment of graduating nursing students is a powerful predictor of their work commitment. However, limited information is available regarding graduating nursing students' professional commitment. Existing studies investigating nursing students' professional commitment are limited by their lack of theoretical foundation. ObjectivesTo investigate the level of graduating nursing students' professional commitment and its multilevel influencing factors from the perspective of the Ecological Systems Theory in the early days following the COVID-19 outbreak. DesignA descriptive cross-sectional study. SettingThree educational institutions in Shanghai, China. Participants513 nursing students who were graduating with an associate or bachelor's degree. MethodsThe independent variables were measured by a self-designed questionnaire. The dependent variable professional commitment was measured by the Nursing Professional Commitment Scale. Hierarchical regression analyses, which allowed the independent variables entered in order, were performed to identify the significant predictor variables of the professional commitment and its dimensions. ResultsThe level of professional commitment was 100.15 ± 20.35 (score ranged between 34 and 136). The individual factors (degree, whether had received a scholarship during the past academic years, ΔR2 = 0.142), family factors (parents and siblings' attitudes towards one's majoring in nursing, ΔR2 = 0.153), educational factors (academic faculty's belief in nursing profession, leaders' emphasis on nursing profession, satisfaction with clinical instructors' role modeling, ΔR2 = 0.097), and social factors (reason for majoring in nursing, perceived nurse-patient relationship, ΔR2 = 0.153) were significant predictors of the graduating nursing students' professional commitment (R2 = 47.6 %, F = 32.277, p < 0.001). ConclusionsThe graduating nursing students had a moderate level of professional commitment, which needed to be improved. Nursing educators should comprehensively consider various factors to understand the relationship between individuals and environmental systems, and implement targeted interventions to shape the positive professional values of nursing students.

Recent Research in Science Teaching and Learning.

The Current Insights feature is designed to introducelife science educators and researchers to current articles of interest in other social science and educationjournals.In this installment, I highlight three recent studies from the fields of psychology and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education that can inform life science education. The first assesses the impact of a novel study strategy: having students deliberately make mistakes and correct them. The second encourages educators to think more carefully about the impact of different types of interest on student learning. The third reminds us of the impact of personal beliefs in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

Not Another Bias Workshop: Using Equity Analytics to Promote Antiracist Teaching

In Short Meaningful change towards antiracist practices take time. There are no quick fixes. Quick workshops on implicit bias and microaggressions rarely lead to lasting changes in teaching practices. Equity QUantified In Participation (EQUIP) learning communities organize faculty members to work together to promote antiracist teaching. Participation in EQUIP learning communities results in lasting, meaningful changes to both faculty beliefs and practices.

Student and Faculty Beliefs about Diverse Approaches to Engineering Design Decisions

<strong>Background:</strong> Engineers need to be able to make robust design decisions. Because design is an ill-structured endeavor, design decisions require some combination of rationalistic, intuitive, and empathic approaches. However, engineering education remains largely oriented towards the use of rationalistic approaches. <strong>Purpose/Hypothesis:</strong> We posit that the persistent gap between the need to leverage diverse approaches to make engineering design decisions and the emphasis on primarily rationalistic approaches in engineering spaces is due, in part, to the beliefs that individuals hold about diverse approaches. <strong>Design/Method:</strong> We analyzed interview transcripts to identify the beliefs shared by students and by faculty (as individual units of analysis) about rationalistic, intuitive, and empathic approaches to making engineering design decisions, and then we compared the shared beliefs of the two groups. <strong>Results:</strong> Students and faculty similarly shared a belief that rationalistic approaches are normative in engineering. The two groups also had a common, general belief that empathic approaches are missing in engineering, but they differed in the ways in which they talked about empathic approaches. Finally, the two groups differed in their beliefs about the role of diverse approaches in practice: students believed rationalistic approaches are and should be used most in practice, but faculty believed that rationalistic approaches are inherently limited and therefore require the use of intuitive approaches. <strong>Conclusions:</strong> We interpret the pervasive belief that engineers are expected to portray their design decision making as primarily rational as a reflection of an unrealistic yet powerful social norm in engineering spaces, which can be understood as a key part of how the exclusive culture of engineering is perpetuated. We see a need to teach explicitly about this social norm in order to disrupt it, and we encourage engineering educators to reflect on how the ways in which their praxis might endorse or reinforce such unrealistic beliefs, either explicitly or implicitly.

Beliefs, mental health, healthy lifestyle behaviors and coping strategies of college faculty and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: To assess faculty and staff beliefs about returning to campus as well as their mental health and healthy lifestyle behaviors. Participants: Faculty and staff at a large Mid-west public land-grant university. Methods: A survey was emailed to a random sample of faculty and staff (N = 6,000 faculty; N = 6,000 staff). Results: Response rate was 35.6% for faculty (n = 2,138) and 37.8% (n = 2,226) for staff. Participants who were working from home (>60%) had less confidence about returning to campus safely than those who had been working on campus. Eighteen to 27% of faculty and 25%–31% of staff met the cutoff for clinical anxiety and the rates of depression were 4.4%–8.3% and 9.7%–10.0% respectively. Conclusion: Institutions of higher education must build wellness cultures and accelerate access to mental health services, which should be evidence-based and include a focus on promoting and maintaining overall wellness.

A longitudinal case study assessing experiences contributing to interest in teaching and the teaching beliefs of future geoscience faculty

A future instructor’s teaching beliefs contribute to whether they will use research-validated teaching strategies. We surveyed and interviewed potential future geoscience faculty as represented by graduate students and post-doctoral scholars to characterize their teaching beliefs, evaluate changes in those beliefs over time, and identify experiences that fostered interest in teaching. This study employed a longitudinal mixed-methods experimental design that began with surveys of more than 600 geoscience graduate students and post-doctoral scholars, continued with interviews of sixty of these participants, and concluded with detailed case studies of ten individuals. Case study interview results indicate that professional development has the largest impact on teaching beliefs. Mentors were also influential but may have had either positive or negative effects on the development of reformed beliefs. Participants’ desire to seek a career involving teaching was motivated by their experience as a student, external encouragement, and the potential to have an impact on future students. Our findings indicate that participation in long-term effective professional development, having a relationship with a mentor that views teaching positively, and having opportunities to teach as a PhD student or post-doc contribute to the development of reformed teaching beliefs and foster an interest in teaching as a career.

Recent Research in Science Teaching and Learning.

The Current Insights feature is designed to introducelife science educators and researchers to current articles of interest in other social science and educationjournals.In this installment, I highlight three that explore how different types of stress can produce different educational outcomes, how studying by writing questions can improve performance, and how faculty beliefs about intelligence can influence students' interest in and evaluation of a course.

Medical educators\u2019 beliefs about teaching, learning, and knowledge: development of a new framework

BackgroundThe educational beliefs of medical educators influence their teaching practices. Insight into these beliefs is important for medical schools to improve the quality of education they provide students and to guide faculty development.Several studies in the field of higher education have explored the educational beliefs of educators, resulting in classifications that provide a structural basis for diverse beliefs. However, few classification studies have been conducted in the field of medical education. We propose a framework that describes faculty beliefs about teaching, learning, and knowledge which is specifically adapted to the medical education context. The proposed framework describes a matrix in which educational beliefs are organised two dimensionally into belief orientations and belief dimensions. The belief orientations range from teaching-centred to learning-centred; the belief dimensions represent qualitatively distinct aspects of beliefs, such as ‘desired learning outcomes’ and ‘students’ motivation’.MethodsWe conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 26 faculty members, all of whom were deeply involved in teaching, from two prominent medical schools. We used the original framework of Samuelowicz and Bain as a starting point for context-specific adaptation. The qualitative analysis consisted of relating relevant interview fragments to the Samuelowicz and Bain framework, while remaining open to potentially new beliefs identified during the interviews. A range of strategies were employed to ensure the quality of the results.ResultsWe identified a new belief dimension and adapted or refined other dimensions to apply in the context of medical education. The belief orientations that have counterparts in the original Samuelowicz and Bain framework are described more precisely in the new framework. The new framework sharpens the boundary between teaching-centred and learning-centred belief orientations.ConclusionsOur findings confirm the relevance of the structure of the original Samuelowicz and Bain beliefs framework. However, multiple adaptations and refinements were necessary to align the framework to the context of medical education. The refined belief dimensions and belief orientations enable a comprehensive description of the educational beliefs of medical educators. With these adaptations, the new framework provides a contemporary instrument to improve medical education and potentially assist in faculty development of medical educators.

Faculty beliefs about active learning hinder adoption

Faculty beliefs about active learning hinder adoption

Faculty beliefs about active learning hinder adoption

Faculty beliefs about active learning hinder adoption

How faculty discipline and beliefs influence instructional uses of writing in STEM undergraduate courses at research-intensive universities

Efforts to accelerate the pace of adoption of writing-to-learn (WTL) practices in undergraduate STEM courses have been limited by a lack of theoretical and conceptual frameworks to systematically guide research and empirical evidence about the extent to which intrapersonal attributes and contextual factors, particularly faculty beliefs and disciplinary cultures, influence faculty use of writing assignments in their teaching. To address these gaps, we adopted an ecological systems perspective and conducted a national survey of faculty in STEM departments across 63 research-intensive universities in the United States. Overall, the findings indicated that 70% of faculty assigned writing. However, the assignment of writing differed by faculty demographics, discipline, and beliefs. More specifically, faculty demographics accounted for 5% of the variance in assignment of writing.&nbsp; Faculty discipline accounted for an additional 6% increment in variance, and faculty epistemic beliefs and beliefs about effectiveness of WTL practices and contextual resources and constraints influencing the use of writing in their teaching together accounted for an additional 30% increment in variance. The findings point to faculty beliefs as salient intervention targets and highlight the importance of disciplinary specific approaches to the promotion of the adoption of WTL practices.

Attitudinal beliefs towards individuals with disabilities at a metropolitan university: Insights and implications for kinesiology professionals

The primary aim of this study was to examine the attitudinal beliefs of college students, faculty, and staff at a public metropolitan university toward individuals with disabilities. This cross-sectional study utilized the Interactions with Disabled Persons Scale to assess current perceptions of individuals with disabilities of students, faculty, and staff (n=138). Independent t-tests and an ANOVA were utilized to examine differences between students and faculty/staff. Results revealed males, individuals with some experience in coursework related to individuals with disabilities, and those with higher volumes of contact with individuals with disabilities displayed lower scores on the IDP. Additional research utilizing a larger sample size is needed to confirm these findings. Importantly, this paper provides evidence of the need for efforts by kinesiology educators to provide curriculum and experiential activities that increase exposure to individuals with disabilities in order to heighten knowledge, lessen discomfort, and ultimately improve the experiences and outcomes of individuals with a disability at metropolitan universities.