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. 2015 Mar 2;14(1):ar7.
doi: 10.1187/cbe.14-05-0084.

It's personal: biology instructors prioritize personal evidence over empirical evidence in teaching decisions

Tessa C Andrews  1 , Paula P Lemons  2
Affiliations

It's personal: biology instructors prioritize personal evidence over empirical evidence in teaching decisions

Tessa C Andrews et al. CBE Life Sci Educ. .

Abstract

Despite many calls for undergraduate biology instructors to incorporate active learning into lecture courses, few studies have focused on what it takes for instructors to make this change. We sought to investigate the process of adopting and sustaining active-learning instruction. As a framework for our research, we used the innovation-decision model, a generalized model of how individuals adopt innovations. We interviewed 17 biology instructors who were attempting to implement case study teaching and conducted qualitative text analysis on interview data. The overarching theme that emerged from our analysis was that instructors prioritized personal experience-rather than empirical evidence-in decisions regarding case study teaching. We identified personal experiences that promote case study teaching, such as anecdotal observations of student outcomes, and those that hinder case study teaching, such as insufficient teaching skills. By analyzing the differences between experienced and new case study instructors, we discovered that new case study instructors need support to deal with unsupportive colleagues and to develop the skill set needed for an active-learning classroom. We generated hypotheses that are grounded in our data about effectively supporting instructors in adopting and sustaining active-learning strategies. We also synthesized our findings with existing literature to tailor the innovation-decision model.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Innovation-decision model. Figure adapted from Rogers (2003).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Excerpt of an interview transcript illustrating phase 2 analysis and its relationship to the format of final themes in phase 3. In phase 2, we categorized quotes from the interviews using our phase 1 a priori list and new categories identified during phase 2. In phase 3, we organized categories into final themes, which are presented in the Results.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Innovation-decision model modified to represent the process by which college biology instructors adopt, sustain, and improve their implementation of teaching innovations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action. Washington, DC: 2011.
    1. Andrews T, Leonard M, Colgrove C, Kalinowski S. Active learning not associated with student learning in a random sample of college biology courses. CBE Life Sci Educ. 2011;10:394–405. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Borko H, Livingston C. Cognition and improvisation: differences in mathematics instruction by expert and novice teachers. Am Educ Res J. 1989;26:473–498.
    1. Bouwma-Gearhart J. Research university STEM faculty members’ motivation to engage in teaching professional development: building the choir through an appeal to extrinsic motivation and ego. J Sci Educ Technol. 2012;21:558–570.
    1. Boyer Commission on Education Undergraduates in the Research University. Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A Blueprint for America’s Research Universities. Stony Brook: State University of New York; 1998.

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