FIRST II: A Model for Facilitating Change

Diane Ebert-May1

Jan Hodder2

Debra Linton3

1 Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University2 Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, University of Oregon

3 Cuyahoga Community College

www.first2.org

Evidence…

Policy

Institutional Support

and Facilitation

Need to Change

Learning and

Implementing New Practices

Facilitating the Learning

and Implementatio

n of New Practices

Sustainable Agriculture(Röling and Wagemakers, 1998)

FIRST ModelFaculty

Recognition and Rewards

Dissemination within

Institutions

IT Faculty Teams Join

FIRST II

FIRST II Workshops Lead to

Course Reforms

FIRST II Team

Structure

Theoretical Basis of FIRST

Need to Change Teaching

Faculty Choose to Join FIRST II

Primary Reasons for Participating

(n=145)

Reason %Improve my teaching/courses 43Learn new techniques / get new ideas 30

Improve student learning / critical thinking 21

Build connections/support groups with peers 20

Increase use of inquiry in my classes 19

…Improve assessment 7

Participants by Position Title(n=145)

Institutions Involved(n=145)

Participants by Years Teaching Experience

(n=145)

Learning and ImplementingNew Practices

FIRST II WorkshopsLead to Course Reforms

WorkshopActivities

Useful Workshop Experiences(n=109)

Category# of

Participants

Seeing what others are doing

46

Learning about Assessment 22

Learning about IBL 20

Example inquiry activities 18

Specific tools or techniques 13

Guest speakers 10

Hands-on practice with techniques

9

Courses in the Project(n=109)

Discipline # of Courses % Reformed

Introductory Biology 66 84.8

Ecology and Evolution 61 72.1

Cell and Molecular Biology 37 67.6

Zoology 34 35.3

Physiology 24 66.7

Applied Course 23 73.9

Microbiology 23 78.3

Chemistry 20 65.0

Plant Biology 15 80.0

Physical Sciences 13 76.9

Mathematics 12 91.7

Limnology and Oceanography

8 62.5

Other 42 61.9

Total 378 70.1

Students in Courses(n=109)

Audience # of Courses % Reformed

Undergraduate non-science majors

102 78.4

Lower division science majors

120 79.2

Upper division science majors

160 65.5

Graduate Students 52 59.6

Pre-Service Teachers

46 69.6

Sizes of Courses Being Reformed

(n=109)

# Students # of Courses % Reformed

<15 90 62.2

16-30 164 68.7

31-60 67 76.1

61-100 25 80.0

100-200 24 83.3

>200 6 83.3

# Students in Reformed Courses per Year: >16,000

Reforms in Courses(n=109)

Techniques Implemented or Increased in Usage

# of Faculty Using

In-class Group Activities 47

Cooperative Groups 41

Inquiry-based Labs 32

Concept Maps 28

Minute Papers 26

Student Discussions 22

Think/Pair/Share 21

Student Presentations 21

Pre/Post-Testing 19

Experimental Design/Analysis 16

Conceptual Questions 16

Less Lecture 14

Student Research 11

Facilitating the Learning and Implementation of New Teaching Practices

FIRST II Team Structure

FIRST II Structure

IT Support from Teammates(n=109)

Category # of Participants

Informal discussions 42

Nothing 26

Regular meetings 22

Infrequent meetings 14

Collaborate on courses 11

Visit each other’s classes 8

E-mail 7

Meet with other IT teams 3

Support from FS Team(n=109)

Category # of Participants

Feedback on what I am doing 23Facilitate information sharing between teams 18

Updates on resources and literature 17

Training in assessment and inquiry-based teaching

17

Encouragement / Motivation 15Organize workshops 9Visit our schools / classrooms 8Collaborate on research 7Provide activities I can use in my class 2

FIRST II Website Use

Useful Website Resources(n=109)

Category # of Participants

Resources section 11

References on science education 8

Inquiry activities 7

Contact information 7

Links to other sites 6

Assessment section 4

Workshop resources 3

General information about FIRST II 2

Journal list 2

No response 59

Institutional Support and Facilitation

Dissemination within

Institutions

Seminars Presented by Participants

(n=109)

Grant Proposals Submitted

by Participants(n=109)

Types of Grant Proposals(n=109)

Departmental Reforms(n=109)

Reform # of Participants

Add more IBL in classes 17

Revising specific courses 15

Inquiry-based labs 9

Changed core sequence 8

Changed class formats 7

Evaluate objectives and assessment

5

Allow changes by individuals 5

Integrate curriculum 3

Implement specific techniques 2

Technology 2

Other 4

Policy

Faculty Recognition and Rewards

Fox MA, Hackerman N. 2003. Evaluating and improving undergraduate teaching in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Washington DC: The National Academies Press.

FIRST Model

Policy

Institutional Support

and Facilitation

Need to Change

Learning and

Implementing New Practices

Facilitating the Learning

and Implementatio

n of New Practices

Evidence…

Sustainable Agriculture (Röling and Wagemakers, 1998)

Faculty Recognition

and Rewards

Dissemination within

Institutions

IT Faculty Teams Join

FIRST II

FIRST II Workshops Lead to

Course Reforms

FIRST II Team

Structure

Theoretical Basis of FIRST

Dimensions of Faculty Change

Where are FIRST II Faculty?

Where are you?

What are the next questions?

Question: Do faculty self-report data about teaching reforms correlate with direct observation?

Method:Videotaping of faculty in classes (n~80 x 4)Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP)

What are the next questions?

Question:Does student learning increase in response to reformed teaching practice?

Data we have…

Evidence of Student Learning(n=109)

Evidence # of Participants

Pre/Post tests 21

Anecdotal 10

Student surveys 10

Assessments (no comparisons) 9

Year-to-Year differences 7

Controlled experiment 1

No evidence 58

What are the next questions?

Question:Does student learning increase in response to reformed teaching practice?

Method:Diagnostic Question sets (SDSU, CU, MSU)Correlate with RTOP

FIRST III?

Who? Faculty and graduate students

What? Scientific teaching - practice and research

Where? Field Stations

Why? Change takes time and support