C ROSSING T HEORETICAL B OUNDARIES : F RAMEWORKS T O P ROMOTE AND S TUDY STEM E DUCATION O RGANIZATIONS AND I MPROVEMENT 14 November 2015 Crossing Boundaries: Transforming STEM Education, AAC&U Ann Sitomer, Christina Smith, Jana Bouwma-Gearhart, Kathy Quardokus Fisher, 1

Change initiatives: Questions for discussion Consider a change initiative on your campus.  What are the goals of the change initiative?  What strategies are being used to achieve these goals?  What organizational factors impact these goals? 2

Overview of the session  Our project:  Our framework What: Facets of the organization we are examining to describe the potential for organizational change How: Combining analytical theories to explain organizational change  Implications for guiding and studying change 3

Enhancing STEM Education at Oregon State University 4 Focus : Large undergraduate STEM courses

Enhancing STEM Education at Oregon State University We conjecture that widespread change to teaching practice will be facilitated by participation in intra- and inter- disciplinary learning communities. As these changes occur, data are gathered on the impact of activities and findings are shared with members of the community. These findings are then used to initiate or catalyze further organizational change. Theory of Action 5

Goals 6 Enhancing STEM Education at Oregon State University Learning Communities (Intra- and Inter-) Influence student learning Organizational Change  Understand the current environment  Identify opportunities for change  Increase in EBIPs (quantity)  Improvement of practice (quality)

Macro - Institution Meso - Department Micro - Individual 7 Teaching practice An instructor employs interactive engagement in her calculus course by asking students to answer conceptual questions, using a Think- Pair-Share strategy. Potential for change

Macro - Institution Meso - Department Micro - Individual 8 The calculus instructor interprets student learning as active engagement with the underlying concepts. Schema about teaching and learning Teaching practice A schema provides a cognitive framework on which a person makes sense of experience. Potential for change

Macro - Institution Meso - Department Micro - Individual 9 Shared schema about teaching and learning Schema about teaching and learning Teaching practice Several calculus instructors interpret student learning as active engagement with the underlying concepts, rather than learning demonstrated by procedural fluency. Potential for change

Macro - Institution Meso - Department Micro - Individual 10 Organizational routines An undergraduate curriculum committee makes recommendations about mathematics curriculum that are voted upon by the department faculty. Shared schema about teaching and learning Schema about teaching and learning Teaching practice Potential for change

Macro - Institution Meso - Department Micro - Individual 11 Faculty social networks A group of faculty share ideas about ways to use instructional technology in their calculus lectures. Shared schema about teaching and learning Schema about teaching and learning Teaching practice Organizational routines Potential for change

Macro - Institution Meso - Department Micro - Individual 12 A group of faculty read research literature about students’ understanding of derivatives to design, implement and revise learning activities to develop conceptual understanding. Learning communities Shared schema about teaching and learning Schema about teaching and learning Teaching practice Faculty social networks Organizational routines Potential for change

Macro - Institution Meso - Department Micro - Individual 13 The mathematics department has no dedicated classrooms. Learning communities Structures Shared schema about teaching and learning Schema about teaching and learning Teaching practice Potential for change

Macro - Institution Meso - Department Micro - Individual 14 The university opens a classroom building with circular lecture halls; no student is more than eight rows from the educator. Learning communities Structures Shared schema about teaching and learning Schema about teaching and learning Teaching practice Potential for change

Macro - Institution Meso - Department Micro - Individual 15 Shared schema about teaching and learning Faculty in several departments talk to each other about using undergraduate learning assistants to help facilitate learning in large lecture sections Learning communities Structures Faculty social networks Schema about teaching and learning Teaching practice Potential for change

Macro - Institution Meso - Department Micro - Individual 16 Shared schema about teaching and learning Faculty senate makes decisions about promotion. Learning communities Structures Faculty social networks Schema about teaching and learning Teaching practice Organizational routines Potential for change

Potential for change: Question for discussion  Which facets of the organization are targeted by your change initiative and what frameworks/theories are being used to understand and document change? 17

Identifying a model for organizational change research  Grounded on the need to understand a system that includes,  individuals (their schema and actions), and  the creation and movement of knowledge necessary for change within  a cultural context, and attends to  aspects of the dynamic interaction of these features. 18

 Previous models have not robustly attended to unique features of post-secondary institutions:  Inadequate attention to organizations as systems of interrelated processes and structures/objects, influenced by environment (Langley et al, 2013)  Focus predominantly on institutional or individual scale, neglecting meso-level (Trowler et al., 2005)  Lack of documentation of change in real time (Mohrman & Lawler, 2011)  Robust empirical investigation uncommon (Kuipers et al., 2014) 19 Identifying a model for organizational change research

Theoretical frameworks  Organizational learning  Cultural models and affordance theory 20

Organizational Learning (Argote & Miron-Spektor, 2011)  An organization learns as its members undertake tasks in which knowledge is created, transferred retaining, or transferring knowledge. 21

Environmental context Reproduced from Argote & Miron-Spektor (2011) Institutions of higher education in the US Model for organizational learning

Environmental context Latent organizational context Reproduced from Argote & Miron-Spektor (2011) The culture (that is, distributed beliefs, norms and practices) of teaching at a land grant institution with a strong research mission; perceived psychological safety (i.e. department climate), structures (i.e. technology, spaces for teaching and learning, promotion). Model for organizational learning

Environmental context Reproduced from Argote & Miron-Spektor (2011) Latent organizational context Active context Members Tools Members: Educators (including graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants) teaching large enrollment introductory STEM courses Tools: Clickers, document cameras, course management systems, etc. Model for organizational learning

Environmental context Reproduced from Argote & Miron-Spektor (2011) Latent organizational context Active context Members Tools Task performance Experience Tasks: Teaching, textbook selection, decision making about promotion, etc. Model for organizational learning

Environmental context Reproduced from Argote & Miron-Spektor (2011) Latent organizational context Active context Members Tools Task performance Experience Learning begins with experience Experiences: Participating in a learning community, trying things out in one’s classroom, engaging in action research Model for organizational learning

Environmental context Reproduced from Argote & Miron-Spektor (2011) Latent organizational context Active context Members Tools Task performance Experience Knowledge Created or transferred Knowledge transfer Knowledge creation Knowledge embedded in contexts Knowledge application Knowledge retention Model for organizational learning

Environmental context Reproduced from Argote & Miron-Spektor (2011) Latent organizational context Active context Members Tools Task performance Experience Knowledge Created or transferred Knowledge transfer Knowledge creation Knowledge embedded in contexts Knowledge application Knowledge retention The theory of cultural models helps us understand how context influences members’ knowledge and actions, and the resulting experiences Model for organizational learning

Macro - Institution Meso - Department Micro - Individual 29 An educator’s schema about teaching the concept of differentiation becomes a shared schema within the department through the experience gained through participation in a disciplinary learning community. Organizational learning

Macro - Institution Meso - Department Micro - Individual 30 The impact of educators’ engagement with action research supports the development of an Action Research Fellow program at the university. Model for organizational learning

Cultural Models (Ferrare & Hora, 2014)  Shared information about the culture is internalized as individuals’ schema through socialization within and between groups. Latent and active contexts influence the tasks in which members engage.  Norms and practices are adopted, adapted and enacted by individuals to function in a complex environment, and can be observed. A calculus instructor asks conceptual questions of students during lecture. Her practices have evolved due to colleagues’ enthusiasm about clickers technology, her chair’s support for including alternative forms of student evaluations of teaching for professional reviews, and department adoption of a text that provides questions requiring student understanding and synthesis of concepts. 31

Macro - Institution Meso - Department Micro - Individual 32 Cultural models: Understanding the interplay between the organization and the practitioner

Discussion and Questions  What is our model over-privileging/under-privileging?  What are some takeaways that can inform your plans for catalyzing and study/document organizational change?  What in our model may be most applicable, meaningful or replicable to your plans to catalyze or study/document change? 33

34 Acknowledgements The work represented in this poster is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No DUE Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. We are grateful to the individuals who participated in the studies associated with this work and the people who supported this work with their time and help. Acknowledgements The work represented in this poster is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No DUE Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. We are grateful to the individuals who participated in the studies associated with this work and the people who supported this work with their time and help. Acknowledgements The work represented in this poster is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No DUE Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. We are grateful to the individuals who participated in the studies associated with this work and the people who supported this work with their time and help.