1. Dissemination within and between Institutions Faculty Need to Change Workshops Team Structure Faculty Recognition and Rewards Abstract Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching (FIRST II) tests a model for faculty professional development that facilitates implementation of effective teaching practices, and creates institutional infrastructures that support and sustain efforts to improve student learning. Forty teams of faculty from science departments in colleges and universities throughout the nation participated in a series of workshops at biological field stations that focused on how students learn and how to improve student learning. Teams selected courses to reform, developed student learning goals and assessments, and learned active, inquiry-based instructional designs/techniques that enabled students to achieve their goals. Faculty returned to their departments and implemented changes in their own courses, and used a variety of approaches to diffuse the innovations to other colleagues. At the course-level of change (n=150 courses), self-report data from faculty indicate increased use of inquiry-based instruction and formative assessments during class meetings and laboratories. At the team-level of change, FIRST II teams gave workshops and seminars in their departments and colleges, wrote grant proposals for educational innovations, and extended changes from courses to curricula. Faculty Teams Join FIRST FIRST II: A Model for Facilitating Innovation in Teaching and Learning Undergraduate Science How are they learning? Diane Ebert-May 1, Janet Hodder 2, Debra Linton 3, Tammy Long 1, Everett Weber 1 1 Michigan State University, 2 University of Oregon, 3 Cuyahoga Community College How are they learning? Workshops lead to reform A total of 376 courses are undergoing reform. Class sizes range from less than 15 to greater than 200 students. Dissemination within and between institutions Faculty within institutions are catalysts for change. Participants present seminars within their institutions and at regional and national meetings. Team structure supports reform Field stations provide structure that establishes communities to facilitate reform. Field stations encourage and stimulate innovation. Faculty recognition and rewards Success rate for grants is 67% with grants ranging from <$10,000 to more than $1 million. Table 1. Primary Reasons for Participating (2002 FIRST survey, n=145). Reason% Improve my teaching/courses43 Learn new techniques / get new ideas30 Improve student learning / critical thinking21 Build connections/support groups with peers 20 Increase use of inquiry in my classes19 …Improve assessment7 Figure 1. Participants by Years Teaching Experience (2002 FIRST survey, n=145). Table 2. Sizes of Courses Being Reformed (2004 FIRST survey, n=109). # Students# of Courses% Reformed <159062.2 16-3016468.7 31-606776.1 61-1002580.0 100-2002483.3 >200683.3 # Students in Reformed Courses per Year: >16,000 Table 3. Reforms in Courses (2004 FIRST survey, n=109). Techniques Implemented or Increased in Usage # of Faculty Using In-class Group Activities47 Cooperative Groups41 Inquiry-based Labs32 Concept Maps28 Minute Papers26 Student Discussions22 Think/Pair/Share21 Student Presentations21 Pre/Post-Testing19 Experimental Design/Analysis16 Conceptual Questions16 Less Lecture14 Student Research11 Figure 3. FIRST II Structure. Table 5. Support Participants Received from Team (2004 FIRST survey, n=109). Category# of Participants Informal discussions42 Nothing26 Regular meetings22 Infrequent meetings14 Collaborate on courses11 Visit each other’s classes8 E-mail7 Meet with other IT teams3 Table 4. Support Participants Received from Field Station Team (2004 FIRST survey, n=109). Category# of Participants Feedback on what I am doing23 Facilitate information sharing between teams 18 Updates on resources and literature17 Training in assessment and inquiry- based teaching 17 Encouragement / Motivation15 Organize workshops9 Visit our schools / classrooms8 Collaborate on research7 Provide activities I can use in my class 2 Figure 4. Seminars Presented by Participants (2004 FIRST survey, n=109). Figure 5. Grant Proposals Submitted by Participants (2004 FIRST survey, n=109). Pending Research Questions: FIRST Hypothesis Does student learning increase in response to reformed teaching practice? Test: Correlate student learning with reformed teaching practice Method: Diagnostic questions sets (developed with SDSU, CU, MSU) and correlated with RTOP Do faculty self-report data about teaching reforms correlate with direct observation? Test: Correlate self report data with direct observation Method: Video taping of faculty in classes (n~80 x 4) using Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) Institutional Support and Facilitation Need to Change Learning and Implementing New Practices Facilitating the Learning and Implementation of New Practices Policy Roling and Wagemakers (1998) Learn and Test New Practices Students don’t understand Why? Social Learning and Support Theoretical Basis of FIRST # of Proposals Sustainable Agriculture Model Figure 2. Institution Type (2002 FIRST survey, n=145).