Next Thursday (11/8), Maia Popova, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemistry, will present her research on characterizing teaching beliefs of novice chemistry faculty at research institutions.
Abstract:
Previous research has reported that faculty’s beliefs about teaching affect their instructional practices in classrooms and sometimes are a barrier to reforming traditional lecture-based STEM courses. This study aims to characterize the epistemological beliefs of novice chemistry faculty from research-intensive institutions. Clarke and Hollingsworth’s interconnected model of professional growth has been chosen as the theoretical framework for the study as it illustrates the complex non-linear nature of the relationships between teacher beliefs, classroom practices, student learning outcomes, and external sources of information such as instructional interventions. Thirteen novice chemistry faculty that participated in the Cottrell Scholars Collaborative New Faculty Workshop have been interviewed using Luft and Roehrig’s Teaching Beliefs Interview protocol. Codes and categories that reflect patterns in faculty’s thinking were generated through constant-comparative analysis. A major emphasis in the investigation was placed on the deductive categorization of faculty’s epistemological beliefs on the scale from more teacher-centered to more student-centered.
Time: 2-3 pm, Thursday, Nov. 8
Location: 109 Bessey Hall