APS March Meeting 2017
Volume 62, Number 4
Monday–Friday, March 13–17, 2017;
New Orleans, Louisiana
Session H53: The New (and Future) Faculty Workshop in Three Hours
2:30 PM–5:30 PM,
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Room: 287
Sponsoring
Unit:
FEd
Chair: John Stewart, West Virginia University
Abstract ID: BAPS.2017.MAR.H53.5
Abstract: H53.00005 : New pathways to physics instruction: Blending a MOOC and in-person discussion to train physics graduate students and postdocs in evidence-based teaching*
4:54 PM–5:30 PM
Preview Abstract
Abstract
Author:
Bennett Goldberg
(Northwestern University)
A challenge facing physics education is how to encourage and support the
adoption of evidence-based instructional practices that decades of physics
education research has shown to be effective. Like many STEM departments,
physics departments struggle to overcome the barriers of faculty knowledge,
motivation and time; institutional cultures and reward systems; and
disciplinary traditions. Research has demonstrated successful transformation
of department-level approaches to instruction through local learning
communities, in-house expertise, and department administrative support. In
this talk, I will discuss how physics and other STEM departments can use a
MOOC on evidence-based instruction together with in-person seminar
discussions to create a learning community of graduate students and
postdocs, and how such communities can affect departmental change in
teaching and learning.
Four university members of the 21-university network working to prepare
future faculty to be both excellent researchers and excellent teachers
collaborated on an NSF WIDER project to develop and deliver two massive open
online courses (MOOCs) in evidence-based STEM instruction. A key innovation
is a new blended mode of delivery where groups of participants engaged with
the online content and then meet weekly in local learning communities to
discuss content, communicate current experiences, and delve deeper into
particular techniques of local interest. The MOOC team supported these
so-called MOOC-Centered Learning Communities, or MCLCs, with detailed
facilitator guides complete with synopses of online content, learning goals
and suggested activities for in-person meetings, as well as virtual MCLC
communities for sharing and feedback. In the initial run of the first MOOC,
40 MCLCs were created; in the second run this past fall, more than 80 MCLCs
formed. Further, target audiences of STEM graduate students and postdocs
completed at a 40-50{\%} rate, indicating the value they place in building
their knowledge in evidence-based instruction. We will present data on the
impact of being in an MCLC on completion and learning outcomes, as well as
data on departmental change in physics supported by MCLCs.
*Work supported by NSF DUE-1347605
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2017.MAR.H53.5