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GETTING FACULTY TO ADOPT ACTIVE LEARNING: A NEW APPROACH
To change this, we attempted a new, bottom-up approach. We supported instructors in forming their own Communities of Practice, focused on reforming large introductory courses. By engaging with these instructors, and connecting the communities with each other, it was hoped that faculty would not only learn the techniques of active learning but also adopt the attitude that this change is good.
To see if this changed faculty teaching, we used the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM Courses to observe 25 courses taught by Community of Practice members, and a further 35 similar courses by faculty who were not members. Being a member of a Communities of Practice made a big difference; there was much less traditional lecturing by instructors, and much more student activity - more question asking, following-up, and discussion. In addition, students in these classes were more likely to be actively engaged in problem-solving activities rather than passively listening. The difference in teaching between the two groups was large and significant; the observed effect sizes on the amount of time students spent working and instructors spent presenting were 1.3 and 1.4, respectively. We also found that there were important social network effects; who you know is as important as what you know when it comes to using active learning.
Communities of Practice are a potentially effective way to increase the use of active learning by faculty. These communities are particularly effective when they consist of small, disciplinary teams working on the same course(s) and are linked with other individuals or groups that use evidence-based instructional practices.