CLEARING A PATH TOWARD CHANGE: ENCOURAGING OUR COLLEAGUES TO ADOPT ACTIVE LEARNING (Invited Presentation)

Numerous organizations have called for a shift in the postsecondary STEM instructional paradigm, for reasons ranging from improving the science literacy of our citizenry to diversifying and increasing the number of degree recipients in out disciplines. Evidence now abounds in the geoscience education research (GER) literature, along with the literature of every other discipline-based education (DBER) field and educational psychology, that active learning frequently results in substantial improvements in a wide range of student outcomes. While the geosciences have a long history of faculty engagement in instructional change (Manduca et al., 2017) that places our discipline slightly ahead of the norm in STEM active learning (Stains et al., 2017), we all have colleagues who remain faithful to the traditional lecture model.

A common impulse in conversations with such colleagues might be to convince and explain, but empirical evidence that does not mesh with an instructor’s beliefs and personal experience is often dismissed (Andrews & Lemons, 2015). What might motivate more of our colleagues to consider active, constructivist instructional approaches? And how might we effectively support and encourage a peer’s change process? Drawing from the literature on behavioral and instructional change and a series of composite case studies of STEM faculty, this session will explore the questions above and help equip us to clear a path toward instructional change for our colleagues.