Study #2: Characterizing STEM Teaching Practices
We contributed observational data for over 500 courses from UVA instructors who had and had not participated in our CDI. The overall results were not promising, but a large percentage of UVA instructors who had participated in our CDI were among the “eighteen percent of observations [in the] ‘Student-Centered’ style” instructional profile.
These findings challenge institutions and STEM disciplines to reflect on practices and policies that sustain the status quo. Specifically, institutions should revise their tenure, promotion, and merit-recognition policies to incentivize and reward implementation of evidence-based instructional practices for all academic ranks…These policy changes would require institutions and STEM professional organizations to provide effective pedagogical training for the current and future professoriate, similar to the level provided for research. Further, these policy changes cannot be meaningfully implemented without research-based guidelines for measuring effective teaching practices. Funding agencies should prioritize the development of such guidelines.