Proposal Title
Unpacking how undergraduate students form beliefs about undergraduate teaching
Session Type
Poster
Room
Thames Hall Atrium
Start Date
13-7-2023 4:30 PM
End Date
13-7-2023 6:00 PM
Keywords
undergraduate, beliefs, active learning, pedagogy
Primary Threads
Teaching and Learning Science
Abstract
While the goal of most undergraduate courses is to teach students disciplinary content, these courses also influence the development of students’ beliefs about teaching and learning. This is noteworthy because students’ beliefs about teaching and learning have short- and long-term consequences. In the short-term, these beliefs dictate student engagement in the classroom, including the extent to which they buy-in to active learning strategies (Cooper et al., 2017). Long-term consequences emerge when one considers that some undergraduate students will someday become university instructors, and their beliefs about teaching and learning will dictate their pedagogical decisions. Thus, we are interested in how classroom experiences influence the development of students’ beliefs about teaching and learning.
To this end, we conducted episodic narrative interviews with first- and fourth-year students. In these interviews, students reflect on beliefs about teaching learning and describe experiences that shaped these beliefs. Given the positive impacts of active learning on student learning (Freeman et al., 2014), we focus these interviews on beliefs known to underlie the adoption of active learning strategies. Preliminary results suggest that experiences in undergraduate classrooms do impact the development of beliefs, but this influence is moderated by a students’ academic ‘objectives’ (e.g., grade-focused versus skills-focused). We also find that students’ first experiences with active learning courses can make or break their beliefs surrounding active learning practices. Lastly, we find that students conflate active learning with other curricular components that are independent from active learning.
This research was approved by our institutions research ethics board #22-09-003
Cooper, K. M., Ashley, M., & Brownell, S. E. (2017). Using expectancy value theory as a framework to reduce student resistance to active learning: A proof of concept. Journal of microbiology & biology education, 18(2), 18-2.
Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 111(23), 8410-8415.
Elements of Engagement
The poster presentation will involve conversational and inquiry-based components.
Analyses and interviews for this study are ongoing and feedback from attendees regarding insights and next steps will be encouraged.
Unpacking how undergraduate students form beliefs about undergraduate teaching
Thames Hall Atrium
While the goal of most undergraduate courses is to teach students disciplinary content, these courses also influence the development of students’ beliefs about teaching and learning. This is noteworthy because students’ beliefs about teaching and learning have short- and long-term consequences. In the short-term, these beliefs dictate student engagement in the classroom, including the extent to which they buy-in to active learning strategies (Cooper et al., 2017). Long-term consequences emerge when one considers that some undergraduate students will someday become university instructors, and their beliefs about teaching and learning will dictate their pedagogical decisions. Thus, we are interested in how classroom experiences influence the development of students’ beliefs about teaching and learning.
To this end, we conducted episodic narrative interviews with first- and fourth-year students. In these interviews, students reflect on beliefs about teaching learning and describe experiences that shaped these beliefs. Given the positive impacts of active learning on student learning (Freeman et al., 2014), we focus these interviews on beliefs known to underlie the adoption of active learning strategies. Preliminary results suggest that experiences in undergraduate classrooms do impact the development of beliefs, but this influence is moderated by a students’ academic ‘objectives’ (e.g., grade-focused versus skills-focused). We also find that students’ first experiences with active learning courses can make or break their beliefs surrounding active learning practices. Lastly, we find that students conflate active learning with other curricular components that are independent from active learning.
This research was approved by our institutions research ethics board #22-09-003
Cooper, K. M., Ashley, M., & Brownell, S. E. (2017). Using expectancy value theory as a framework to reduce student resistance to active learning: A proof of concept. Journal of microbiology & biology education, 18(2), 18-2.
Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 111(23), 8410-8415.