Physics Faculty Beliefs and Values about the Teaching and Learning of Problem Solving. II. Procedures for Measurement and Analysis

• Published in: Physical review special topics. Physics education research Vol. 3; no. 2; pp. 020110 - 20121
• Main Authors: Henderson, Charles, Yerushalmi, Edit, Kuo, Vince H, Heller, Kenneth, Heller, Patricia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Physical Society 01-12-2007
• Subjects: Beliefs; Calculus; College Faculty; Concept Mapping; Decision Making; Interviews; Introductory Courses; Measurement; Physics; Problem Solving; Science Instruction; Scientific Concepts; Teacher Attitudes; Teaching Methods; Values
• ISSN: 1554-9178; 1554-9178
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.3.020110

To identify and describe the basis upon which instructors make curricular and pedagogical decisions, we have developed an artifact-based interview and an analysis technique based on multilayered concept maps. The policy capturing technique used in the interview asks instructors to make judgments about concrete instructional artifacts similar to those they likely encounter in their teaching environment. The analysis procedure alternatively employs both an a "priori" systems view analysis and an emergent categorization to construct a multilayered concept map, which is a hierarchically arranged set of concept maps where child maps include more details than parent maps. Although our goal was to develop a model of physics faculty beliefs about the teaching and learning of problem solving in the context of an introductory calculus-based physics course, the techniques described here are applicable to a variety of situations in which instructors make decisions that influence teaching and learning. (Contains 3 tables, 5 figures, and 52 notes.)