This document summarizes a study that examined the relationship between faculty teaching practices, beliefs, and social connectivity. The researchers collected data on faculty social networks, teaching approaches using surveys and classroom observations, and beliefs about teaching. They found that faculty who were more socially connected within their departments tended to use more student-centered teaching practices in the classroom. However, social connectivity between departments was generally low. The researchers conclude that collaboration may be key to promoting adoption of student-centered practices, and faculty development needs support implementation to build communities of practice.

1. Examining the Relationship between Faculty
Teaching Practice and
Interconnectivity in a Social Network
James A. Middleton, Stephen J. Krause, Kendra Rae Beeley
Eugene Judson, John Ernzen, Ying-Chih Chen, Bethany Smith
Arizona State University
Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015
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Supported by National Science Foundation Grant No. 1226586

2. Social Connectivity and Instruction:
• Do interactions between faculty promote
student centered learning?
– Studied by McKenna et. al 2009
– Studied by Borrego et. al 2010
– Studied by Ebert-May et. al 2011
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

3. Traditional Instruction in Engineering
• Research shows limited use of student-
centered practices in engineering due to:
– Time constraints, large classrooms, etc.
– Lack of effective faculty development
– Lack of support during implementation
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

4. Faculty Focus in this Research
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

5. Student Centered Practice (SCP)
• Focuses on students learning, not teachers teaching
• Students engaged with one another in classroom activities
• Uses reflection to promote metacognition and self-regulation
• Motivates students by using context for relevance & future value
• Uses formative feedback to asses student progress, not only tests
• SCP promotes better attitude, persistence, and achievement
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

6. Research Questions
• Is social connectedness related to degree of
student-centered faculty practice and beliefs?
- If so, to what extent?
• Are there trends in social connectedness
within and between programs?
– If so, what are they?
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

7. Social Network Analysis Methods
• 21 First Level Faculty Participants
– 13 Engineering, 4 Physics, 2 Mathematics, and 2 Chemistry
across nine departments
• Data Collection Tool #1: Interviews
– One-hour semi-structured interview
– 24 questions about perceptions of student learning,
classroom practice, resources, professional development etc.
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

8. Social Network Data from Interview
Key Interview Questions for Social Network Analysis:
1. With whom do you collaborate regarding improvement of
instruction?
2. With whom do you discuss teaching-related topics?
3. Who comes to you to discuss instruction?
2nd Level: Snowball sample
– Sent same three questions to 2nd level instructors
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

9. Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI)
• Data Collection Tool #2: ATI by Trigwell and Prosser
– Survey measuring faculty beliefs about teaching
– 22 statements in 4 subscales, Likert 0-4 (α~.73 - .75)
• Student Centered Conceptual Change Intention
• Student-Centered Strategies
• Teacher Centered Information Transmission
• Teacher-Centered Strategies
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

10. Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP)
• Data Collection Tool #3: RTOP (Sawada & Piburn 2002)
– Classroom observation tool (Overall α =0.954)
– Measures extent of observed student-centered practice (Scale 0-100)
• 5 dimensions of student-centered practice
– Lesson Design and Implementation (5 questions)
– Propositional Knowledge (5)
– Procedural Knowledge (5)
– Communicative Interactions (5)
– Student/Teacher Relationships (5)
• Observations in 3 classes per faculty member
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

11. Results: Overall Web of Connections (1st + 2nd Level)
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

12. Results: 1st Level Connections by Departments
12
Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015
High: Biomedical Engineering = 10.0 connections/person
Low: Math = 0.5 connections/person
Very limited interdepartmental social connection
Number of
Faculty
Surveyed
Number of
Connections in
Department
Connections in
Department per
person
Number of
Connections
Between
Departments
Connections Between
Departments per
person
Math 2 1 0.5 2 1
Chem. 2 8 4 0 0
Physics 4 17 4.3 1 0.25
Fresh. Eng. 2 20 10.0 3 1.5
BME 3 29 9.7 6 2
Mech/Aero. 1 4 4 1 1
Elect. Eng. 2 1 0.5 1 0.5
Comp. Sys. Eng. 1 3 3 1 1
Mat. Sci. Eng. 1 5 5 0 0

13. Results: 1st Level-
Correlation between Social Connectedness and ATI Dimensions
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015
ATI dimensions were not correlated with social
connectedness at the 0.05 significance level.

14. Results: 1st Level-
Correlation between Social Connectedness and RTOP Dimensions
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015
4 out of 5 RTOP dimensions and total RTOP score are correlated
to social connectedness at the 0.05 significance level.
The more faculty interact with one another, the more student-
centered their classroom practice will be.

15. Summary and Implications
• More socially connected faculty use more SCP which can lead to
improved student attitude, persistence, and achievement
• Department social connectivity varies from low to high, where
there are communities of practice
• Social connectivity between departments is low overall,
indicating there is no college scale community of practice
• Faculty development for SCP also needs supported
implementation to foster social networking to build communities
of practice to improve the student experience and performance in
the first two years of engineering
Presented at ASEE Annual Conference and
Exposition, Seattle, WA, 6/17/2015
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16. Thank you! Any questions?
Presented at ASEE Annual Conference and
Exposition, Seattle, WA, 6/17/2015
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17. References (too small to see!)Blanton, Maria L., Susan Westbrook, and Glenda Carter. "Using Valsiner’s zone theory to interpret teaching practices in mathematics and science
classrooms." Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education 8.1 (2005): 5-33.
Faw, Volney. "A psychotherapeutic method of teaching psychology." American Psychologist 4.4 (1949): 104.
American Psychological Association. Learner-centered psychological principles: A framework for school redesign and reform. ERIC Clearinghouse, 1995.
Weimer, Maryellen. Learner-centered teaching: Five key changes to practice. John Wiley & Sons, 2002.
Weimer, Maryellen. "Focus on learning, transform teaching." Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 35.5 (2003): 48-54.
Cornelius-White, Jeffrey. "Learner-centered teacher-student relationships are effective: A meta-analysis." Review of Educational Research 77.1 (2007): 113-
143.
Walczyk, Jeffrey J., and Linda L. Ramsey. "Use of learner‐centered instruction in college science and mathematics classrooms." Journal of research in science
teaching 40.6 (2003): 566-584.
Ebert-May, Diane, et al. "What we say is not what we do: effective evaluation of faculty professional development programs." BioScience 61.7 (2011): 550-
558.
Rogers, Everett M. “Diffusion of Innovations Vol 5”. New York: Free Press, 2003.
McKenna, Ann F., Bugrahan Yalvac, and Gregory J. Light. "The role of collaborative reflection on shaping engineering faculty teaching approaches." Journal
of Engineering Education 98.1 (2009): 17-26.
Borrego, Maura, Jeffrey E. Froyd, and T. Simin Hall. "Diffusion of engineering education innovations: A survey of awareness and adoption rates in US
engineering departments." Journal of Engineering Education 99.3 (2010): 185-207.
Henderson, Charles, Melissa Dancy, and Magdalena Niewiadomska-Bugaj. "Use of research-based instructional strategies in introductory physics: Where do
faculty leave the innovation-decision process?." Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research 8.2 (2012): 020104.
Prince, Michael, et al. "Use of research-based instructional strategies in core chemical engineering courses." Chemical Engineering Education 47.1 (2013):
27-37.
Glaser, Jochen, and Grit Laudel. “Life with and without coding: Two methods for early-stage data analysis in qualitative research aiming at causal
explanations. Forum Qualitative Sozialfroschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research 14.2. Retrieved from http://qualitative-
research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1886/3528.
Trigwell, Keith, and Michael Prosser. "Development and use of the approaches to teaching inventory." Educational Psychology Review 16.4 (2004): 409-424.
Sawada, Daiyo, Michael Piburn, Eugene Judson, Jeff Turley, Kathleen Falconer, Russell Benford, & Irene Bloom. "Measuring reform practices in science and
mathematics classrooms: The reformed teaching observation protocol." School Science and Mathematics, vol. 102, pp. 245-253, 2002.
Fraser, Barry J., et al. "Syntheses of educational productivity research." International journal of educational research 11.2 (1987): 147-252.
Presented at ASEE Annual Conference and
Exposition, Seattle, WA, 6/17/2015
17

18. Results: LC-attitudes related to LCP
• The correlation between total RTOP score and
CCSF scale score was .342
• The correlation between total RTOP score and
ITTF score was -.072.
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

19. Results: Faculty Clusters
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

20. Results: Faculty Attitude Profiles
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

21. Results: Faculty Cluster by RTOP
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

22. Results: RTOP by Department
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23. Presented at ASEE Annual Conference and
Exposition, Seattle, WA, 6/17/2015
23

24. Results: Use of Learning Resources
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015

25. Results: Interviews, Resources
• Personnel undergraduate learning
assistants, graduate teaching assistants,
graders, lab staff, teaching team, and other
faculty
• Technologysoftware, textbook, online
materials and videos
• Classroom Environmentdesire for group
interactions, dependent on the seating and
space in the room.
Presented at ASEE Annual Conference and
Exposition, Seattle, WA, 6/17/2015
25

26. Results: Interviews, Barriers and
Affordances
• Lecture hall
• Being situated in a collaborative, teaching
team resulted in a higher likelihood to have
similar beliefs and practices
• Student time management
• Student gaps in foundational knowledge.
• No Effective evaluation of teaching to help
improve practice.
Presented at ASEE Annual Conference and
Exposition, Seattle, WA, 6/17/2015
26

27. Connectedness Matters!
Presented at ASEE Annual Conference and
Exposition, Seattle, WA, 6/17/2015
27

28. Results: 1st Level Connections
Non-engineering vs. Engineering
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015
Engineering instructors are more socially
connected than non-engineering instructors.

29. Student Centered Practice
• Used infrequently by post-secondary faculty
• May not align with the reality of their classroom practice
• Faculty may be aware of and interested in, SCP, but
typically do not progress to implementation or adoption
• Collaboration is a key determinant of adoption of SCP
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Presented at FIE Annual Conference and
Exposition, El Paso, TX, 10/23/2015