Collaborative Research: PhysPort's impact on teaching practice

Kansas State University, Manhattan KS

Investigators

Abstract

PhysPort (http://physport.org) is a leading online professional development tool that supports physics faculty in implementing research-based teaching and assessment in their classrooms through expert recommendations about teaching, assessment, and results from physics education research. Physics education researchers have produced a variety of tools that vastly improve student learning of physics, and that have been adopted and adapted for other STEM fields. However, even educators who are aware of education research and highly motivated to improve their teaching have trouble getting necessary support to implement research-based teaching effectively. This project will study the impact of this tool for physics faculty teaching practice, conduct research to increase the tool's effectiveness, and advance understanding of how online resources can support faculty teaching practices across STEM disciplines. The goals of this project are to measure the impact of PhysPort on faculty teaching practice through multiple methods, including web analytics, website feedback, usability testing, and interviews about teaching practice. These measurements will determine whether the site is achieving its goals and how it can be improved to reach its full potential. Additionally, they provide information on how faculty use online professional development tools in general, which can be applied to the development of similar tools for all STEM disciplines. This project couples phenomenographic analyses of faculty perceptions of PhysPort's impact with quantitative analysis of their usage of the site. Interviews with faculty who are planning to or have recently changed their teaching practice will use the transtheoretical model to track faculty attitudes and behaviors through the change process. The results of this research will be used to implement changes to PhysPort's resources and disseminated to other researchers in faculty change.