Adoption and Abandonment of Teaching Innovations

Innovative teaching techniques receive considerable press. Those promoting a new teaching innovation often promise significant results in terms of student success. In an environment that encourages efficiency and evidence, instructors working in institutions of higher education can be convinced to try new strategies to produce student learning, engagement, and success. Some instructors, however, abandon their attempts at incorporating these innovations into their teaching. According to a recent research article by Charles Henderson and colleagues at Western Michigan University, of the 72% of Physics faculty who attempt a teaching innovation (e.g., Scale-Up Studios, Open Source Physics, etc.), about one third abandon the strategies for more traditional methods. On the positive side, approximately 60% of the Physics professors who have tried a teaching innovation continue to use the teaching innovations, some with increased use over time.

To read the original Physics Review Special Topics article, visit this website.
http://prst-per.aps.org/pdf/PRSTPER/v8/i2/e020104

To hear more and see how others are responding to the results of the study, see the review article published in the Chronicle of Higher Education by Dan Berrett.