Charles R Henderson

• Western Michigan University

A survey of 722 physics faculty conducted in 2008 found that many physics instructors had knowledge of research-based instructional strategies (RBISs), were interested in using more, but often discontinued use after trying. Considerable effort has been made during the decade following 2008 to develop and disseminate RBISs in physics as well as chan...

The effectiveness of active learning on promoting students’ academic outcomes and persistence has been established in the literature. However, despite the effort of purposeful change agents, the uptake of active learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is slow. While previous research from the chemistry education communi...

Background It is well established in the literature that active learning instruction in introductory STEM courses results in many desired student outcomes. Yet, regular use of high-quality active learning is not the norm in many STEM departments. Using results of a national survey, we identified 16 departments where multiple instructors reported us...

Instructional change teams are increasingly common in efforts to improve undergraduate STEM instruction. Such teams include three or more members who may have different perspectives and backgrounds. When they are functioning well, teams can be very effective. Unfortunately, effective collaboration in teams is often challenging. In prior work, we de...

A survey of 722 physics faculty conducted in 2008 found that many physics instructors had knowledge of research-based instructional strategies (RBISs), were interested in using more, but often discontinued use after trying. Considerable effort has been made during the decade following 2008 to develop and disseminate RBISs in physics as well as chan...

Active learning pedagogies are shown to enhance the outcomes of students, particularly in disciplines known for high attrition rates. Despite the demonstrated benefits of active learning, didactic lecture continues to predominate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. Change agents and professional development programs...

Inquiry-Based learning (IBL) is a fairly well-known term in the United States (US) describing a range of student-centered or active pedagogical approaches in mathematics. However, the ‘big tent’ definitions of IBL mean that there is much variation in IBL users’ instructional practices, variation which we set out to codify. Cluster analysis of self-...

Likert-style surveys are a widely used research instrument to assess respondents' preferences, beliefs, or experiences. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate how network analysis (NA) can be employed to model and evaluate the interconnectedness of items in Likert-style surveys. We explore the advantages of this approach by applying the methodol...

Background Active learning used in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses has been shown to improve student outcomes. Nevertheless, traditional lecture-orientated approaches endure in these courses. The implementation of teaching practices is a result of many interrelated factors including disciplinary norms, classroom con...

Incorporating design in science programs has been shown to enhance science understanding, practices, and problem-solving skills. However, instructors and students typically struggle with fostering effective communication within a design-based course. With better communication scaffolding, students would learn more content and also become better at...

Traditional introductory physics laboratories typically focus on guided experimentation while neglecting essential aspects of the scientific practice including computational reasoning. While there is a broad consensus among physics faculty on the need to introduce undergraduate students to computation, its integration in physics curricula is far fr...

Background Team-based instructional change is a promising model for improving undergraduate STEM instruction. Teams are more likely to produce sustainable, innovative, and high-quality outcomes than individuals working alone. However, teams also tend to involve higher risks of failure and can result in inefficient allocation of valuable resources....

High attrition rates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines are an ongoing problem. Graduate student attrition, in particular, is understudied. Most past studies have focused on students’ attributes, undergraduate preparation, and mentoring relationships. Emerging results from the implementation of the American Physical So...

Adoption of evidence based instructional practices is not widespread in American institutions of higher education. This is due in part to reforms focusing on individual teaching practices rather than conditions for system reform. Since measurement of organizational conditions is critical for widespread change, we developed and validated the Survey...

Six common beliefs about the usage of active learning in introductory STEM courses are investigated using survey data from 3769 instructors. Three beliefs focus on contextual factors: class size, classroom setup, and teaching evaluations; three focus on individual factors: security of employment, research activity, and prior exposure. The analysis...

Teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for grading in introductory physics courses at large research universities. Their grading practices can shape students' approaches to problem solving and learning. Physics education research recommends grading practices that encourage students to provide evidence of understanding via explication of th...

Grading can shape students’ learning and encourage use of effective problem solving practices. Teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for grading student solutions and providing feedback, thus, their perceptions of grading may impact grading practices in the physics classroom. Understanding TAs’ perceptions of grading is instrumental for c...

Many physics faculty are aware of and interested in using research-based instructional strategies. However, knowledge and motivation are not sufficient to support successful and sustained adoption. To address this problem, we present a faculty online learning community (FOLC) model for educational change and describe its application (the New Facult...

Background Instructional change efforts involving teams of change agents are becoming increasingly prevalent at higher education institutions across the US. Teams may be able to make more lasting and high-quality changes to STEM courses than instructors working alone. But team-based change efforts are also risky. They tend to require more resources...

Academic departments are thought to be highly productive units of change in higher education. This paper investigates department-level instructional change via case studies analyzed with two change frameworks. One framework embodies prescribed change, emphasizing leader actions. The other framework embodies emergent change, emphasizing participants...

College instructors are often afraid to use active learning instructional strategies because they fear that students may complain and/or give them lower evaluations of teaching. In this paper, we present data from a survey of 431 physics instructors who had attended the Physics and Astronomy New Faculty Workshop and who attempted to incorporate act...

For decades, Student Evaluations of Instruction (or Teaching) have been used to evaluate the quality of teaching at universities and colleges nationwide. Often, student evaluations are the sole measurement of teaching quality in higher education, and as a result have been the subject of extensive study. While many of these investigations make claim...

Background Social network analysis (SNA) literature suggests that leaders should be well connected and can be identified through network measurements. Other literature suggests that identifying leaders ideally involves multiple methods. However, it is unclear using SNA alone is sufficient for identifying leaders for higher education change initiati...

Postdoc positions, intended to be advanced or continued research training in a field, are a part of the physics education research (PER) enterprise yet little is known about them. PER postdocs differ from their traditional physics counterparts in that they may have different education and research experiences. This study examined the types of postd...

In spite of considerable evidence of the effectiveness of active learning and other contemporary teaching methods, barriers to adoption of those methods, such as possible student resistance, continue to exist. This study addresses student resistance by analyzing data from 1,051 students who completed our Student Response to Instructional Practices...

Discipline-based education research (DBER) is an emergent, interdisciplinary field of scholarship aimed at understanding and improving discipline-specific teaching and learning. The number of DBER faculty members in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments has grown rapidly in recent years. Because the interdisciplinary...

Teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for grading in introductory physics courses at large research universities. Their grading practices can shape students’ approaches to problem solving and learning. Physics education research recommends grading practices that encourage students to provide evidence of understanding via explication of th...

Increasing adoption and adaptation of promising instructional strategies and materials has been identified as a critical component needed to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This paper examines typical propagation practices and resulting outcomes of proposals written by developers of educational innovation...

Reprinted by permission of the American Society for Engineering Education. This article was originally published in the Journal of Engineering Education, Volume 106 Issue 3, Pages 349–355, July 2017, available in final form at http://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20168

This study explores the challenges of measuring instructional practices in the context of an ongoing research project on student resistance to active learning. We will discuss how our research team handled the issue when our survey data did not match previous constructed theoretical frameworks. Survey data was collected in two phases: the first pha...

At large research universities, physics graduate teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for grading in courses at all levels. However, few studies have focused on TAs’ grading practices in introductory and advanced physics courses. This study was designed to investigate whether physics graduate TAs grade students in introductory physics an...

Engineering instructors’ adoption of active learning has been slow, despite significant evidence supporting its efficacy. A common instructor concern is that students will respond negatively. This study measures the relationship between student response to instruction and 1) students’ expectations for types of instruction, 2) students’ experiences...

Background Calls for the reform of education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have inspired many instructional innovations, some research based. Yet adoption of such instruction has been slow. Research has suggested that students’ response may significantly affect an instructor’s willingness to adopt different types of in...

Background The undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education community has developed a large number of innovative teaching strategies and materials, but the majority of these go unused by instructors. To help understand how to improve adoption of evidence-based education innovations, this study focuses on innovati...

Physics graduate teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for grading. Physics education research suggests that grading practices that place the burden of proof for explicating the problem solving process on students can help them develop problem solving skills and learn physics. However, TAs may not have developed effective grading practice...

Explication and reflection on expert vs. novice considerations within the problem-solving process characterize a cognitive apprenticeship approach for the development of expert-like problem solving practices. In the context of grading, a cognitive apprenticeship approach requires that instructors place the burden of proof on students, namely, that...

Engineering instructors' adoption of active learning has been slow, despite significant evidence supporting its efficacy. A common instructor concern is that students will respond negatively. This study measures the relationship between student response to instruction and 1) students' expectations for types of instruction, 2) students' experiences...

Participants of the Workshop for New Physics and Astronomy Faculty (NFW) are likely to try evidence-based teaching practices, but they often face barriers to innovation that cause them to revert to traditional instruction. It is known that in-person Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) can support faculty to successfully change their instruction. Ho...

Physics graduate teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for grading. Physics education research suggests that grading practices that place the burden of proof for explicating the problem solving process on students can help them develop problem solving skills and learn physics. However, TAs may not have developed effective grading practice...

Explication and reflection on expert vs. novice considerations within the problem-solving process characterize a cognitive apprenticeship approach for the development of expert-like problem solving practices. In the context of grading, a cognitive apprenticeship approach requires that instructors place the burden of proof on students, namely, that...

Placing educational data in the hands of faculty and allowing them to explore these data has been of interest for many stakeholders in the past few years, with the hopes that faculty will use these data to improve the educational experience for students. Although these data have the potential to be powerful for improving STEM education, data are on...

Researchers, administrators, and policy makers need valid and reliable information about teaching practices. The Postsecondary Instructional Practices Survey (PIPS) is designed to measure the instructional practices of postsecondary instructors from any discipline. The PIPS has 24 instructional practice statements and nine demographic questions. Us...

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Gender in Physics.] Sexism occurs when men are believed to be superior to women, and is thought to be one of the reasons for women’s underrepresentation in physics and astronomy. The issue of sexism in physics and astronomy has not been thoroughly explored in the physics education literature and ther...

Background The characteristics of the classroom environment play an important role in shaping teaching practices and supporting research-based instructional strategies. One instructional strategy that has reimagined the classroom is the Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-Down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP). SCALE-UP uses studio-style i...

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Preparing and Supporting University Physics Educators.] The lack of knowledge about how to effectively spread and sustain the use of research-based instructional strategies is currently a significant barrier to the improvement of undergraduate physics education. In this paper we address this lack of...

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Preparing and Supporting University Physics Educators.] In order to promote sustained and impactful educational transformation, it is essential for change agents to understand more about faculty perceptions associated with either adopting or not adopting a research-based instructional strategy (RBIS)...

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Preparing and Supporting University Physics Educators.] The physics education research community has produced a wealth of knowledge about effective teaching and learning of college level physics. Based on this knowledge, many research-proven instructional strategies and teaching materials have been d...

As part of a larger study to understand instructors' considerations regarding the learning and teaching of problem solving in an introductory physics course, we investigated beliefs of first-year graduate teaching assistants (TAs) regarding the use of example solutions in introductory physics. In particular, we examine how the goal of promoting exp...

While many innovative teaching strategies exist, integration into undergraduate science teaching has been frustratingly slow. This study aims to understand the low uptake of research-based instructional innovations by studying 21 successful implementations of the Student Centered Active Learning with Upside-down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP) instructional...

Abstract Background: Every year, significant effort and resources are expended around the world to develop innovative instructional strategies and materials to improve undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education. Despite convincing evidence of efficacy with respect to student learning, most will struggle to become succ...

Grading shapes students' learning, and above all, students' approaches to problem solving. In particular, grading can encourage expert-like problem-solving. Teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for grading student solutions, thus, their perceptions of grading are central in determining grading practices in the physics classroom. Studying...

Teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for grading student solutions. Since grading communicates instructors' expectations, TAs' grading decisions play a crucial role in forming students' approaches to problem solving (PS) in physics. We investigated the change in grading practices and considerations of 18 first-year graduate students part...

Research shows that expert-like approaches to problem-solving can be promoted by encouraging students to explicate their thought processes and follow a prescribed problem-solving strategy. Since grading communicates instructors' expectations, teaching assistants' grading decisions play a crucial role in forming students' approaches to problem-solvi...

The science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education communities have developed many innovative teaching strategies and learning materials in the past few decades. While these innovations have significant promise for improving undergraduate STEM education they commonly go unused by other STEM instructors. This study is an inquiry...

Background Collecting data on instructional practices is an important step in planning and enacting meaningful initiatives to improve undergraduate science instruction. Self-report survey instruments are one of the most common tools used for collecting data on instructional practices. This paper is an instrument- and item-level analysis of availabl...

Women currently outnumber men in obtaining undergraduate degrees but are under represented within STEM fields. However, women's representation varies by STEM field, and even further by STEM subfield. One field that has held a persistent low representation of women is physics. This paper seeks to uncover the truth behind an anecdotal claim that the...

This article explores the directions needed to facilitate widespread adoption of the findings of cognitive science (CS) into undergraduate instruction in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The emerging research tradition of STEM discipline-based education research (DBER) is introduced briefly, with a focus...

The issue of women's representation and success in physics has been an important area of investigation in the physics education research community. Much of the research attempting to explore this area has focused on educational gender differences in the classroom, references to chilly climates, and work-life balance. Almost no research has specific...

Millions of dollars and uncounted hours have gone into the development of research-based instructional strategies for the improvement of undergraduate physics. However, many of these instructional strategies have extremely limited impact beyond the developer(s). Peer Instruction is the best-propagated research-based instructional strategy in underg...

Student resistance is often cited as a major barrier to faculty's use of active learning, but there are few research-based strategies for reducing this barrier. To address the need for such strategies, we have initiated a project to identify specific, research-based strategies to significantly reduce student resistance to faculty's use of active le...

Student resistance is often cited as a major barrier to instructors' use of active learning, but there are few research-based strategies for reducing this barrier. In this paper, we describe the first phase of our research-the development and validation of a classroom observation protocol to assess student responses to instructors' use of active le...

Many innovative teaching strategies have been developed under the assumption that documenting successful student learning outcomes at the development site is enough to spread the innovation successfully to secondary sites. Since this `show them and they will adopt? model has yet to produce the desired large-scale transformation, this study examines...

Background: Many innovative teaching strategies have been developed under the assumption that documenting successful student learning outcomes at the development site is enough to spread the innovation successfully to secondary sites. Since this ‘show them and they will adopt’ model has yet to produce the desired large-scale transformation, this st...

Calls for improvement of undergraduate science education have resulted in numerous initiatives that seek to improve student learning outcomes by promoting changes in faculty teaching practices. Although many of these initiatives focus on individual faculty, researchers consider the academic department to be a highly productive focus for creating ch...

Physics education research (PER) is a rapidly growing area of PhD specialization. In this article we examine the trajectories that led respondents into a PER graduate program as well as their expected future trajectories. Data were collected in the form of an online survey sent to graduate students in PER. Our findings show a lack of visibility of...

Our study investigates how research-based instructional strategies spread among departments, using the example of Student-Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP). We are interested in how instructors learn about and implement SCALE-UP in different academic disciplines. Based on a web-based survey of 564 college an...

Our study investigates how research-based instructional strategies spread among departments, using the example of Student-Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP). We are interested in how instructors learn about and implement SCALE-UP in different academic disciplines. Based on a web-based survey of 564 college an...

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.010003

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.010004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.010002

Background Prior efforts have built a knowledge base of effective undergraduate STEM pedagogies, yet rates of implementation remain low. Theories from higher education, management, communication, and other fields can inform change efforts but remain largely inaccessible to STEM education leaders, who are just beginning to view change as a scholarly...

Ideally, instructors and their institutions would have a shared set of metrics by which they determine teaching effectiveness. And, ideally, these metrics would overlap with research findings on measuring teaching effectiveness. Unfortunately, the current situation at most institutions is far from this ideal. As part of a larger interview study, 72...

This study uses data from qualitative interviews with successful female graduate students in astronomy in order to explore female student success in undergraduate physics departments. The aspects include the role of faculty support through an undergraduate’s education, the provision of engaging introductory courses, the importance of community amon...

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.010001

Many research-based instruction strategies (RBISs) have been developed; their superior efficacy with respect to student learning has been demonstrated in many studies. Collecting and interpreting evidence about: 1) the extent to which electrical and computer engineering (ECE) faculty members are using RBISs in core, required engineering science cou...

Physics education research (PER) is a relatively new and rapidly growing area of Ph.D. specialization. To sustain the field of PER, a steady pipeline of talented scholars needs to be developed and supported. One aspect of building this pipeline is understanding how students come to graduate and postdoctoral work in PER and what their career goals a...

Background Increasing attention is being paid to improvement in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education through increased adoption of research‐based instructional strategies (RBIS), but high‐quality measures of faculty instructional practice do not exist to monitor progress. Purpose/HypothesisThe measure of...