Navigating the Problem Space of Academia: Exploring Processes of Course Design and Classroom Teaching in Postsecondary Settings

Hora, M. T. (2014). Navigating the problem space of academia: Exploring processes of course design and classroom teaching in postsecondary settings (WCER Working Paper No. 2014-1). Postsecondary institutions in the United States are under increasing public and political pressure to demonstrate their delivery of a high-quality educational experience that leads to demonstrable outcomes including student learning and employability in the labor market (Arum & Roksa, 2011; Bok, 2006). Many critiques of higher education and current policy initiatives center on the instrumental role of classroom teaching, and how the widespread adoption of techniques grounded in the learning sciences could lead to such positive outcomes (e.g., President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, 2012). As a result, a growing area of interest in both research and policymaking circles is whether faculty 1 effectively incorporate techniques such as problem-based learning (Hmelo-Silver, 2004) or Peer Instruction (Mazur, 1997) into their teaching, and, if not, what contributes to the rejection of these techniques. However, most analytic attention is on what happens in the classroom and not the planning processes that take place long before a class begins. This is problematic because improved teaching and student learning is as dependent upon faculty developing a pedagogically informed and deliberate approach to curriculum planning as it is to sound classroom practice. Indeed, instructional reforms such as the scientific teaching approach (Handelsman et al., 2004) encourage faculty to use formative and summative assessment data in an ongoing, iterative approach to planning and teaching their courses. Yet, as Joan Stark observed, " most attempts to improve teaching and learning in colleges have focused on the teacher's role as a 'classroom actor' rather than as an 'academic planner' " (Stark, 2000, p. 413). Thus, understanding the dynamics underlying faculty decisions about whether or not to adopt instructional innovations requires an expansive view of faculty practice that encompasses their roles as academic planners, not merely classroom actors. Furthermore, course planning and classroom teaching practices should be situated within their unique disciplinary and professional contexts. The ways in which the task environment influences how teachers approach classroom instruction has long been an active and influential area of research in K–12 settings. Notably, these lines of inquiry are deeply influenced by theory and method from cognitive psychology and the learning sciences, especially in exploring the subtle dynamics whereby individuals perceive and interpret 1 By faculty I mean all people who hold undergraduate teaching …