Impact of physics education research on the teaching of introductory quantitative physics in the United States

During the Fall of 2008 we designed and administered a web survey to collect information about pedagogical knowledge and practices of physics faculty. The survey was completed by a representative sample of 722 physics faculty across the United States a 50.3% response rate . This paper presents results of one part of the survey where faculty were asked to rate their level of knowledge and use of 24 Research-Based Instructional Strategies RBIS that are applicable to an introductory quantitative physics course. Almost all faculty 87.1% indicated familiarity with one or more RBIS and approximately half of faculty 48.1% said that they currently use at least one RBIS. Results also indicate that faculty rarely use RBIS as recommended by the developer, but instead commonly make significant modifications.