A comparative study of personal, disciplinary and organizational influences on undergraduate faculty use of teaching methods that promote active student involvement in learning.

Research on college-level teaching and learning has shown that teaching methods that actively involve students in the learning process are more likely to promote the achievement of learning outcomes that are enduring, complex and transferable to new situations. Yet past research has shown that faculty in all types of postsecondary institutions make little use of these active teaching methods. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of personal, disciplinary and organizational variables on the use of active teaching methods among undergraduate faculty in four types of postsecondary institutions: doctorate-granting, comprehensive, liberal arts and associate of arts. Using data from NSOPF-93, path analysis was employed to estimate direct and indirect influences on active teaching method use within and across institution types. According to study results, faculty in all four types of postsecondary institutions relied heavily on lecturing and made comparatively little use of more active teaching methods. The importance of personal, disciplinary and organizational influences on faculty role behavior was confirmed; measures of these three faculty cultures contributed to the likelihood that a faculty member had used active teaching methods. In all but liberal arts colleges, female faculty members made significantly greater use of active teaching methods than their male counterparts. In all types of institutions, faculty with principal teaching responsibilities in science, math and engineering, and in social sciences made significantly less use of active teaching methods than faculty teaching in professional fields. Faculty members' highest degree attainment had a negative indirect effect on active teaching method use in all but liberal arts colleges. Teaching assignments also significantly influenced the extent to which faculty in all types of institutions used active teaching methods. The amount of time spent teaching per week was a positive predictor of active teaching method use while the number of students taught per week was a negative predictor. Study findings suggest practical implications for academic administrators interested in promoting the use of active teaching methods among their faculty. Findings also suggest future avenues of research that could enlarge our understanding of this important issue in undergraduate education.Ph.D.Curriculum developmentEducationHigher educationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/125201/2/3016840.pd