The objectives of this study were to (1) characterize the nature of biochemistry faculty members' "instructor thinking" with regard to teaching upper-level, large-lecture biochemistry courses, (2) identify factors associated with changes in instructor thinking, and (3) investigate the relationship between instructor thinking and teaching practice. For the purposes of this study, "instructor thinking" was defined as an instructor's thoughts about (1) teaching, including the role of instructors, student engagement, instructional strategies, and assessment and (2) students and learning, including personal experiences with learning, student roles and capabilities, and student learning. Instructor thinking of three university faculty members was investigated over the course of two semesters. Semi-structured in-depth interviews, faculty members' reflective journals, e-mail, course documents and investigator observations and field notes served as qualitative data sources. Descriptive and interpretive data coding methods were applied to the data and emergent themes were reported in three individual case studies depicting instructor thinking. A cross-case analysis of the three cases was conducted and revealed factors associated with changes in instructor thinking: pedagogical dissatisfaction, creation of productive spaces for reflection by a knowledgeable other, and experimentation with assessment strategies. These factors opened the door for new lines of instructor self-inquiry and introspection about teaching and, in some cases, created new prospects for change in teaching practice.

All too often faculty are asked to implement technology into their teaching without the knowledge necessary to use the technology effectively. Due to the evolution of technology in everyday settings, students have come to expect to be engaged through technological means. This often creates undue stress on faculty members. The purpose of this study is to investigate technology integration by exploring the relationships between a faculty member’s technology preferences and educational beliefs. Through a mixed method, this study attempts to address the question of why faculty use the types of technology they do. More importantly, this study investigates if a faculty member’s educational beliefs have any influence on the technology they choose to use. Thirty-two medical, clinical, and healthcare faculty members participated in the study. They responded to a Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) survey and a Technology Preferences survey with open-ended questions. Data analysis revealed multiple statistically significant findings between different beliefs and different types of technology. The results indicated that personal epistemic beliefs influence the types of technology faculty use. The technology choices faculty make are largely related to tools they are comfortable with and ones they believe effectively fit their teaching materials. The study also found statistically significant differences between age, gender, and reported technology use. It is suggested faculty development programs should consider faculty members’ educational beliefs and personal preferences when supporting faculty with their uses of technologies.

Collection of data through survey-type measurements and analysis contributes rich, meaningful information to the chemical education research enterprise. This dissertation reports two strands of research that each contribute a “snapshot” of the state of chemical education on two different levels. The first uses survey research methods, collecting data from faculty members to learn about postsecondary chemistry education across the United States. The second uses survey instruments of student achievement emotions within the organic chemistry classroom, collecting longitudinal data to learn about the relationships of emotions with achievement over time. Both areas are of interest because chemical education research produces evidence-based instructional practices as well as survey instruments of student characteristics, many of which are ready to be used in classroom, yet there is a recognized disconnect between development of these products and enacted practices. The research in this dissertation improves upon previous methodology in both strands of research included while reporting data with implications for instructional, research, and policy matters. A national survey of postsecondary chemistry faculty uses a stratified sampling procedure to gather information about the state of education in chemistry classrooms. The use of the teacher-centered systemic reform model of educational change enables us to use the data collected in the survey to gather empirical support of the relationship between faculty members’ beliefs about how students learn chemistry more effectively, faculty members’ self-efficacy for instruction and chemistry content, and the instructional practices that they utilize in the course for which they felt they had the most influence. This information is paramount for the developers of evidence-based instructional practices as well as parties interested in determining the methods best suited to the dissemination of these tools. Professional development activities designed to inspire the use of evidence-based instructional tools or techniques must acknowledge the belief systems of faculty members and the need for change in these beliefs prior to the incorporation of new methods. These results present a call for reform efforts on fostering change from its core, i.e., the beliefs of those who ultimately adopt evidence-based instructional practices. Dissemination and design should incorporate training and materials that highlight the process by which faculty members interpret reformed practices within their belief system, and explore belief change in the complex context of education reform. Another example of the use of national survey data is the determination of the niche distribution of classroom response systems, also known as clickers. It is determined in this study that clickers are used more often in large courses taught at the lower level across the United States. This niche is deemed a more suitable situation for the use of clickers than others. This information is important for researchers developing tools intended for use within the classroom. Despite the possibility for use in all contexts, the national population of faculty members will adopt tools in the contexts which are deemed most suitable; the niche markets of educational tools can provide insight in to best development practices also well as direction for the optimization of the experience for the most frequent users of these tools. The other set of studies in this dissertation utilize the control-value theory of achievement emotions in the postsecondary organic chemistry context to explore nuanced relationships of affect with achievement. These studies utilize a longitudinal panel data collection mechanism, enhancing our ability to understand relationships. The control-value theory posits that there are a set of nine achievement emotions, dictated by control and value, which influence achievement. Two of these achievement emotions, anxiety and enjoyment, are determined in one study to fluctuate over the semester of organic chemistry and significantly influence achievement as measured by examination scores. These are supported by their theoretical interpretation as activating emotions, and when experienced, inspire students to take measures that ultimately either increase or reduce their success. A deactivating emotion, boredom, is measured in another study and found to also hold a reciprocal relationship with achievement when measured over time. In both studies, results show that the reciprocal causation model with an exam snowballing effect best fits data among the alternative models. There is a small and significant negative relationship between anxiety and performance contrasted with a positive relationship between enjoyment and performance throughout the semester. Negative relationships were observed between boredom and examination performance across the term. In addition, relationships were observed to be stronger at the beginning of the course term. Future research should consider achievement emotions in light of educational reforms to ensure that innovative curricula or pedagogies are functioning in the classroom as intended.

Background: Effective testing in pre-licensure nursing programs is a challenge in nursing education. Implementing evidence-based test development is essential to successful assessment of students’ competence and preparation for licensure. Purpose: Identifying the beliefs, attitudes and values of nursing faculty will contribute to the use of best practices in student assessments, ultimately contributing to increased retention of competent students and increasing the workforce within the healthcare industry. Theoretical Framework: This study is based on Rokeach’s theory of beliefs, attitudes and values. Methods: A quantitative descriptive research methodology was used in this study using survey data collection. A purposive, non-probability, convenience sample was the sampling strategy. The instrument utilized was developed and validated in a previous study and additional researcher-developed items were added. These additional items were field tested for readability and structure by current nursing educators. Results: The results revealed that nursing faculty are not consistent with utilizing evidence-based test development practices within their nursing programs. The beliefs and attitudes identified from the data indicate a concern with the understanding and confidence towards evidence-based practices. Several challenges were identified in implementing test development practices such as addressing linguistic and cultural biases, faculty time constraints, and utilization of test banks. Conclusions: Identifying faculty beliefs, attitudes, and values of evidence-based test development practices offers insight into the challenges facing nursing faculty, nursing programs and nursing students. These challenges affect and influence the retention and persistence of nursing students in prelicensure programs which ultimately affects diversity in the nursing workforce.

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<div>This dissertation presents a two-phase multiple case study conducted to investigate the faculty</div><div>beliefs regarding the integration of labs into engineering and engineering technology education</div><div>and the relationship between such beliefs and the teaching practices adopted in the labs. In the first</div><div>phase, an exploratory study grounded on a framework of beliefs was conducted to elicit the beliefs</div><div>espoused by the participants. Interviews were used to elicit the participants’ beliefs. The</div><div>transcribed interviews were analyzed through the constant comparative method. Thirteen faculty</div><div>members from the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology participated. In the second</div><div>phase, a triangulation approach was used to investigate the relationships between the participants’</div><div>beliefs and their corresponding teaching practices. The findings from phase one were triangulated</div><div>with the data from interviews, questionnaires, and documents to elicit the relationships between</div><div>beliefs and practices.</div>