Faculty perspectives on using peer instruction: A national study

Abstract

We previously reported on the results of a national web survey of physics faculty about their instructional practices in introductory physics. A subset of 72 survey respondents were interviewed to better characterize how faculty interact with research-based instructional strategies (RBIS), use RBIS, and perceive their institutional contexts. Drawing from 15 interviews with self-reported users of Peer Instruction, we describe what faculty mean when they identify themselves as users of Peer Instruction. Meanings range from professors adopting the general philosophy of the instructional strategy (or what they believe to be the general philosophy) while inventing how it concretely applies in their classrooms to professors who use the instructional strategy as is, without significant modification. We describe common modifications that are made to Peer Instruction and the associated prevalence of these modifications. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.