Faculty Epistemological Beliefs and The Influence of Professional Development

Abstract

This study explores the epistemological beliefs of the science faculty at a small liberal arts college in the Southern U.S. and investigates the effect of a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) professional development. The Teacher Beliefs Interviews (TBI; Luft & Roehrig, 2007) was used to investigate epistemological beliefs of faculty from various STEM disciplines for a period of three semesters. The faculty members were grouped into two categories: those who participated in professional development (treatment group) and those who did not (comparison group). Further, classes for all the faculty members who participated in the interviews were observed during the same period to compare beliefs and practices. Reformed Teacher Observation Protocol (RTOP; Piburn & Sawada, 1995) was used to rate the observations. Results indicate the STEM faculty at this college had transitional beliefs. Further, a significant difference was observed between the classroom observations of FLC participants and the comparison group. Significantly, a high correlation was found between faculty beliefs and practice. Results from this study add to the current understanding of faculty beliefs and practice. Keywords: epistemological beliefs, STEM, TBI, FLC, posttest, faculty