Barriers to the use of research-based instructional strategies: The dual role of individual and situational characteristics

Many proven research-based instructional strategies have been developed for introductory college-level physics. Significant efforts to disseminate these strategies have focused on convincing individual instructors to give up their traditional practices in favor of particular research-based practices. Yet, evidence suggests that the findings of educational research are, at best, only marginally incorporated into introductory physics courses. In this paper we present partial results of an interview study designed to generate new ideas about why proven strategies are so slow to integrate in mainstream instruction. Specifically we describe the results of openended interviews with five physics instructors who represent likely users of educational research. We found that these instructors have beliefs about teaching and learning that are more compatible with educational research than their self-described instructional practices. Instructors often blamed this discrepancy on situational factors that favored traditional instruction. A theoretical model is introduced to explain these findings. PACS: 01.40.Di, 01.40.Fk, 01.40.Gm, 01.40.Jp