Julie Schell

Academic Physicists' Introductory Teaching Improvement Efforts at Major Research Universities, at American Association of Physics Teachers Summer Meeting 2010 (Portland, OR, USA), Saturday, July 17, 2010
There is no shortage of PER literature describing research-based, instructional strategies for improving teaching in introductory college physics courses. [1] It remains, however, that most physics faculty with visions of improved teaching based on such strategies must overcome significant barriers, including a reward system structured to direct faculty attention toward research and away from pedagogy. [2] Barriers to teaching improvement are compounded at major research universities (MRUs), where science faculty must balance extreme demands for research productivity with their teaching... Read more about Academic Physicists' Introductory Teaching Improvement Efforts at Major Research Universities
Researching Implementation of Instructional Change in the Advanced Physics Laboratory, at American Association of Physics Teachers Summer Meeting 2010 (Portland, OR, USA), Saturday, July 17, 2010
Abstract Body: Although physics education research on the implementation of instructional change in introductory physics laboratories is on the rise, dissemination of research on such change in advanced undergraduate laboratory courses is still lagging. This gap presents a problem for faculty seeking to improve students’ learning in advanced laboratories by using research-based pedagogies. In this study, we analyzed interview, observational, and course data to investigate four instructional changes implemented for the first time in an advanced physics laboratory course at one major research... Read more about Researching Implementation of Instructional Change in the Advanced Physics Laboratory
Academic Researchers' Joint Ventures toward Undergraduate STEM Teaching Improvement at Major Research Universities, at American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting - Poster Session (Denver, Colorado), Sunday, May 2, 2010:
Based on a qualitative study of 20 research-active science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professors’ teaching improvement efforts, this paper suggests that some academic researchers engage in highly-intensive, joint ventures to enhance their introductory pedagogy at major research universities. The study casts professors’ participation in such communal teaching activities as voluntary and as enacted despite problematic career structures that promote collaboration in research, not in teaching. Based on interviews, observations and documentary analysis, the study posits that... Read more about Academic Researchers' Joint Ventures toward Undergraduate STEM Teaching Improvement at Major Research Universities
Venturing toward better teaching: Professors' knowledge base for pedagogical improvement in introductory STEM classrooms at major research universities., at The Association for The Study of Higher Education Annual Meeting (Vancouver, BC, Canada), Thursday, November 5, 2009
Educational reformers often portray the majority of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professors at American research universities as subject-matter experts but pedagogical novices (Baldwin, 2009; Boyer, 1998; Coopala, 2009; Handeslman et al., 2006; Wieman, 2006). Images of STEM professors as lacking knowledge about best teaching practices are especially prevalent in discussions about academic researchers: A wide array of constituents, from students and journalists to scholars of teaching and learning, have long proffered views of academic researchers as so heavily... Read more about Venturing toward better teaching: Professors' knowledge base for pedagogical improvement in introductory STEM classrooms at major research universities.

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