Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The Roux Institute, Northeastern University
Degree: PhD in Public Policy with a concentration in Educational Leadership and Policy, University of Southern Maine, 2024
Dissertation Title: Are We Practicing What We Preach: An Analytic Autoethnography of How Inherited Mindsets and Pedagogies Influence Undergraduate Teaching
Dissertation Abstract: An ongoing concern in higher education is the disjunction between how faculty teach and how students learn best. A primary objective of higher education is to produce content experts, which does not automatically translate to expert teachers of content. Lacking formal instruction on how to teach their content, faculty often teach in the same manner they were taught. Rooted in critical theory and transformative learning theory frameworks, this analytic autoethnography explored the relationship between inherited mindsets and pedagogies and current teaching beliefs and practices to raise awareness and transform teaching. Data were collected through critical incident reports from my 20-year teaching career in higher education, a survey of faculty teaching beliefs and practices from a state-wide university system in the Northeast, and semistructured interviews with former faculty colleagues. Data analysis consisted of three stages: deductive coding derived from the researcher-designed conceptual framework, inductive coding to capture themes outside the framework, and triangulating the findings from the three data sources to identify consistencies and contradictions in the categorization and theming. Key findings revealed: (a) a disconnect between faculty’s teaching beliefs and their teaching practice; (b) faculty were not exposed to Socratic-based mindsets and pedagogies in their undergraduate studies; (c) apart from teacher education programs, faculty received little to no formal training in how to teach; (d) whether conscious of it or not, faculty rely on inherited mindsets and pedagogies for their teaching practice; (e) signature professional development, particularly critical self-reflection, is vital in transforming teaching beliefs and practices; and (f) the institution’s teaching culture is a source of support or discouragement for student-centered teaching mindsets and pedagogies. The study produced a conceptual framework (comparative teaching paradigm), a survey instrument (Faculty Survey on Teaching Beliefs and Practices), and a professional reflective practice (Faculty Teaching Mindsets & Pedagogies Inventory) to assist faculty and administrators in better understanding the nature of the problem of quality undergraduate instruction and methods for transforming teaching mindsets and pedagogies from a faculty-focused practice to a student-centered learning experience. The next steps include refining the faculty survey and researching the impact of the study’s conclusion on transforming undergraduate teaching.