Toward a Model of Propagation: Case Studies of Widespread Educational Innovations

1. Consider Assertions about Propagation Toward a Model of Propagation: Case Studies of Widespread Educational Innovations Raina Khatri*, Charles Henderson*, Renee Cole†, Jeff Froyd‡ *Western Michigan University, †University of Iowa, ‡Texas A&M University Methodology Abstract Our project goal is to help developers of educational innovations promote adoption of their work at other institutions through deliberate propagation strategies. The current project uses a multiple-case design of well-used instructional innovations in order to characterize successful propagation practices. The PhET interactive simulations are well-known resources that originated in physics and are now used in many science disciplines. We collected multiple sources of data, including interviews with the original developers and documents released by the PhET team. Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) is a cooperative-learning based innovation that began in chemistry. We conducted a pilot study and utilized a book on the dissemination of PLTL. We analyzed the interview data and documents using a predetermined lens and constructed a narrative of key events and strategies. We found the teams refined and solidified their products after a period of pilot testing, and additional funding prompted new phases of propagation. Original Theoretical Framework (Based on Khatri et al. 2012, Henderson et al. 2012) Data Analysis • Case study methodology • Ideal for studying contemporary events over which the researcher has no experimental control, and the research questions seek explanatory answers • Multiple-case design • Several educational innovations (the unit of analysis) will be compared in a final analysis stage. • Purposeful sampling of cases • Well-propagated educational innovations as identified by a survey of experts conducted in fall 2012 • PhET and PLTL are the first cases • Additional cases will follow • Explanation building (a form of pattern matching) • Begins with the original theoretical framework • Compares the findings from the case to the original framework to revise the framework • The theory is continually revised with each additional case Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) PhET Simulations • Peer-Led Team Learning • Has student-led workshop once a week in the place of a lecture. • Data sources • Pilot study • Interviewed an original PI and the project evaluator • Publications • Much of the case information came from a published book on the dissemination of PLTL. Dissemination methods Dissemination methods • PhET Interactive Simulations • Flexible instructional tool • Simulations present a physical system users can explore • Data Sources • Interviews with the original PhET team, recorded and transcribed • Grant proposals • Publications • YouTube videos and blog posts (Gafney, L, and Varma-Nelson, P. (2008). Peer-Led Team Learning: Evaluation, Dissemination, and Institutionalization of a College Level Initiative. Springer Science + Business Media B.V.) http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/sites/teachingcenter.wustl.edu/files/imagecache/scholarship_home/scholarships/pltl_about1_0.jpg Results Three similarities emerged: a refinement period, funding leading new propagation, and forward attitude. 1) The PhET team made several simulations in the first few months of being a team. After this experience and gathering feedback from student interviews on the simulations, they sat down to make the “PhET Look and Feel” document, which has shaped PhET development and evolved somewhat over time. 1) The PLTL team implemented it first at one institution, then added two institution collaborators, then expanded to a consortium of ten schools. At this point, with the help of an external evaluator, they sat down and created the “Six Critical Components of PLTL.” 2) Funding plays a key role in each new propagation phase of PhET. For example, a partnership with King Saud University to translate the site into Arabic led to the development of a translation utility for an bilingual instructor to translate the simulations, leading to over 60 languages now on the site. 2) Funding directly led to each new phase of propagation. The project began as a small curricular (NSF DUE) grant, and later incorporated two new collaborating institutions with another grant. Further grants led to more institutions, especially through a “mini-grant” program awarding $5000 to departments who would match the funds. 3) The PLTL team, although not centralized like it once was, is currently developing cyber-PLTL, which will eliminate the need for a physical meeting space, and possibly facilitate adoption. 3) The PhET team continues to look forward. Currently, in addition to making new simulations, they are expanding into mobile devices and also building a new teacher website with additional resources based on their research of how to best use the simulations. Conclusions Check us out! Implications Working Theoretical Framework www.increasetheimpact.com • The three commonalities (refinement, separate grants leading into new propagation efforts, and forward-looking attitudes of both teams) led to refinement of the theoretical framework. • The cases discussed here also tentatively confirm core aspects of the theoretical framework, the main component of which is that propagation should occur in tandem with the development of the new innovation. • In the case of PLTL, other institutional implementations led to the critical components that define PLTL. • PhET fits this framework through its very nature of easy-to-integrate activities (thus thinking about aspects of the educational system), although the obvious propagation efforts took place after the trial period. • Both teams used strategies appropriate to the type of innovation: • PhET is free and easy to use, so it requires less interactive methods than does PLTL. • The model for successful propagation will continue to evolve over the course of the next case studies. Acknowledgements This is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1122446. We wish to thank the members of the PhET and PLTL teams who participated in this study.