FIGURE 8-1 Belief/action discontinuity.

SOURCE: Reprinted figure with permission from Henderson, C., and Dancy, M. (2007). Barriers to the use of research-based instructional strategies: The influence of both individual and situational characteristics. Physical Review Special Topics: Physics Education Research, 3(2), 020102. Copyright 2007 by the American Physical Society.

Building on Dancy’s points, Henderson discussed the literature on undergraduate STEM reform. He began by identifying three stakeholder groups: disciplinary STEM education researchers (generally in STEM departments), faculty development researchers (generally in centers for teaching and learning), and higher education researchers (generally in schools of education). Each group has its own journals, conferences, and professional societies. According to Henderson, the literature from all three stakeholder groups is similar and reflects a shift toward a focus on student learning and away from instructors and instruction. However, these groups are conducting their research in isolation from each other, with no overlapping references.

Henderson and his colleagues conducted a systematic study of the literature of the three stakeholder groups and other relevant literature bases (Henderson, Finkelstein, and Beach, 2010). From this review, they developed four categories of change strategies along the dimensions of research