Section 1.1 Learning about the program while applying for a faculty position
¶>Several new faculty members reported that, prior to applying for a faculty position, they had no knowledge about the paradigms in physics program or sometimes even about ongoing research on physics learning and teaching. One stated, for example, “Had no clue when I came to interview here. I did not know that physics education research (PER) existed.”
One new faculty member learned about the paradigms in physics program in the process of asking for a letter of recommendation:
...and when I told (the writer of the letter of recommendation) I was applying to Oregon State University, he said, “they're really on the map in terms of teaching”...so that's how I first heard about it and that gave me a positive first contact with, my first impression of what it would be like when I would come to visit, when I interviewed.
For this individual, the department's national reputation for caring about teaching shaped perceptions positively even before interviewing for a faculty position.
Another new faculty member reflected upon experiences during the interview:
So I did not know about it before I interviewed...I did find out about paradigms while I was here and I think that was part of the departmental culture of caring about teaching students well that I valued, which affected me coming here, although this was not a deciding factor.
This was a typical comment that the initial impression was positive but many other constraints and criteria were involved in the decision to accept the department's offer of a faculty position.
One new faculty member had not known about the paradigms program but felt “it doesn't really make a difference to me” because of an already strong commitment to interactive teaching:
Because my personal opinion is that if there is a lot of feedback, if there is a lot of opportunity for an in-depth curriculum, it doesn't matter how it is structured if you have enough hours with people and you have passion, to actually make use of those hours fully.
Thus this individual did not need to make what for many was a major shift, from thinking about teaching as presenting ideas to students through cogent lectures toward thinking about teaching as guiding students in developing ideas through activities and discussions.