Chapter 3 Research Questions
¶The framework for this study was adapted from studies of organizational decision-making (Beach [2–3]). Leaders in an organization “must work with others within the organization (1) to understand the organization's internal and external environments, (2) to understand the organization's culture, (3) to create a vision of a desirable future and obtain buy-in, (4) to design a plan that moves the organization toward the envisioned future, (5) to integrate the various units in implementation of the plan and to monitor progress and (6) to institutionalize achieved changes and make continuous change an integral part of the organization's culture” (Beach [2], p. ix).
The research questions that guided the study followed this framework. They included:
- What was the educational reform context within which the faculty initiated revising the upper-level physics curriculum?
- What was the culture of the department at that time? In particular, what were the participants' beliefs about teaching and learning?
- What motivated making changes and how did the faculty form a coherent vision for the new program?
- How did the faculty develop and communicate plans for this new curriculum?
- How did they get approval for, implement, and institutionalize the new courses?
- How did they then sustain the Paradigms in Physics program for so many years?
- Two decades later, how did they re-envision this program in light of new faculty's perspectives and current students' needs?
- How have they changed instruction based upon the proposals that the faculty approved with an unanimous vote?
- How have the faculty subsequently monitored and refined the changes underway?