Overview of Change Theories
Purpose
The goal of this resource is to provide summaries of change theories, how they have been used in the context of STEM higher educational change, and key information and references. These summaries are just a few pages and are meant to be a jumping off place.
Intended Audience
Individuals interested in or currently involved in change efforts in higher education. This may include people who are developing a grant proposal, starting a change effort, conducting research on a change effort, and many more.
Overview
A change theory is a framework of ideas, supported by evidence, that explains some aspect of change beyond a single initiative (Reinholz & Andrews 2019). Change theories represent generalized knowledge about how and why change occurs in higher education. Change theories can inform the reasoning behind change efforts, help you inquire about the underlying assumptions of efforts, shine light on the context and system in which you seek change, guide the selection of indicators used to measure outcomes, and inform the design of interventions.
Change theories relevant to STEM higher education come from diverse fields. It can be hard to find relevant theories and key references. We designed this resource because we needed help learning about theories.
Summaries are organized by the target of the change you seek to enact.
- Are you trying to change individuals? See these theory summaries
- Are you trying to change organizations or systems? See these theory summaries
- Are you trying to change culture (in a department or institution)? See these theory summaries
- Do you want to know what change theories have been used in other work? This systematic review identifies which change theories have been used in STEM higher educational reform efforts and how theory informed the work (Reinholz, White, and Andrews, 2021).
What's the difference between change theory and a theory of change?
- A change theory is a formalized framework disseminated through scholarly channels and meant to be generalizable beyond one project.
- A theory of change is developed by a project team, specific to a single project, and lays out the goals and logic of a project.
- Learn more in this essay: Change theory and theory of change: What's the difference anyway?
- Learn from other's experiences in this blog post: What we wish we would have known about theories of change and change theory at the beginning
We aim to build this collection over time and we seek authors who have used these theories in their own change work. Are you interested in authoring or contributing to a new summary? Contact Tessa Andrews (tandrews@uga.edu) or Dan Reinholz (daniel.reinholz@sdsu.edu).
Search the Collection
Results 11 - 14 of 14 matches
Characteristics of Dissemination Success (CODS) Framework
Stephanie Chasteen, University of Colorado at Boulder
The Characteristics of Dissemination Success (CODS) framework identifies characteristics that enhance the likelihood that educational innovations will be adopted.This framework may be useful to a project in considering the needs and intentions of its' audience members, as well as the characteristics of the innovation itself.
CACAO Change Model
Karen Viskupic, Boise State University; Brittnee Earl, Boise State University; Susan Shadle, Boise State University
The CACAO model focuses on four elements that are important to any change process: the Change, the Adopters, the Change Agents, and the Organization. Individuals working to enact change follow a process to identify the change, meet the needs of individual adopters in different stages of adoption, and enact changes within an organization.
Teacher-Centered Systemic Reform (TCSR) Model
Marilyne Stains, University of Virginia
The teacher-centered systemic reform model focuses on the instructional change of individual faculty within a larger system. A teacher's thinking is central to their practice, and both occur within a larger context of personal factors and contextual factors.
Four Frames
Daniel Reinholz, San Diego State University
The four frames model focuses on organizational culture, defining different lenses for making sense of an organization's culture. Recent work suggests applications of this theory to undergraduate STEM education.