The Academic System Dynamics that Motivates Faculty to Enact Instructional Change

Faculty motivation to adopt Research-Based Instructional Strategies (RBIS) plays a crucial role in promoting successful educational change. However, it is driven, reinforced, or hindered by multiple interconnected factors within the academic system. From a systems perspective, it is crucial to avoid analyzing each of these factors in isolation and instead, consider their correlations and interdependence to effectively understand how they collectively influence faculty motivation.
We identified dynamics that depict the interdependence among these factors and how they influence faculty motivation to adopt RBIS. These dynamics are presented in the form of Causal Loops Diagrams (CLDs). CLDs can help to identify feedback loops within the system, which can either reinforce or hinder faculty motivation. CLDs are one of the system engineering tools to visually represent and model the causal relationships among variables in a system. These CLDs resulted from an iterative process that entailed systematically reviewing literature and gathering data from 10 semi-structured interviews and a focus group with faculty members from an Engineering Department in South America. This poster presents these 12 dynamics: 1. Time invested in covering content, 2. Time on activities required for promotion. 3. Faculty Workload, 4. Class size, 5. Easiness to apply RBIS, 6. Students' motivation and learning, 7. Students' engagement in class, 8. Students' ability to succeed with the learning activities, 9. Quality and timely feedback, 10. Students' evaluation of teaching, 11. Permissiveness and 12. Sense of urgency to change.

Future work will interpret this model to determine leverages in the system. Leverages can be defined as specific points within a complex system where a small change in one factor can lead to significant and sustainable changes. By identifying these leverages, universities can strategically intervene to positively influence faculty motivation and reduce resistance to instructional change, thereby promoting the adoption and sustainability of RBIS.