Science and Mathematics Faculty Responses to a Policy-Based Initiative: Change Processes, Self-Efficacy Beliefs, and Department Culture

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine change processes, self-efficacy beliefs, and department culture and the roles these elements play in faculty engagement in working in K-12 schools. The development of three new web-based measures of faculty perceptions of change processes, self-efficacy beliefs, and department culture are described. The context for the research is the development of new state Board of Regents policies that encourage faculty work in K-12 schools and improvements in the scholarship of teaching and learning in the faculty tenure and promotion process. Extensive statistical analyses were completed to examine the characteristics of these new measures and relationships among the measures. We discuss the implications of the study findings for measuring and understanding change and sustainability of policy-based initiatives in higher education.