Instructors' Conceptions of Diverse Students' Prior Knowledge and Related Teaching Practices

• In Event: Faculty Mind-Sets and Orientations Toward Students

Abstract

Drawing on students’ prior knowledge can enhance learning, but we know little about how instructors learn to teach with students’ prior knowledge in mind. We examined 10 instructors learning about teaching with diverse students’ prior knowledge over the course of a year. What is clear is that those who start with deficit-focused views on students’ prior knowledge, incorporate little to no teaching practices to connect with that knowledge. As conceptions of prior knowledge broaden and expand, teaching practices also shift to incorporate that knowledge in the classroom. However, the purpose of this shift and the extent of this shift differs by discipline and other social identities. Findings have implications for theorizing faculty as learners and for faculty developers.

Authors

• Milagros Castillo-Montoya, University of Connecticut

• Jillian Ives, University of Connecticut - Storrs