Instructors' Purposeful Modifications to SCALE-UP: A Look Across the Country

Numerous studies describe the effectiveness of research-based instructional strategies (RBIS) in STEM courses, but many of these studies are predicated on the assumption that instructors implement the RBIS exactly as intended by the developers. However, instructors modify the RBIS to suit their needs and local constraints. The purpose of this study was to investigate how instructors from nine institutions modified their use of SCALE-UP (Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-Down Pedagogies) and the reasons they cite for these modifications. We implemented the Modification Identification Framework to classify changes discussed by participants during interviews and identified 131 unique modifications related to group work or the amount of lecture. We then implemented Revealed Causal Mapping to investigate participants' mental models related to their modifications and created causal maps. In this talk, we will present the most common categories of changes and the reasons for those changes highlighted by the aggregated revealed causal maps.