The Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS): a new instrument to characterize university STEM classroom practices

Abstract

Instructors and the teaching practices they employ play a critical role in improving student learning in college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. Consequently, there is increasing interest in collecting information on the range and frequency of teaching practices at department-wide and institution-wide scales. To help facilitate this process, we present a new classroom observation protocol known as the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM or COPUS. This protocol allows STEM faculty, after a short 1.5-hour training period, to reliably characterize how faculty and students are spending their time in the classroom. We present the protocol, discuss how it differs from existing classroom observation protocols, and describe the process by which it was developed and validated. We also discuss how the observation data can be used to guide individual and institutional change.

Figure 1.

Descriptions of the COPUS student and instructor codes.

Figure 2.

A comparison of how two observers coded the student code “Ind.” (A) When the code was described as “Ind: Individual thinking/problem solving in response to assigned task,” observer 2 marked this code more often than observer 1 did. (B) Coding after description of the code was revised.

Figure 3.

An excerpt of the COPUS coding form. Observers place a single checkmark in the box if a behavior occurs during a 2-min segment. Multiple codes can be marked in the same 2-min block.

Figure 4.

A comparison of COPUS results from two courses that have different instructional approaches.

Figure 5.

Prevalence of the student code “L: Listening” across several UBC and UMaine classes.

Figure 6.

Prevalence of student codes in four example courses that use clickers. In courses that use clickers with no or minimal peer discussion, the students are passively listening the majority of the time.