The Identification and Use of a Common Language During a Curriculum Redesign: a Case Study of Conceptual Change

Within education, collective inquiry is essential to sustaining and pushing forward innovative educational initiatives. This research sought to determine if collective inquiries with a focus on common language with shared understanding impacted collective teacher efficacy, a construct linked to increased student achievement (Hattie in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 1(1):79–91, 2015). What follows within this case study is the exploration of the process of common language development in one educational department at a midsized university during a curriculum redesign. The case study results indicated the 17 participants felt common language discussions were important and needed and that discussions during the curriculum redesign did occur resulting in shared understanding of language among the department. Collective teacher efficacy results and directions for future research are also shared.