Instructional choices in the implementation of research-based physics educational materials

While institutional and instructor buy-in is essential in the adoption of research-based materials, we note that the specific choices that faculty make in how these materials are used in practice are equally critical. We document and describe variation in classroom practices surrounding the implementation of Peer Instruction by six different instructors including: discussion of incorrect answer options, prevalence of professor-student discussion during the voting time, time given to respond to the clicker question, grading practices, etc. Based on documented differences in these practices, we claim that collections of these classroom practices establish local norms for what the activity of Peer Instruction means within a given course. We associate these findings with the results of survey data on students' perceptions of Peer Instruction and how these vary in the different courses. We find collections of classroom practices that appear to be particularly effective in communicating different pedagogical goals of Peer Instruction to students.