Physicist Blends Passion for Science and Teaching to Aid Student Learning

Stamatis Vokos: "We are using research on student learning to
develop teachers who are diagnosticians and can apply their
knowledge to improve student learning.”

As a physicist, Stamatis Vokos is passionate about science.

“My deep conviction is that science learning is absolutely necessary for citizens of every country,” the Seattle Pacific University physics professor told a group of university teachers and students during a presentation at WCMC-Q Wednesday. “We all depend upon an understanding of science to know how the world works, to be informed citizens and make decisions in an unprecedentedly complex time.”

No wonder, then, that Vokos is equally passionate about the teaching of science. “We have to think about science instruction not just for science students but for everyone,” he said during his presentation.

Vokos was in Doha to participate in a workshop for science teachers as part of a research study funded by the National Priorities Research Program. The three-year project, Qatar Science Teachers Energy Project (QSTEP), is designed to shape science literacy and improve science teaching in the country.

Teachers as Diagnosticians
“My field of research on student learning is consistent with medical education,” said Vokos. “Medical education helps prospective doctors develop a deep understanding of their subject matter and special diagnostic skills to help them apply their knowledge. We are using research on student learning to develop teachers who are diagnosticians and can apply their knowledge to improve student learning.”

Vokos is lead investigator on the NPRP grant with Roger Hinrichs, PhD, professor of physics emeritus at State University of New York Oswego and a former member of the WCMC-Q faculty. They are working with science instructors Phyllis Griffard, PhD, and Sheila Qureshi, PhD, from WCMC-Q and with other university teachers in Qatar and the United States to study students’ views on the nature of science, their learning styles and to develop assessment tools to improve instruction.

“Based on research studies, we know that teachers are one of the most important variables in predicting student achievement,” Vokos said during the presentation. “However, determining particular teacher characteristics important to student learning is difficult,” he added. For example, he added, “Few studies exist on the relationship between teacher preparation and student learning gains in science.”

“Our goal is to investigate student learning and student understanding, in particular, and then apply the findings to curriculum development. Then we measure as accurately as possible the effects on student learning. Then we do it again, and again and again; so the research is not just student informed, but student validated.

Correct Answers Don’t Always Indicate Understanding
Vokos shared insights he and colleagues gained from investigating student understanding of fundamental concepts in physics. Students were asked to predict the outcome of simple experiments. Basically, they found that students could provide correct answers to basic questions about the experiments, but, when queried more deeply, even high- achieving students often failed to demonstrate deep understanding of the complex interplay between cause and effect.

“We learned that short responses by students to questions, even if correct, do not necessarily indicate understanding. Superficial answers don’t require the kind of thorough understanding we want students to have. Students also can give right answers for the wrong reasons,” he said. “There is a deep need for teachers to probe, to ask for explanations, to determine whether their students really understand the material.”

Based on difficulties in students’ understanding uncovered by the request for explanations, he and colleagues developed research-validated instructional materials to improve the effectiveness of their instruction. “We realized we needed a special kind of instruction to help students,” said Vokos.

With the NPRP grant and other research studies, Vokos and his colleagues are working to build a basic body of research on student learning that is available to wider communities through conferences and research journals, like other kinds of research. “We want to apply the same ethos to student learning research that is used with other kinds of research,” he said.

Vokos and his colleagues have developed materials, such as web-based assessment tools and prescriptive lessons, to support teachers who want to assess their students’ evolving understanding. By probing students’ understanding before, during, and after instruction, teachers can gauge whether their instruction is effective or needs modifications.

“We have to prepare people to teach subjects that are undergoing constant change and prepare students to engage in jobs that do not exist today, so our goal is to help teachers become more reflective about their practice of instruction and get students to be more reflective about their own learning.”

Report by Kristina Goodnough