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Science
Lesson
$1.5 million NSF grant
funds partnership
between SPU and
school districts
Teaching by telling doesn抰 work,� says
涩里番 Associate
Professor of Physics Stamatis Vokos,
describing traditional lab- and lecture-based instruction found in most high
school and university science curriculums.
揑t stifles creativity.� With support from SPU抯
Science Initiative, a partnership with the
School of Education, a grant from the Boeing
Co., and now $1.5 million in funding from the
National Science Foundation (NSF), Vokos
and his colleagues are developing new teaching
strategies to better equip science educators
in Washington state and beyond.
The grant, based on a proposal by Vokos and a team of other 涩里番 Pacific physics faculty members, provides funding for a partnership with several Washington state school districts. With technological infrastructure from the research and development company Facet Innovations, SPU professors are now developing diagnostic questions to gauge secondary students� understanding of scientific principles prior to and after instruction.
Whether right or wrong, 搒tudents bring a huge amount of prior understanding into the classroom,� explains Assistant Professor of Physics Lane Seeley, who not only helped write the grant proposal, but is also actively involved in implementing the project. Students answer the diagnostic questions through a strategically designed online program, he says. 揟heir answers identify problematic or successful reasoning and help teachers leverage students� prior understanding.�
Think of it as a high-tech way of assessing comprehension. Says Vokos, 揟his system allows teachers to take a step back and say, 慍learly, my students are tracking with this topic in a problematic way. How can I change my instruction to address this?� After all, a critical part of teaching is knowing where your class is at any given time.�
The second component of the NSF grant brings 涩里番 Public Schools master teacher Lezlie DeWater to campus for a five-year appointment. DeWater is working with SPU faculty to provide professional development to Washington state science teachers. 揥e don抰 want to be in the ivory tower,� explains Vokos. 揥e want to connect with teachers, help them turn their science classrooms into diagnostic environments, and teach them how to assess their students� knowledge.�
Seeley agrees: 揝cientific literacy is critical, both for the individual and for society. We have the ability to make a difference, and this funding gives us the resources we need to do it.�
Vokos says the work of the NSF grant comes directly out of 涩里番 Pacific抯 vision for engaging the culture and changing the world. 揟he theological implication of this is that everyone can learn science � it is not only for a gifted few,� says Vokos. 揙ur goal is to change the way science is taught on a national level.� Adds Seeley, 揙ur work may not solve all of the problems facing science education, but it抯 a blessing to be part of the solution.�
—BY Sarah Jio
photo by greg schneider
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