Douglas Clark

Associate Professor of Science Education

Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2000

Joined faculty in 2009

Doug Clark's research investigates students' learning processes as they study core science concepts in digital environments and computer games. This work often focuses on representations, conceptual change, collaboration, and argumentation. He conducts this work through two research groups: Scaffolding Understanding through Research on Games for Education (SURGE) and Technology Opening Diverse Opportunities for Science (TODOS).

SURGE is a collaboration between Vanderbilt and Arizona State University. SURGE focuses on helping students articulate and connect tacit intuitive understandings about kinematics and Newtonian mechanics into the explicit formalized understandings of the discipline. SURGE integrates research on conceptual change, cognitive processing-based design, and socio-cognitive scripting with design principles and mechanics of popular commercial video games such as Mario Galaxy, Switchball, Orbz, and Portal. The SURGE project website presents more information on the team and work.

TODOS is Clark's core research group at Vanderbilt. The work focuses on integrating research on learning into digital environments (particularly gaming environments) to support diverse student populations studying science. The work broadly focuses on representations, argumentation, and learning research in digital environments.

More information about Doug Clark's research, research groups, and publications is available at:
www. dougclark.info

Learn More about Douglas Clark:

CV

Areas of Expertise

Math and Science Education

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