

Douglas Clark
Positions
Professor
Werklund School of Education
Contact information
Background
Educational Background
Doctor of Philosophy , Univ. of Calif. - Berkeley, 2000
M.A. , Stanford University, 1991
B.A. , University of North Carolina, 1989
Biography
Dr. Clark taught high school and middle school science in Arizona and California. Dr. Clark completed his MA at Stanford University and PhD at University of California at Berkeley in Math, Science, and Technology Education. Prior to joining University of Calgary in 2017, Dr. Clark was a professor of the learning sciences and science education at Vanderbilt University in the United States. Dr. Clark loves playing digital games and board games of all kinds.
Professional & Community Affiliations
Dr. Clark has served as Associate Editor of the Journal of the Learning Sciences. He has also served on the editorial boards of several of the most prestigious journals in Science Education and the Learning Sciences including Journal of the Learning Sciences, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and Science Education. He has been a Survey Assessment Innovations Lab Network advisor to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in the United States and was one of the original twenty members of the Academic Consortium on Games for Impact that was initially commissioned by the US White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
- International Society of the Learning Sciences
- American Educational Research Association
- Games, Learning, and Society
Research
Areas of Research
My research spans multiple areas, and I look for students who are interested in working with me in one or more of these general areas:
Analyzing how the design of digital games and other digital environments can support student learning, identity, and cognition.
Analyzing and designing to support how in-service and pre-teachers think about and engage in design. Our goal is to support teachers in thinking about design for more fundamental changes to the cultural configurations and opportunities of their classrooms in support of increasing equity and support for diversity within their classrooms.
Engaging students and teachers in explanation and argumentation alone or in groups online, face-to-face, or in writing to learn about scientific and socio-scientific topics in a "post truth" world.
Across all of these projects I am very interested in issues of learning, design, engagement, critical thinking, problem solving, motivation, and equity. If you are interested in potentially applying to University of Calgary and working with me at University of Calgary in one of these areas or other related areas, please email me at douglas.clark (at) ucalgary.ca about your interests.
- Design Education
- Game-based learning
- Science education
- Informal science education
- Online learning communities
- Design based research
- Learning sciences
- User-centered design
Courses
Course number | Course title | Semester |
---|---|---|
EDUC 521 | Design for Learning |
Awards
- Distinguished Graduate Supervision Award, Werklund School of Education. 2022
- Reviewer of the Year, Journal of the Learning Sciences . 2016
- Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Academy of Education. 2006
- Outstanding Dissertation Award, UC Berkeley School of Education. 2001
- Science and Design Fellowship, National Science Foundation. 1999
- Chancellor's Award for Botany, University of North Carolina. 1989
Publications
- Reframing design in education: Proposing a framework to support pre-service teachers in adopting designerly stances. Clark, D. B., Scott, D., DiPasquale, J. P., & Becker, S. . Journal of the Learning Sciences, 33(4–5). 613–666. (2024)
- Intrinsic and instrumental care in pen pal letters: Recognizing care in STEM classrooms . Pierson, A. E., Brady, C. E., Lee, S. J., Shuler, D., Sengupta, P., & Clark, D. B.. Science Education 108 (6). 1608-1636. (2024)
- Academically meaningful play: Designing digital games for the classroom to support meaningful gameplay, meaningful learning, and meaningful access. Clark, D. B., Hernández-Zavaleta, J. E., & Becker, S.*. Computers and Education, 194. 104704. (2023)
- Reconceptualizing Games for Integrating Computational Thinking and Science as Practice: Collaborative Agent-Based Disciplinarily-Integrated Games. Clark, D. B., & Sengupta, P. Interactive Learning Environments. 28(3), 328-346. (2020)
- Sedimentation of Modeling Practices: Dimensions of Co-Operative Action at a Classroom Scale. Pierson, A. & Clark, D. B. Science & Education. 28(8), 897–925. (2019)
- Learning Progressions and Science Practices: Tensions in Prioritizing Content, Epistemic Practices, and Social Dimensions of Learning. Pierson, A., Clark, D. B., & Kelly, G. J. Science & Education. 28(8), 833-841. (2019)
- Substantial Integration of Typical Educational Games into Extended Curricula. Clark, D. B., Tanner-Smith, E., Hostetler, A., Fradkin, A., & Polikov, V. Journal of the Learning Sciences. 27(2), 265-318. (2018)
- Learning Progressions in Context: Tensions and Insights from a Semester-Long Middle School Modeling Curriculum. Pierson, A., Clark, D. B., & Sherard, M. Science Education. 101(6), 1061–1088. (2017)
- Self-explanation and digital games: Adaptively increasing abstraction. Computers & Education, 103, 28-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.09.010 . Clark, D. B., Virk, S. S.*, Barnes, J.*, & Adams, D. M.*. Computers & Education, 103. 28-43. (2016)
- Digital games, design, and learning: A systematic review and meta-analysis.. Clark, D. B., Tanner-Smith, E., & Killingsworth, S.*. Review of Educational Research, 86(1). 79-122. (2016)
- SURGE’s evolution deeper into formal representations: The siren’s call of popular game-play mechanics. Clark, D. B., Virk, S. S.*, Sengupta, P., Brady, C., Martinez-Garza, M.*, Krinks, K.*, Killingsworth, S.*, Kinnebrew, J.*, Biswas, G., Barnes, J.*, Minstrell, J., Nelson, B., Slack, K.*, & D’Angelo, C. M.*. International Journal of Designs for Learning, 7(1). 107-146. (2016)
- Exploring sources of variation in studies of knowledge structure coherence: Comparing force meanings and force meaning consistency across two Turkish cities. Clark, D. B., Menekse, M.*, Ozdemir, G., D’Angelo, C. M.*, & Schleigh, S. P.* . Science Education, 98(1). 143-181. (2014)
- Integrating self-explanation functionality into a complex game environment: Keeping gaming in motion. Adams, D. M.*, & Clark D. B. . Computers and Education, 73. 149-159. (2014)
- Comparison of students' knowledge structure coherence and understanding of force in the Philippines, Turkey, China, Mexico, and the United States. Clark, D. B., D’Angelo, C. M.*, & Schleigh, S. P.* . Journal of the Learning Sciences, 20(20). 207-261. (2011)
More Information
Media:
Clark, D. B. (2017). Can Typical Educational Games Support Learning Within Curriculum? Blog on Joan Ganz Cooney Center site about games and learning. http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/2017/06/21/can-typical-educational-games-support-learning-within-curriculum/
Are you the profile owner?
Login to edit.