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News & Events
Spotlight on Students
Student Spotlight:
Distinguished Grad Virginia Stimpson Brings Research to the Classroom
For nearly 40 years, Virginia Stimpson (Ph.D.) has made a point to learn
from her students so that they can learn from her. Her success in applying what she learns from them is a major reason why Stimpson is this year’s UW
College of Education Distinguished Graduate.
Stimpson started her teaching career at Mercer Island High School. Within two years of being hired, she redesigned the trigonometry portions of the school’s second-year algebra course, helped institute a faculty senate and created a handbook on school practices. She also served as the advisor for numerous student activities.
Then she spoke with one of her favorite teachers, Emmett Kinkade. "I was eager to share how much I enjoyed being a teacher and to describe the reasons I thought I was being successful," Stimpson remembers. "He listened politely, then asked where I was going to find people who would challenge me to learn more math, reconsider what was most important for students to learn, and identify the places where I needed to improve."
She came to realize she should never consider herself to have ever fully arrived as a teacher. It’s a lesson she now encourages teachers of all ages to follow: "Celebrate your successes," she recommends, "but don’t forget to consider what’s going to keep you engaged and growing over the years."
Stimpson believes teachers can best stay engaged by listening to what their students are saying. "Pay special attention to those saying the unexpected," she recommends. "By probing their thinking, educators can begin to uncover why students believe what they do."
Although primarily a math teacher, Stimpson taught a physics class as part of a study coordinated by the head of the Mercer Island physics department, Jim Minstrell. Through discussions with her new students, she soon realized they did not always recognize all of a problem’s essential factors and might over-generalize outcomes based on just a few instances. Stimpson shared her findings with Minstrell who encouraged her to write about them.
Fellow educators and scientists took note of her research. When Scientific American magazine recognized faculties around the country that successfully challenged and extended students’ ideas about physics, MIT’s faculty made the list. Thanks in part to Stimpson’s research, so did the physics team at Mercer Island High School.
Stimpson routinely adapts her teaching style to fit the ideas of her students. She volunteered to teach a group of struggling calculus students, confident that their grades would rise if she followed the approach that had served her well with other students: Pay close attention to their thinking, provide clear goals and expect their best effort. Yet in this class, only about one-third of her students improved their performance.
She discussed her lack of progress with COE Professor Sue Nolen, who was studying student motivation at the time. Using tools suggested by Nolen’s research, Stimpson came to realize her students struggled with math in part because they did not appreciate its value in their lives. In response, Stimpson modified her approach in the classroom, taking more time to explain why math was important and emphasizing the long-term benefits of being able to understand and apply mathematical concepts. With better appreciation came improved performance.
Today Stimpson teaches occasional courses at the College of Education and her students are classroom teachers themselves. Though her students and curricula have changed, Stimpson’s methods remain the same. By working with her students and listening to their ideas, she continues to make her classroom a center for research in practice.
Spotlight on Students
