Kaatje van der Hoeven Kraft

Physical Science, Science Dept.

Whatcom Community College

Kaatje (she/her) teaches introductory geology classes at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham, WA.  Her research interests are in student motivation and interest as it pertains to introductory science courses. In particular, how research on motivation and interest can help to create environments in which all students feel like they can belong and feel connected to the geosciences. Kaatje is working to integrate aspects of anti-racism and decolonization discussions into her introductory geology/oceanography classrooms. In addition, she has been active in integrating Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences into her classes to assure early access to more authentic experiences for her students.

Webinar Leader, Workshop Leader, Website Contributor

Website Content Contributions

Activities (10)

Making the "black box" model more transparent part of Metacognition:Activities
Students will work with a "mystery box" to determine it's contents through an inductive reasoning process in order to better understand how models are used for geoscientific ways of knowing.

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Course (1)

Geologic Disasters & the Environment part of Introductory Courses:Courses
This class teaches the essentials of geologic disasters and environmental geology to non-major students. Students examine human interactions with Earth and vice versa. This course is taught through a case study ...

Essays (5)

Integrating Undergraduate Research into the Geosciences at a Two-Year College part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Broadening Access to the Earth and Environmental Sciences:Essays
Kaatje Kraft, Physical Science, Mesa Community College Research supports that undergraduate research (UGR) is critical for preparing students to be successful in STEM domains. In addition, there is evidence that ...

Conference Presentations (5)

Report on Unlearning Racism in Geoscience from the 2YC URGE Pod part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2021:Program:Poster Sessions:Wednesday:Poster Session III
The five-month long virtual Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE) program was developed to empower groups, or pods, of geoscience faculty to implement anti-racist strategies and policies within their departments ...

Other Contributions (10)

Kaatje Kraft: Using Monitoring Volcanoes and Communicating Risks in Natural Disasters at Whatcom Community College part of Monitoring Volcanoes and Communicating Risks
This module was implemented in my natural disasters class that examines how humans are impacted by natural disasters and how we can minimize or exacerbate that risk based on the choices we make. This is a 3-hour integrated lecture and lab that is highly student-centered through inquiry investigations. Teaching at a community college already assures a highly diverse population demographically, but also age, preparation, and lived experiences. The quarter I implemented this module, I had an incredibly diverse set of learners including two visually impaired students. Throughout the activity, students were highly engaged and the classroom community became much stronger as students interacted outside of their regular groups. In addition, with slight modifications, both students who were visually impaired were still able to successfully complete the module and fully participate.

Communities

Workshop Leader (8 workshops)

Workshop Participant (24 workshops)

Webinar Leader

Webinar Participant (10 webinars)