Karen Viskupic

Unit 2.3: Plate boundaries in the past and the future part of TIDeS:TIDeS Teaching Materials:Earth Science
Students use their knowledge of plate motions to explore plate reconstructions throughout Earth's history and predict what Earth may look like in the future using the tools introduced in Unit 2.2.

Unit 1.3: Asking questions part of TIDeS:TIDeS Teaching Materials:Earth Science
Students review science and non-science questions submitted as part of the pre-class work and categorize them to think more carefully about the types of questions that science can and cannot answer. Students then ...

Unit 2.2: Plate motions part of TIDeS:TIDeS Teaching Materials:Earth Science
Students consider what information they would need to predict future configurations of the continents and oceans and then complete some "back of the envelope" calculations of slip rates on the San Andreas ...

Unit 1.1: What is science and what do scientists do? part of TIDeS:TIDeS Teaching Materials:Earth Science
Students discuss what it means to practice science and then practice making observations and interpretations using different types of data (photographs, x-y plots, maps). Activities can be done in small ...

Unit 2.1: Recognizing plate boundaries part of TIDeS:TIDeS Teaching Materials:Earth Science
Students work individually to make observations about the distribution of earthquakes, volcanoes, topography, and the age of the sea floor from four maps, then work in small groups to synthesize their observations ...

Behavioral Interview Questions part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
In this activity, students practice answering behavioral interview questions using the STAR (situation, task, action, results) method. Behavioral interview questions are often used to assess applicants' skills ...

Assessing your Interests, Values, and Abilities to Guide Career Exploration part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
The purpose of this activity is to help students create a list of interests, abilities, and values that will help guide their thinking about potential careers. Not all of our interests, abilities, and values need ...

Relative vs. Numerical Dating and Geochronology with Beads part of Rates and Time:Teaching Activities
Students use relative dating principles to interpret the ages of rocks in a block diagram. They then "date" samples from these rocks to test their relative age hypotheses. Sample dating is done by ...

Longitudinal impacts of the Traveling Workshops Program and identification of emerging needs part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2026:Program:Poster Session:Tuesday Poster Session
Since 2014, the National Association of Geoscience Teacher's (NAGT) Traveling Workshops Program (TWP) has run workshops for more than 90 departments and programs across 33 U.S. states and one other country. ...

Investigating the relationship between student interest and instructional practices part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2026:Program:Poster Session:Tuesday Poster Session
During the 2025-26 academic year, we surveyed undergraduates in introductory geoscience courses about their interest in topics before and after lecture sessions on minerals, landslides, critical minerals, mass ...

Using a new critical minerals introductory geology lesson to measure the impact of reformed teaching practices on student learning part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2026:Program:Oral Sessions:Monday Oral Session
Previous studies have reported that student achievement improves with student-centered instruction, but this has not yet been quantified, and the relationship between student learning and the use of active ...

How are teaching practices aligned with student and workforce needs? part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2026:Program:Oral Sessions:Wednesday Oral Session
Surveys are widely used to gain insight into the education system, as they can provide data from a large number of participants in order to investigate system-wide or discipline-wide practices and trends. Survey ...

Where are Students Developing the Skills and Dispositions Needed for the Geoscience Workforce? part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2024:Program:Poster Sessions:Friday Poster Session
This study aims to identify trends in undergraduate geoscience course instruction and assess its impact on students' development of critical workforce skills and dispositions, with the goal of utilizing these ...

The roles and responsibilities of graduate teaching assistants: A mixed-method study of faculty and teaching assistant perspectives part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2024:Program:Poster Sessions:Friday Poster Session
Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are a critical component of a university department. They frequently serve as the primary point of contact for undergraduate students, and thus, have the power to help shape a ...

Assessing How Inclusive Geoscience Job Advertisements Are to Persons with Disabilities part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2023:Program:Poster Sessions:Monday Poster Session
The geoscience community has been making efforts to promote diversity, but individuals with physical disabilities are still largely underrepresented. Many geoscience workforce positions include a field component ...

Report on Unlearning Racism in Geoscience from the NAGT Traveling Workshop Program Pod part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2021:Program:Poster Sessions:Wednesday:Poster Session III
In Spring 2021, twelve facilitators from the NAGT Traveling Workshop Program (TWP; https://nagt.org/nagt/profdev/twp) organized a discussion pod as part of the Unlearning Racism in Geoscience program (URGE; ...

Skills Geoscience Employers Look For in Bachelors-level Geoscientists part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2021:Program:Poster Sessions:Friday:Poster Session I
Preparing graduates to enter the workforce is a common goal of undergraduate geoscience degree programs. Determining what skills are necessary for new graduates to succeed in the workforce requires knowledge of ...

Evidence for Reformed Teaching in Undergraduate Geoscience Course Syllabi part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2020:Program:Oral Sessions:Oral Session III
A syllabus introduces students to information about a course, is one of the first ways students and instructors interact, and sets the tone of the course. We reviewed course syllabi of instructors who we observed ...

Development of Workforce Skills in Geoscience Courses for Majors part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2019:Program:Poster Sessions:Wednesday
We used responses from the 2016 administration of the National Survey of Geoscience Faculty (NSGF) to investigate the extent to which courses in geoscience majors help students develop workforce skills. Respondents ...

Assessing Geoscience Career Awareness Among Undergraduates part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2019:Program:Poster Sessions:Friday
One measure of the success of an undergraduate geoscience program is how well its students are prepared for careers in the geosciences. As departments work to prepare undergraduates for the workforce, a method for ...

Quantifying the Effects of Discipline-Based Professional Development Programs on Undergraduate Geoscience Teaching part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2018:Program:Oral Sessions:Thursday A
We investigated the impact of geoscience-specific professional development (PD) on undergraduate teaching by comparing instructor PD histories and classroom practices. Trained observers used the Reformed Teaching ...

The use of data analysis and quantitative skills in undergraduate geoscience courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2018:Program:Oral Sessions:Thursday A
Quantitative tools and data analysis techniques are important for the success of geoscience majors in a variety of careers, and are important for many non-scientists who need quantitative reasoning skills for ...

Reformed teaching in geoscience classrooms: How engaged are our students and what can we do to engage them more? part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2017:Program:Oral Sessions:Wednesday B
A team of trained observers made direct observations of 204 unique geoscience classes across the US using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP). Observed classes were taught by faculty of diverse ...

"ZirChron" Virtual Zircon Analysis App part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Teaching Demonstrations:Tuesday B
This application was developed to promote deeper understanding of the science of geochronology, including the integration of crystal-scale relative dating principles with numerical dating via radioisotope ...

Getting Involved in NAGT Leadership: Opportunities and Benefits part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2026:Program:Lunchtime Options
There are leadership opportunities within NAGT for educators at all levels, from students to faculty, education professionals outside of academia, K-12 teachers, and research scientists. All are welcome at this ...

Teaching Critical Minerals and Designing Lessons for Student-Centered Instruction part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2026:Program:Afternoon Workshops
This workshop will integrate new (to many) content and instructional practices. We will share a newly designed lesson on critical minerals (CM; Aird et al.) that has been developed using student-centered ...

Boise State University: Using the TIDeS module in GEOS 104: Geoscience and Society part of TIDeS:TIDeS Teaching Materials:Instructor Stories
The biggest change to my course when using TIDeS materials was the use of the science and engineering practices as a framework to have students name and reflect on the how they were practicing science, and the methods that geoscientists use to investigate Earth processes. Increasing students' understanding of the practice of science, I think, helps them to develop more trust in the scientific community, and that is one of the most important things a student can take away from an introductory general education science course.

Boise State University: Using the TIDeS module in GEOS 104: Geoscience and Society part of TIDeS:TIDeS Teaching Materials:Earth Science
The biggest change to my course when using TIDeS materials was the use of the science and engineering practices as a framework to have students name and reflect on the how they were practicing science, and the methods that geoscientists use to investigate Earth processes. Increasing students' understanding of the practice of science, I think, helps them to develop more trust in the scientific community, and that is one of the most important things a student can take away from an introductory general education science course.

Developing Dispositions to Help Students Succeed in the Workforce part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2024:Program:Afternoon Mini-Workshops
Recent work by Shafer et al. (2023) and unpublished employer interview data identified dispositions that employers of entry-level geoscientists are seeking. Such dispositions include a desire to learn, initiative, ...

CACAO Change Model part of Accelerating Systemic Change Network:Resources for Change:Change Theories:Change Theories Collection
The CACAO model focuses on four elements that are important to any change process: the Change, the Adopters, the Change Agents, and the Organization. Individuals working to enact change follow a process to identify the change, meet the needs of individual adopters in different stages of adoption, and enact changes within an organization.

Town Hall part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2017:Program
The town hall will allow us to collectively reflect on the lessons we learned as a community at the Rendezvous, and to address any opportunities we see for collective action or impact. Don't forget to tell us ...

Program Assessment part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2017:Program:Roundtable Discussions
Assessing program-level learning outcomes can drive curricular and pedagogical changes, and is likely a requirement of your institution's administration and accrediting body. We'll discuss assessment ...

Town Hall part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program
The town hall will allow us to collectively reflect on the lessons we learned as a community at the Rendezvous, and to address any opportunities we see for collective action or impact. Don't forget to tell us ...

What are Students Learning in Your Course? Strategies for Assessment part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Afternoon Mini Workshops
What do we mean when we ask if students have "learned" something? Are some kinds of assessments better suited for specific kinds of learning? What are the purposes of assessing learning? This workshop ...

Instructor Stories About Reforming Teaching Practice part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Panel Discussions
Summary Meetings like the Rendezvous can provide lots of inspiration to instructors to make changes in their teaching. However, back home, after the excitement of the meeting has faded, there are many challenges ...

Getting the Most Out of your Teaching Assistant (TA) Experience part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2024:Program:Morning Workshops:Getting the Most Out of your Teaching Assistant (TA) Experience
In this workshop, we will help graduate students build their skills as teaching assistants (TAs) and articulate those skills in light of future careers. Participants will develop skills and confidence for ...

Getting the Most Out of your TA Experience part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2023:Program:Morning Workshops:Getting the Most Out of your TA Experience
In this workshop, we will help graduate students build their skills as teaching assistants (TAs) and articulate those skills in light of future careers. Participants will develop skills and confidence for ...

How is your Program Helping Students Prepare for the Jobs they Want? part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2023:Program:Morning Workshops:How is your Program Helping Students Prepare for the Jobs they Want?
In this workshop, we will help you make more explicit connections between the skills you are building in your geoscience programs and the skills that geoscience employers (and graduate schools) are seeking. You ...

Creating a Graduate Program that Fosters the Success of All Students part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2022:Program:Morning Workshops: Creating a Graduate Program that Fosters the Success of All Students
Are you a faculty member or administrator wanting to incorporate inclusive and equitable practices in admissions and programming to support your graduate students? Please join us for a two-day workshop to learn ...

Teaching your upper-level course online: A Community Collaboration to build robust online Geoscience courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2020:Program:Morning Workshops:Teaching Online
Are you worried about teaching your upper-level course in one of the "alternate" formats required by the COVID-19 pandemic? Or perhaps you already did so and know what worked pretty well and what needs ...