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Barbara Bekken
Geosciences
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ
Barbara Bekken has held a part-time faculty position in the Department of Geosciences at Virginia Tech since 1993. She has studied how student development affects learning through an experimental general education program that used the theme of sustainability to investigate how various disciplines inform interdisciplinary issues. Beginning in 2000, she created two new courses to address deficiencies in student understanding of the methods of the geosciences, student competencies in scientific writing and speaking, and student preparation for potential careers. She has also worked to revise laboratory curricula in introductory geoscience labs. Her current project is focused on revising the geoscience program curriculum.
Website Content Contributions
Activities (2)
Collaborative Research Project: Geoscience Undergraduate Curricula part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Teaching the Methods of Geoscience:Activities
Collaborative research project in which undergraduate geoscience curricula at Research 1 institutions are compared. This project uses the methods of science to explore a topic that beginning students can understand. This project uses rubrics for self, peer, and instructor assessment.
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The Cube Exercise and the Methods of Science part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Teaching the Methods of Geoscience:Activities
A new approach to using an exercise from the National Academy of Science publication "Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science" to support students in developing a deeper understanding of descriptive methods, experimental methods, and methodological assumptions.
Course (1)
Geoscience Fundamentals part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Teaching the Methods of Geoscience:Course
Geoscience Fundamentals is a workshop-style course that introduces sophomore-level geoscience majors to very basic philosophical, methodological, and historical foundations of the geosciences. As described in the ...
Essays (2)
Geoscience fundamentals: teaching the methods and philosophies of science through writing part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Teaching the Methods of Geoscience:Essays
Geoscience fundamentals: teaching the methods and philosophies of science through writing Barbara Bekken, Geosciences, Virginia Tech I am suspicious of faculty who, when they begin to converse on curricular ...
A Tour of the Earth Sustainability Liberal Education Program: An experiment in integrative learning part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Programs that Bring Together Geoscience and Sustainability:Essays
Barbara M. Bekken, Geosciences, Virginia Tech What is the Earth Sustainability program in liberal education? The Earth Sustainability (ES) program is an integrative and STEM-saturated experiment in liberal ...
Other Contribution (1)
The Earth Sustainability Liberal Education Program: An experiment in integrative learning part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Programs that Bring Together Geoscience and Sustainability:Programs
Information for this profile was provided by Barbara Bekken, Geosciences, Virginia Tech. Students in this program are pursuing a bachelors degree. Program Design & Assessment Overview Earth Sustainability is ...