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General Interests
"I am continuing to work on how children learn science-the cognitive processes of science learning. Most recently, I have begun to look at how Navajo children learn science. In the summer of 2001, I helped sponsor and run a two-month Summer Science Camp for 80 Navajo children and 10 reservation teachers at Atsa Biyaazh Community School in Shiprock, New Mexico. One of my goals for the camp was to encourage Navajo teachers in research and scholarship. Working with two Navajo teachers on a fry bread research project and presenting it with them at the Navajo Studies National Conference was a very proud moment for them and their school-and for me."
Years at Knox: 1992 to present
Education
Ph.D., Science Education, 1997, University of Illinois.
M.A., Secondary Education & Educational Psychology, 1990, University of Illinois.
B.A., U.S. History and Spanish, 1970, University of Illinois.
Teaching Interests
School and society, psychological foundations of education, adolescent development, perspectives on curriculum, literary and aesthetic experiences in the elementary school, dying and death.
Rotary International Grant for University Teachers, to teach science and pedagogy in Costa Rica, 2002.
Grants for Navajo Nation Summer Science Camp, 2000 and 2001.
ACM Travel Grant to Costa Rica for Spanish Immersion, 2001.
Recent Accomplishments
Publications
"The Sophomore-Year Experience Project." Coauthored with M. Willhardt. Report for the ACM Engaging Students in the Liberal Arts Project (2006).
"Quality Teaching: Culturally Appropriate Teaching for Navajo Children." Co-authors Knox professors James Vandergriff and Donna Jurich. The Journal of American Indian Education (2006).
"Playing Games or Learning Science? An Inquiry into Navajo Children's Science Learning." Journal of American Indian Education 43-3 (2004): 41-55.
"Unlocking the Scientist in Each of Us: WEE Science." Co-authors T. Anderson and C. West (accepted Science and Children) (1999).
Presentations
10 presentations, from: Teaching and Learning Strategies, to Fostering Literacy. Presented with Stephen Schroth. Teach in China program, Anhui University, Wuhu, China, 2008.
"A Multigenerational Study of Several Navajos' Educational Experiences: Part I: Policy as Lived Experience." With L. Tsosie. Navajo Studies National Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2008.
"The Sophomore-Year Experience Project." With M. Willhardt. ACM Conference: The Future of the Liberal Arts College, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
"Policy as Lived Experience: A Multigenerational Study of Two Navajo Families' Educational Experiences." With James Vandergriff and Donna Jurich. American Educational Research Association annual meeting, San Francisco, California, 2006.
"Quality Teaching: Culturally Appropriate Teaching for Navajo Children." With James Vandergriff and Donna Jurich. National Association for Multicultural Education National Conference, Kansas City, Missouri, 2004.
"Children's Science in Another Culture." With R. Frazier. National Association of Research in Science Teaching National Conference, New Orleans, Louisana, 2002.
"Writing culturally appropriate science curriculum." With R. Frazier and Donna Jurich. Proposal accepted for the National Science Teachers Association National Conference, San Diego, California, 2002.
"Teaching Culturally Appropriate Science." With R. Frazier. National Science Teachers Association Regional Conference, Memphis, Tennessee, 2001.
"The Chemistry, Culture, and Physics of Fry Bread." With G. Herrin, G. Tracy, and R. Frazier. Navajo Studies National Conference, Flagstaff, Arizona, 2001.
"Teaching on the Rez." Phi Delta Kappa, 2001.
"What Are They Saying When We Can't Hear Them?" International Conference on Children's Play, Oslo, Norway, 1999.
"Playing Games or Learning Science: Navajo Children Engaged in Science Inquiry." Annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, 1999.
"Educational Studies at Knox College: The Fusion of Theory and Practice in Pre-Service Teacher Education." With R. Christen. Annual meeting of the AILACTE, New Orleans, 1998.
Campus & Community Involvement
Faculty Secretary, Knox College.
Faculty Observer, Knox College Board of Trustees.
Chair, Educational Studies Department, Knox College.
Faculty Executive Committee, Knox College.
Discussant, International Symposium on Environment, Athens Institute for Education and Research, Athens, Greece.
Member, Engaging the Liberal Arts Committee.
Member, editorial review board, Center for the Study of Reading, Technical Report Series, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1988-1994, Teaching Education.
Campus delegate, P-Kal Space Utilization Planning Conference, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York.
Sponsor, Navajo Nation Summer Science Camp, Atsa Biyaazh Community School, Shiprock, N.M.,
Member, American Educational Research Association.
Member, International Reading Association.
Member, Illinois Reading Council.
Member, National Association for Multicultural Education.
National Council for Teachers of English.
Member, University of Illinois Extension Council.
Member, Board of Directors, and grant writer, Knox County Humane Society.
Member, Galesburg Community Chorus.
Grant Writer, Discovery Depot Children's Museum, Galesburg, Illinois.
President, Phi Delta Kappa local chapter.
Member, Phi Delta Kappa.
Member, Kappa Delta Pi.
What Students Say
"Professor Beck is an exemplary professor, which is why it is so appropriate that she is teaching other people how to teach. In her classes she shows that learning does not have to take place with students sitting in desks listening to someone at the front of the room. Instead, students are involved in active learning inside and outside the classroom."
-Miranda Gutzmer, educational studies major
Contact
dbeck@knox.edu
The Knox-Sandburg Community Concert Band, Knox Wind Ensemble, and individual music students perform in concert and recital, November 13 through 17 at Knox College.
Marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Elisabeth Herrmann of the University of Alberta gives the 2009 Johnson Lecture, "Mapping Germany from a Cultural Perspective Twenty Years after the Fall of the Wall," November 13 at Knox College.
Severed heads, a ghost in the well -- the Knox College Japanese Club marks Halloween by building a "Kimodameshi," which led visitors through scenes drawn from traditional Japanese ghost stories.
