Spring Break
Geoscience professor gets students psyched for conservation
Steve Cook teaches popular GEO 300 class, gives students community projects, not exams
Gail Cole
Issue date: 5/27/08 Section: News
Cook designs a wide variety of projects at various dates and times throughout the term.
"I identify the project, and they pick the one that suits them best," he said.
According to the class website, examples of the projects include everything from removing English ivy from campus to gathering signatures for the Sustainable Forest Initiative for Oregon's November elections.
Other projects included collecting and transcribing children's books that will be translated and sent to Albanian kindergarten classrooms.
"It's really been a rewarding thing for me, and it turns out [the students] enjoy it," Cook said of the projects.
Klock calculated that OSU and the Corvallis community save approximately $30,000 a term through these service projects, mostly in labor costs.
Beyond the community, students benefit from the projects through active learning.
In addition to service projects, GEO 300 requires four critical thinking papers, which Klock said is a way Cook lets students apply the material to their own lives.
"If you're an economics major, you can write a paper on some aspect of international economics related to the environment," Klock said.
Though students spend time on the service project, papers and quizzes, there are no exams in the class.
"I never liked exams so much anyways," Cook said in reference to his own college days.
Cook places importance not just on the big picture, but also on the small-scale effort that can be made to help the environment.
"If you only talk about the big stuff, everyone just says, 'We're screwed,'" Cook said.
He devotes much class time to explaining how students can impact the environment based on the choices they make. In one popular lecture he teaches on how choosing a particular brand of toilet paper can make an impact on the environment.
"Every day in class he provides solutions to problems," Klock said. "He provides optimism."
"I identify the project, and they pick the one that suits them best," he said.
According to the class website, examples of the projects include everything from removing English ivy from campus to gathering signatures for the Sustainable Forest Initiative for Oregon's November elections.
Other projects included collecting and transcribing children's books that will be translated and sent to Albanian kindergarten classrooms.
"It's really been a rewarding thing for me, and it turns out [the students] enjoy it," Cook said of the projects.
Klock calculated that OSU and the Corvallis community save approximately $30,000 a term through these service projects, mostly in labor costs.
Beyond the community, students benefit from the projects through active learning.
In addition to service projects, GEO 300 requires four critical thinking papers, which Klock said is a way Cook lets students apply the material to their own lives.
"If you're an economics major, you can write a paper on some aspect of international economics related to the environment," Klock said.
Though students spend time on the service project, papers and quizzes, there are no exams in the class.
"I never liked exams so much anyways," Cook said in reference to his own college days.
Cook places importance not just on the big picture, but also on the small-scale effort that can be made to help the environment.
"If you only talk about the big stuff, everyone just says, 'We're screwed,'" Cook said.
He devotes much class time to explaining how students can impact the environment based on the choices they make. In one popular lecture he teaches on how choosing a particular brand of toilet paper can make an impact on the environment.
"Every day in class he provides solutions to problems," Klock said. "He provides optimism."
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