Science Instructor Connects Natural Sciences with Technical Education

Julie Olson remembers getting a chemistry kit as a kid, which was one of her earliest hands-on experiences with science. Since then, science has continued to be the thread throughout her life.

To share her passion for the field with others, Olson became a science educator more than three decades ago. Until recently, she taught at Mitchell High School and Mitchell Second Chance High School in Mitchell. She also served as an adjunct professor of biology at Dakota Wesleyan University for many years.

This past year, though, Olson started a new leg of her career and took a role at Southeast Technical College as a natural sciences instructor. What brought her to the college after a long K-12 experience was the opportunity to engage with students at a higher level full-time and create a new course in environmental science.

Teaching at a technical college has presented some learning curves for Olson, but she’s thankful to have students who are eager to connect their area of expertise to what they’re learning in her classroom. 

“There’s been challenges, because a lot of students are from the trades, so you’re constantly thinking, ‘What are we talking about that applies to their programs?’” she said. “But the challenges have been good and have made me stretch my thinking and planning.”

One of Olson’s goals is to develop more cross-curricular assessments so that her courses present students with opportunities to do things that apply to their area of study. She also hopes to instill in them a desire to investigate any question they may have.

For example, Olson recently had an HVAC student who mentioned he had just soldered some pipes and wondered if the water quality was still good. Olson encouraged him to bring a water sample to class so that he could test it in the lab. This ultimately helped both him and the entire class see that the connections between the trades and the sciences are abundant.

One task Olson was charged with at Southeast Tech was to bring back hands-on learning to the general education science labs because the pandemic had put a halt to it. As part of this, she took one of her classes to Lake Lorraine this past semester to test its water quality.

Olson likes to get her students outside when she can and plans to do similar activities in the future. She also hopes to bring more technology into the classroom, such as a sensor that enables students to do an EKG or look at muscle activity in real-time.

“I like it when the students get involved with a lab or discussion, and they’re the ones initiating it and keeping it going and really digging in or asking questions,” Olson said. “That’s my favorite part – when they see the connection and they have the interest, and they want to know more.”

In addition to her teaching duties, Olson was named a 2021 Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, a professional development opportunity for educators made possible through a partnership between Lindblad Expeditions and the National Geographic Society. Only 50 educators are selected for the program each year, so it’s a prestigious experience.

The program enables teachers to travel by ship with a group of naturalists and National Geographic photographers to destinations around the world. They study exotic places and bring home knowledge that they can apply to their own classrooms.

Olson – whose application focused on her classroom studies of the effects of plastics on the environment and how the fellowship could help give her students a more global perspective –  was scheduled to travel to Iceland for her fellowship, but the pandemic put a halt to those plans for the time being.

While she hasn’t yet been able to take part in the excursion, Olson is still thrilled to have been named a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow – a position that’s already impacted her students at Southeast Tech.

“It’s an honor,” she said. “It’s the experience of a lifetime to get to do this, and it’s a lifetime opportunity because those connections don’t end when the expedition ends. Even though I haven’t gone on my expedition, because I’ve already made a bunch of connections and been taught a lot of things, I’m able to apply those in my classes.”

General Education at STC