Michael Dean Bechtel

Michael Dean Bechtel (commonly referred to as Bec) is an associate professor of science education at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. His courses focus on the scientific disciplines, content heutagogy, and teaching practices necessary for preparing future educators. His lessons integrate a cross-curricular approach to the STEAM disciplines, with the added “A” referencing agriculture. His classroom practices focus on rhizomatic learning, metacognition, sense making, positive student-teacher relationship building, self-efficacy, and very long-term concept retention. Community outreach has always been an emphasis throughout his career and can be seen in his creation of after-school science programs, presentations at multiple venues (libraries, nature centers, retirement homes, conventions, conferences, STEM events, and pK-16 classrooms), and mentoring support for groups. Bechtel was a secondary science educator for 19 years in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. During the first two decades in his career, he taught almost every high school science course and was adjunct at five higher education institutions. Bechtel's current research includes undergraduate endeavors in biophilia, aquaponics, blatticomposting, terrarium creation, tropical chiropteran housing, and captive herptile husbandry. Bechtel and his students have presented their research at multiple state and national conferences around the country. His ultimate goals are to make science understandable, teachable, and exciting so lessons can be replicated in future classrooms.