Learning to do geography? University students posing questions in GIS laboratory exercises

In many higher education curricula, pre-structured step-by-step laboratory exercises in introductory courses in geographical information systems (GIS) are an important part of the training of future geographers. The reasons for this approach to teaching GIS are manifold, such as large numbers of students, off-the-shelf desktop software that is often complex, technical challenges, and scarce faculty resources. Often the reasons are well agreed upon by members of a university faculty and among the students. Research in other fields has shown that the use of a controlled manual for laboratory work often provides low learning potentials. However, not much empirical research has dealt with this issue within a GIS learning environment. Inspired by research on the value of student-generated questions within science education, the authors take a closer look at the type of student-generated questions and their relation to students' self-image of their learning approach in two pre-structured GIS laboratory settings at two Danish universities. They conclude that the vast majority of student-generated questions are of a basic information type and independent of the students' self-image of their learning approach. Further, it is found that wonderment questions, i.e. questions that are reflective in nature and show students the process towards acquiring extended geographical knowledge and software proficiency, are rarely asked.     

Preservice Geography Students’ Exposure to Systems Thinking and Cooperative Learning in Environmental Education

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a cross-curricular approach that needs to be accommodated in all subjects in the training of students as recommended by UNESCO. This South African case study of preservice geography students is presented for the purpose of understanding how they experienced systems thinking and a cooperative teaching strategy. A qualitative research approach was applied as the research design. Interpretation of the data was done through thematic analysis, which indicated that exposure to the pedagogic approach bore positive results. Teaching and learning strategies promoting the integration of ESD should form part of the training of geography students.     

Learning about distant places through the Internet: Young students as global citizens?

The article explores how the use of the Internet in school settings influences the way young people develop as citizens in an interconnected world and the possible implications for teaching geography subject at school. First, this topic is approached theoretically through a discussion of new forms of citizenship. The issue is investigated by using interview data and observations on the use of the Internet by upper secondary school students in Norway when searching for information about distant places. During the interviews, knowledge about tropical rainforests was used as a practical example. The main finding is that although the students could access information about a large part of the world from their laptop, a distance remained between the students and the rainforests and those who live in them. The article also reveals that, although it is often argued that the national context is weakened as a frame for civic engagement, the students referred to it as a basic frame when engaging with what is distant. Thus, it may be questioned how the use of the Internet in schools contributes to the development of students as global citizens.     

The 2012 Olympic Learning Legacy Agenda – the intentionalities of mobility for a new London model

This paper investigates the emergence of a Learning Legacy Agenda (LLA) in the wake of the London 2012 Olympic Games as a governmental tool for the dissemination of urban development and infrastructure project delivery best practice. Focusing on the inception, coordination and implementation of the LLA we outline the intentionalities of mobility that underpin its formation and appropriation and suggest how this points to the emergence of a new “London model” of development and governance. Three intentionalities of knowledge capture, public duty and extra-local salience are unpacked to demonstrate the range of ways in which the bureaucratically initiated LLA banner has been used by various development actors and organisations to validate their existing practices. The case study of the LLA as an institutionalised governance apparatus is used to analyse the impact of specific forms of social relations on the ways in which “models” are produced, what their content consists of, how dominant agendas and narratives co-evolve with the priorities of an assemblage of actors and the processes of selective abstraction used to curate particular messages and forms of fixed and potentially mobile knowledge, yet dubious claims of “learning”.     

Part of the action, or 'going native'? Learning to cope with the 'politics of integration'

Summary Despite continuing work within feminist research on issues of political commitment and critical forms of engagement, and an increasing desire within geography to effect social change through our privileged positions as academics, active collaboration with groups involved in social action continues to be fraught with ambiguity and anxiety. In this paper, I consider the potential role of the 'researcher as activist' through documentation of my interaction and repositioning of identities while becoming involved in credit union development in Kingston upon Hull. I hope to illustrate how the maintenance of a critical, multi-positioned (and repositioned) identity can be seen as a beneficial, reflexive learning experience for researchers operating within ethnography, and for the research itself.     

Does the Social Capital in Networks of “Fish and Fire” Scientists and Managers Suggest Learning?

Patterns of social interaction influence how knowledge is generated, communicated, and applied. Theories of social capital and organizational learning suggest that interactions within disciplinary or functional groups foster communication of knowledge, whereas interactions across groups foster generation of new knowledge. We used social network analysis to examine patterns of social interaction reported in survey data from scientists and managers who work on fish and fire issues. We found that few fish and fire scientists and managers interact with one another, suggesting low bridging social capital and thus, limited opportunity for generation of new knowledge. We also found that although interaction occurs among scientists—suggesting modest bonding social capital—few managers interact with other managers, indicating limited opportunity for communication of scientific knowledge for the purposes of application. We discuss constraints and opportunities for organizational learning evident in these patterns of social interaction among fish and fire scientists and managers.     

整合国外网络资源 创新气候变化教学——以PBS Learning Media和UNESCO TLSF项目网站为例

在地理教学当中,教学资源的应用是课堂成功的关键因素。国外的科学网站或教育网站往往提供大量兼具多元性和科学性的资料,对其进行合理的教学资源开发,能够大大丰富地理课堂,帮助教师摆脱陈旧的教材,完善教学设计。本文以PBS Learning Media和UNESCO TLSF项目网站资源为例,对"全球气候变化"一节内容进行教学设计,以期为地理教师开发国外网络教学资源提供借鉴与参考。     

It’s Time To Learn About Learning: Where Should the Environmental and Natural Resource Governance Field Go Next?

This Commentary reflects on the state of the scholarship on learning for environmental and natural resource policy and governance. How have we been learning about learning? We highlight theoretical and empirical advancements related to learning, as well as areas of divergence between learning theories and frameworks, and underdeveloped knowledge around processes and outcomes. To address these limitations and improve progress in both theory and practice, we offer recommendations for learning scholarship by focusing on how to collectively engage in ‘learning about learning’.     

Does Social Learning Lead to Better Natural Resource Management? A Case Study of the Modern Farming Community of Practice in Sweden

This study investigates whether social learning among large-scale farmers in central Sweden leads to better natural resource management in the agricultural landscape. Three different frames of social learning are first identified: social learning as a fundamental social phenomenon, social learning as collaborative learning, and social learning as deeper learning. This article investigates the role of social learning and other factors through semistructured in-depth interviews. Results show that learning among farmers is inherently social, but that this learning does not necessarily improve natural resource management or lead to better environmental governance. The article discusses when social learning can be expected to influence natural resources management, and finds that without the presence of policy, individual leadership, or facilitation, it is not an important factor. Furthermore, the call for social learning based on results from successful instrumental application risks obscuring findings indicating that both social learning and better natural resource management are conditioned on the same external factors.