Geographical Notes

Abstract

To improve student retention and to combat problems of declining enrollments, many colleges are turning to freshman or first year experience (FYE) programs. These programs are designed to aid students in the transition to college, and in doing so make students more satisfied and more successful in their new environments. FYE programs are offered in many forms, one of which is to offer FYE instruction as an integral part of the existing curriculum. Using existing courses makes the inclusion of introductory geography courses viable for FYE programs. The inclusion of FYE-related materials in an Introduction to Geography course, as illustrated here, can result in greater student satisfaction with faculty and the institution as a whole, higher rates of retention, and student skill development without a significant loss in geographic course content. Although the resulting improvements may be modest, when projected over an entire incoming class, even small gains may affect significant numbers of students. Participation in FYE may give geography programs greater exposure to incoming students and could help to attract new majors to the discipline.     

Writing in Undergraduate Geography Classes: Faculty Challenges and Rewards

Abstract

Numerous studies have shown both anecdotal and formal evidence of the benefits students obtain from doing writing activities in classes. Little formal discussion exists about how student writing in geography classes professionally affects faculty. In this article, focus shifts from student-derived benefits of writing in classes to faculty challenges and rewards for implementing writing in their classes. Based on the experience of participating in a Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Fellows program, the authors discuss how faculty overcame challenges and reaped the benefits of student writing in their teaching and scholarly pursuits.     

The Course in Geography in the State Normal School at Salem,Mass.

Abstract

During academic year 1999–2000, the Geography Department at Michigan State University (MSU) launched a program of online geography courses. Since then, four undergraduate online geography courses have been collectively developed and delivered to over 4,500 domestic and international students in association with MSU's Virtual University Design and Technology (vuDAT). The creation of each virtual course has taught valuable lessons concerning course development and administration; interactions with students have shed insight on course structure, content, and instruction. This article addresses development, management, and pedagogic concerns pertinent to the operation of online geography courses and offers suggestions to others who wish to develop online courses. Preliminary evidence on the effectiveness of these courses is also presented.     

Materials Approach to Teaching Geography

Abstract

The Geography Department at California State University, San Diego, has initiated a formal internship program for both advanced undergraduate and graduate geography majors. This article presents informational background material on the organization and operation of the program. During the first year of operation, students have interned at various locations, including town, city, and regional planning departments, and state and county environmental and transportation agencies. The program has been an unqualified success with enrollment expanding. Students find that the work/learn experience has a far greater impact than many an hour of professional lecturing.     

State Geography Standards in 2004

Abstract

National Geography Standards for the middle school years generally stress the teaching of latitude and longitude. There are many creative ways to explain the great grid that encircles our planet, but the author has found that students in his college-level geography courses especially enjoy human-interest stories associated with lines of latitude and longitude. In particular, certain nautical “rites of passage” and GPS-enabled adventure show how some people identify with these imaginary lines as places to celebrate and explore. The author contends that humanizing this global geometry enhances student understanding and appreciation at any grade level.     

Contributors

Abstract

Jan Nijman, assistant professor and Knight Junior Fellow, University of Miami, Florida. Main research and teaching interests are in international relations, political geography, and development issues. Recipient of Nystrom Award 1991, Association of American Geographers, for doctoral dissertation “A Political Geography of U.S.-Soviet Relations, 1948–1988: The Value of a Spatial Perspective” (Department of Geography, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1990).     

Overcoming Geographic Innocence in Geography Education

Abstract

This article deals with the issue of providing geographic training to prospective teachers from the perspective of a secondary school teacher who also teaches a social studies methods course. Research in educational journals provided a background for describing the lack of geographic training among social studies teachers. While the National Geographic Society's alliance network is addressing this issue among practicing teachers, there is still a need to include some geography training for preservice teachers. Suggestions are offered for including geography within the context of the social studies methods course. A plea is also made for geography professors to include the new National Geography Standards in their courses, especially in introductory courses.     

Making the Connections: Infusing the National Geography Standards into the Classroom

Abstract

How will the National Geography Standards change the way teachers teach? The Standards will provide teachers with a geographic perspective that will enable them to teach improved geography content while building geographic skills and knowledge that will benefit their students for the rest of their lives. By taking a fresh look at the content in the curriculum from a geographic perspective, teachers can make connections between the Geography Standards and our own classrooms. The Standards provide information and strategies for teaching geography. They can be used to create lessons which offer opportunities for students to “do” geography and apply the skills they are learning.     

The National Geography Standards and Your Undergraduate Curriculum: The Opportunity That Knocks More Than Once

Abstract

Geography For Life: National Geography Standards 1994 offers university geographers opportunities in the areas of program assessment and development. This article describes an assessment process that is applicable to both individual courses and geography programs. The process can strengthen programs by making them more consistent. As a result, geography may have a more powerful presence in teacher certification programs. Additional techniques for enhancing geography's role in preservice education curricula are also outlined. Finally, the article expresses concern that geographers at the university level will not take the recently published National Geography Standards seriously, thinking they apply only to K-12 education. They are challenged to extend the Standards' scope and content to the baccalaureate degree.     

Looking Toward the Future: A Concepts,Themes, and Standards Approach to Preservice Teacher Education

Abstract

Preservice teacher education based on content, skills, and perspectives specified in Geography for Life: National Geography Standards 1994 is essential for dissemination of the Standards to classrooms all across the country. Curricular materials are often structured around the five fundamental themes of geography; however, it is essential that teacher preparation courses integrate the content of the Standards into the themes of location, place, human—environment interaction, and region. One model of this approach to preservice education, as summarized here, provides future teachers with a conceptual basis for learning and teaching geography, enhancing opportunities for disseminating solid geography content to all grade levels nationwide.     

Modified Objective Questions for Tests in Introductory Geography

Abstract

Over the past few years, considerable effort has been expended to improve the methods of teaching introductory courses in geography. For example, techniques such as the “open classroom” and simulation models have been introduced and seem to be successful, if for no other reason than their novelty. A new approach generates interest and induces the student to make a more personal commitment to his geography course and thereby provides a stronger motivation to learn. Of course, this is a primary concern even when the instructor employs standard approaches to classroom teaching.     

Gaps,Intellectual Enthusiasms,Personal Insecurities: Response to “Stages on Journeys”

Abstract

The Department of Geography at Arizona State University implemented a field exam as part of its PhD program requirements. This field exam requires students to develop an independent field-based research project based on a general question in the student's specialty area. A survey of current and former PhD students and faculty members document how the field exam assists students in developing skills necessary for continuing graduate research and for preparing them for the rigors of academic employment. The outcomes of the exam include both long-term, process-related benefits and more immediate tangible rewards. For some students, the preliminary fieldwork and results redirect student interests and form the basis for their eventual dissertation. The field exam is adaptable to a diversity of geography research methods, subject areas, and graduate degree programs, while remaining grounded in the discipline's vibrant, widely respected fieldwork tradition.

     

Using Digital Earth to Expose Students to GIScience

Students in U.S. geography programs face particular challenges that may discourage them from taking advanced GIScience courses and considering geospatial careers. This article provides a preliminary discussion of the development, delivery, and evaluation of a University of Colorado Colorado Springs sophomore-level, required geography course designed to address this concern. The course, Digital Earth (DE), introduces students to the principles, concepts, and applications of major geographic information technologies (GITs) early in their academic careers. The success of DE is evaluated by examining the extent to which the course excited students about GIScience and motivated them to take higher level elective geospatial courses. Results suggest that DE generates considerable student interest in GIScience, prepares students reasonably well for elective courses, and greatly inspires them to seek a geospatial career.     

Individualized Learning in An Open Geography Classroom

Abstract

In the last few years a great deal of educational literature has been devoted to the concept of individualized learning in an open classroom, i This approach is based on the premise that students are capable of analytical and creative thought when given the opportunity to work on their own initiative and at their own rates. It is an alternative to the traditional teacher-centered classroom and is justified by the belief that the student learns more effectively when he is interested; that the student develops greater responsibility; that the slower, generally passive student is brought into a position of active participation in the learning process.

Little has been written about the applicability of such an approach to the field of geography. Interest in this method prompted the author to experiment with such a program in her own classes during her first year of teaching. This article describes the results of individualized learning in two ninth grade physical geography classes conducted at Western Illinois University's Laboratory School.     

The Value of Place Geography in a Commercial Geography Course

Abstract

This article summarizes methods used in a secondary school geography class to interest students in geography through examples drawn from local geography. Instead of relying on examples taken from exotic places to illustrate geographic concepts, the local landscape is used in the classroom to teach students about geography. The article is arranged according to the six essential elements of the National Geography Standards, but it does not imply that the methods presented should be used to teach the standards. Rather, the examples presented are used throughout a course in the geography of North and South America to develop an interest among students and, with examples from the local landscape, to increase student understanding of geographic concepts related to issues presented in the course.     

Certain Persistent Errors in Geography

Abstract

Reform in geography education, as reflected in Geography for Life: National Geography Standards (1994) for the U.S.A., favors a constructivist approach to learning. This study examines the acceptance of this approach among students in two upper secondary schools in China. A lesson was developed to illustrate interactive problem solving methods. The students reacted positively to the lesson. The instructional practices stimulating their response and the potential for problem solving geography educational methods in China are discussed.     

Teachers and University Faculty Cooperating to Improve Teacher Preparation

Abstract

The National Geography Standards provide an opportunity to forge close relationships with teacher-preparation programs. This article reports on strategies used by the Virginia Geographic Alliance to produce regional, crossdisciplinary teams of educators informed about the Standards. Each team will include a faculty member from every teacher preparation program in Virginia.     

Fifteen Year Follow-Up Geography Skills Test Administered in Indiana, 1987 and 2002

Abstract

After fifteen years of geographic education efforts, a baseline geography skills test was repeated in Indiana. In 2002, 2,278 students in college freshman geography courses were tested with a revision of the National Council for Geographic Education Competency-Based Geography Test, Secondary Level Form II. The test measured geographic ability in map skills, place name location, physical geography, and human geography. As in 1987, the 2002 test gathered personal information from each student on age, gender, travel experience, and prior geographic education. Test scores were lower by two percent in 2002. Travel and lifetime experience are again the best teachers of geography as opposed to high school geography course work. Significant performance differences persist between gender and ethnic groups. Arts and science students perform significantly higher than students from education, business, and other schools. Test results underscore the need to emphasize more intentional classroom focus on state standards and preparation of classroom teachers.     

GEO-Teach: A Preservice Teacher Preparation Program in Geography

Abstract

GEO-Teach is a project funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Preservice Education (FIPSE). The project aims to develop a model preservice curriculum at the secondary level. It incorporates the newly published National Geography Standards and merges content with pedagogy through partnerships with faculty in education and other social and behavioral sciences to deliver the curriculum. School teachers act as mentors to students in the program.     

The Status of Geography in the Social Studies Curricula of Canadian Schools

Abstract

Successful curriculum development that will have impact upon individual American classrooms remains the key to maintaining the momentum of Geography for Life: National Geography Standards 1994. Teachers and students must be able to translate the national geography standards from the national stage to the local classroom setting to become geographically informed people. One example of this development for elementary urban geography is the Main Street lesson plan. It encourages observation and analysis required by Standard 4: The geographically informed student knows and understands the physical and human characteristics of places. After testing in a variety of Missouri classrooms, instructors thought that Main Street was a unique way of studying urban places and allowing students to gain a greater understanding of place.