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.     

Curricular Changes in the Teaching of Geography in Swiss Upper Secondary Schools: An Attempt to Develop Skills for Lifelong Learning

Abstract

This article is an overview of the curriculum reform in Switzerland in the 1990s. It describes the grass-roots reform process in geography education in upper secondary schools and its impact on the development of new teaching materials. These ancillary materials are based on teaching methods and strategies, the effectiveness of which are empirically shown by results. The teaching units complement the thematic and methodological aims in the national curriculum and the federal regulations and were designed through a partnership of teachers, teacher educators and scientists. They can be translated directly into the practice of teaching and are available free to teachers through the World Wide Web.     

Active Learning Strategies and Assessment in World Geography Classes

Abstract

Active learning strategies include a variety of methods, such as inquiry and discovery, in which students are actively engaged in the learning process. This article describes several strategies that can be used in secondary-or college-level world geography courses. The goal of these activities is to foster development of a spatial perspective in students through frequent analysis and interpretation of spatial data. Detailed examples of one particular technique, the “atlas warmup”, are included. Active approaches supplement expository teaching of standards-based geography concepts and current geographic issues. Assessment of the impact of these methods reveals the need for ongoing guided practice in the use of these skills.     

A Scoring Guide for Assessing Issues-based Geographic Inquiry on the World Wide Web

Abstract

Inquiry-based learning has a long tradition in geography education, and many faculty members are using inquiry to tap the constructivist potential of the World Wide Web. This paper reports on the development of a scoring guide that assesses the degree to which teaching materials support issues-based geographic inquiry. The scoring guide was tested in a content analysis of geographers⁷ Web-based teaching materials. The results of the preliminary analysis suggest that relatively few geography teaching materials on the Web bear the characteristics of inquiry. Additional research is needed to determine whether teaching materials on the Web are facilitating a shift toward constructivist practice in the discipline.     

Geographic EducationResearch and the Changing Institutional Structure of American Education

Professional geographers are paying increasing attention to the development of a research agenda concerning geographic education. In doing so, it is essential that geographers pay close attention to fundamental changes in the structure of education itself. Traditional educational methods and procedures associated with industrial society are being replaced by new and innovative modes of education that are linked to post-industrial social organization. This article explores the implications of these changes for understanding the teaching and learning of geography in the future.     

The Council at Work

Abstract

The field of geography education is sadly lacking in empirical data that might inform and underpin decisions about standard setting, curriculum design, materials development, teaching strategies, and assessment procedures. Large quantities of high-quality data are necessary if geography is to be successfully implemented in the American education system. This article advances four needs that, if met, would generate the data necessary to make the case for geography in America's schools. We need a new attitude towards research, a series of baseline studies, a research agenda, and a research clearinghouse if we are to make a convincing case for geography in America's schools.     

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.     

Escalation: A Simulation of Contemporary Geo-Politics

Abstract

ESCALATION is a one-hour simulation game that treats international power politics from a geographic perspective. It has been pilot-tested in several high schools and two universities. ESCALATION is deemed appropriate for high school geography and social studies classes, and for introductory college geography courses. Three important geographic principles are dramatically demonstrated by the activity. First, students discover that traditional ways of viewing maps can create misleading geographic stereotypes. Second, students learn the importance of cultural conditioning in viewing international relations. Third, students learn that numerous interacting factors influence nations in their selection of allies. The activity elaborated in the article provides geography teachers with a practical, ready-made teaching activity that is powerful in concepts and dramatic in presentation. The classroom teacher simply needs to transform the map (Figure 1) into a transparency and briefly review the simulation procedures. The teacher then presents the four sequential stages in the ESCALATION game and conducts a post-simulation discussion of what happened and why. The activity, in short, provides geography and social studies teachers with a simulation activity that combines role playing, decision-making, and surprise to generate several important geographic concepts and principles. The surprise climax invariably produces considerable discussion.     

A Capstone Course of “Geographic Ideas”

Abstract

Through an instructional approach, this article offers a template for a classroom-based geography capstone course grounded in pedagogical elements of synthesis and reflection, as based on exploration of ten key geographic ideas. It provides insights into course goals, structure, and components for instructors who may wish to implement it in geography or in other disciplines, and it situates the template in the general structure of capstone courses detailed in social science literature. The article contributes to geography instruction with a focus on classroom-based capstone courses as an application of teaching and learning undergraduate geography.     

Geography and Multiple Abilities Program: Innovations in Teacher Education-Reconnecting Teaching to Students' Needs

Abstract

The University of Alabama is now offering a new and innovative, five-semester program that provides preservice teachers with both knowledge of and skill in using strategies and teaching methods associated with general and special education. The goal of the Multiple Abilities Program (MAP) is to enable teachers to accommodate the wide range of learning styles and developmental readiness for instruction of all learners in a given classroom, regardless of the labels with which the children are identified. This article describes MAP in light of the geography strand of the MAP curriculum. MAP students work with five topics in geography, which they use to develop a greater understanding of how authentic teaching and learning of geography are mediated by cognitive, affective, and social needs of children. MAP students take a particular topic in geography and design and implement instruction for it by creating authentic learning activities that offer elementary school students an opportunity to explore the topic. The variety that is systematically planned into the activities is the major means of accommodating differences in cognitive ability, learning style, level of physical and social development, and cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity.     

Geographic Inquiry in the Elementary School VIA ETV

Abstract

Many of the “new” social studies curriculum projects emphasize strategies for teaching-without-telling, and traditional materials are being adapted to promote more inquiry-oriented learning experiences. While this article explores the potential for using the television medium in a relatively nonexpository manner, the techniques described are applicable at all educational levels and with other instructional materials. The authors believe that the key to the development of more meaningful geographic concepts and generalizations is active pupil involvement in hypothesizing, observing, and selecting evidence upon which to make inferences and draw conclusions.     

The Use of Maps in the Teaching of Geography

Abstract

Coyote teaching emphasizes learning community, long term mentoring, a need for learning, ownership of learning, heightened sensory awareness, storytelling, purposefully designed tricks, and the Socratic method to promote lifelong learning and a new generation of coyote teachers. Many of these methods are found in other educational philosophies but seem to be fully integrated in the coyote teaching method. Because geography is integrative, it seems a logical discipline in which to apply this method. Each of the characteristics of coyote teaching has its unique place in geography education. This article demonstrates how each of these components of coyote teaching can be readily employed, enhanced, and, more importantly, integrated into geographic education and inculcated into multiple generations of geography educators.     

The Fundamental and the Incidental in Geography

Abstract

An increased use of artistic literature as a resource in both teaching and research is evident in geography. With the growing interest of some scholars in the behavioral aspects of geography, traditional resources are being supplemented with more humanistic, subjective information sources. In historical geography, for example, literature is a particularly suitable resource for studies of man's role in past geographies and of human perception of past environments.¹ Specialists in regional geography and area studies also have shown a growing appreciation of such sources.² A parallel and related development has occurred in geographic education. In many different courses, but particularly in those dealing with regions, literature has become a recommended resource. The purposes of this paper are (1) to review the relevance of the novel as a resource for geographers and (2) to suggest that a current novel, Centennial, by James A. Michener,³ particularly warrants consideration for use in courses on the historical geography of the United States.     

Integrating GIS into the Undergraduate Learning Environment

Abstract

Despite the promise of GIS, substantial barriers have prevented its widespread use in geographic education. Among the key factors are technical impediments stemming from software complexity, pedagogic issues related to the lack of experienced faculty and the shortage of curriculum materials, and systemic issues associated with faculty motivation. This case study describes strategies that were employed for addressing each of these barriers in a large enrollment, multisection world geography course. Successful implementation of those strategies has enabled large numbers of students in classes taught by instructors with no formal GIS experience to spend a substantial amount of time learning geography with the help of simple, easy-to-use GIS software applications.     

Geographers' Forum

Abstract

The Local Community: A Handbook for Teachers is an effective text and organizational framework for developing a course on the geography of a state which combines elements of introductory geography, regional geography, and geographic methods for a graduate class composed of practicing teachers generally inadequately trained in geography. Through a series of distinct, yet integrated steps teachers are exposed to the conceptual and methodological basics of the field, comprehensive analysis of regional patterns of the state, and specific strategies for teaching the geography of the state and the local community. Teachers leave the course knowing not only what to teach about the geography of a state, but how to teach it.     

Index to Volume 100

Abstract

The integration of GIS into the secondary curriculum can aid student learning of geography. Through a partnership between a local high school and our university, high school students received nine hours of classroom instruction and field-based training on GIS and GPS to complete a mapping project. Upon completion, a test based on seven geography core curriculum units was administered to these students and to a group of university students who did not receive GIS training. Results of the test revealed that high school students significantly outperformed the university students, suggesting that GIS does aid in the learning of geographic principles.     

Twitter and Academic Geography through the Lens of #AAG2018

Twitter has emerged as a global social network of active users who share conversations with one another in an online setting. Academics are one community that has increasingly taken to Twitter as a means of connecting with other scholars, sharing research, and obtaining meaningful feedback. Tweeting has become especially popular during academic conferences where conference attendees use Twitter hashtags to filter conference conversations into a separate dialogue. For geographers, the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) represents one such occasion to use Twitter to discuss contemporary developments in geographic research. In this article, we provide an overview of Twitter as well as the ways in which the academic community uses the platform. Following this, we discuss the tweets sent using the hashtag for the 2018 AAG Annual Meeting, #AAG2018. To analyze these tweets, we collected all tweets with this hashtag for a period of four weeks and examined the content using word clouds and sentiment analysis to explore general feelings and trends associated with geography and the AAG Annual Meeting. We conclude with suggestions for future research avenues that could use Twitter data to gauge the pulse of the geographic discipline. Key Words: academic conferences, American Association of Geographers, geography, sentiment analysis, Twitter.     

Reflecting on Role Play in Geographic Education: The Case of the Banana War

Abstract

Debates over the nature and extent of globalization raise many issues to be addressed in a geographic education. In this paper, I briefly review case method instruction and role-play as teaching strategies suitable for material on globalization and other geographic subject matter, and then sketch an overview of an undergraduate geography role-play that treats themes of globalization and agricultural trade. The role-play revolves around a real-world trade dispute, referred to as the Banana War, that was waged between the United States and the European Union during much of the 1990s over who could sell how many bananas to Europe. I conclude the paper by reflecting on the contributions of, limitations to and possibilities for case method instruction and role-play in geographic education.     

Bulletin Boards in Geography

Abstract

Teaching geography within a field-based, environmental-problem-solving framework integrates geographic knowledge and practice and introduces high school students to skills required to undertake geographic research. A five-day field investigation on coastal geography was designed for juniors at a science high school in New Jersey. The goal of the field investigation was to allow students to engage in problem-solving, gather field data, apply geographic concepts and tools, and foster the ability to think critically. The purpose of the investigation was to identify the spatial distribution of litter on a beach and interpret the distribution based on physical and human processes. The field site is a 400-m-long shoreline reach in Raritan Bay, New Jersey. Students defined the term “litter” for purposes of the investigation, developed a classification system, and mapped the location and type of litter on the beach. Three sampling grids were established across the beach from the dune crest to the waterline. Students conducted topographic surveys of the sampling grids, collected litter in each grid cell, and counted, classified, and weighed the litter. Data gathered were reduced, analyzed, and interpreted based on the published literature. Findings were presented at a formal presentation on the last day of the investigation. Students submitted a written report and presented the results of the investigation at a student conference two months later. Field investigations can expose students to different methods of data sampling and measurement. Collaboration between secondary schools and universities can result in successful learning initiatives that allow students the opportunity to experience the role of a practicing professional.     

Logan Creek: a Missouri Ozark Valley Revisited

Abstract

In the 35 years since Margaret Riggs studied the contrasts in the cultural-economic geography along 23 miles of Logan Creek Valley in the Central Missouri Ozarks, several factors have brought change to the pattern of life and the geographic expression of man's occupance in the valley. Of special importance have been the changes in the attitudes and knowledge of the farmers concerning conservation practices and farming methods and their increasing dependence on off-farm employment. In this respect the valley is representative of large parts of the Interior Highland and Appalachian provinces. The discovery of lead ore in the vicinity has been the most recent and most powerful force of change, but the future of the occupants of the valley, particularly in light of the estimated 25 year life of the lead reserves, is speculative.