Journal Writing and the Development of Spatial Thinking Skills

Abstract

Informal journal writing in freshman level World Regional Geography classes is discussed as an active learning method that helps students to develop their spatial perspective and gain a better understanding of the interconnected nature of geographic phenomena. In particular, students read about events in the world and write their ideas about the geographic nature and implications of those events. Thinking spatially and thinking critically by creating their own framework for interpreting the event and applying concepts learned in class means that students are actively participating in their own learning. Ongoing instructor feedback and assessment are essential to this learning activity and are discussed as part of this exercise.     

Positionality and Active Learning: Confronting Privilege in Field-Exercise Design

Abstract

University instructors are increasingly drawing on active learning exercises to engender critical thinking skills among students. In this article, we introduce the design and implementation of an active learning exercise about mobility and transportation that we assigned in an introductory human geography class at the University of Georgia. The students' responses and the survey instrument we used to assess the effectiveness of the exercise revealed disappointing results and caused us to think carefully about the role of positionality in designing active learning exercises. In this article, we argue that we need to understand privilege—particularly class privilege—in order to design effective assignments.     

Teaching Experiential Learning in Geography: Lessons from Planning

Abstract

Geography increasingly relies on training of professionals who can apply geographic concepts to solve real-world problems. The planning profession for years has been training professionals to work in the area of community planning. Planning programs typically include experiential learning modules throughout the curriculum. This article looks at how community planning approaches can be incorporated into geography programs in lower level courses to: (1) provide exposure to practical applications of geographic concepts; (2) give students experience with team dynamics; and (3) provide students with experience in real-world client relations. Advantages and challenges of experiential learning are identified and discussed. An example of an experiential learning exercise adapted from a planning application is presented. The exercise was developed to enhance learning in a geography curriculum.     

Research in Geographic Learning: A Special Task Force Report to the National Council for Geographic Education

Abstract

The videotape and other technological innovations are powerful tools for enhancing classroom learning. Teachers can fall into the trap of simply turning on the VCR while students watch with unstimulated and unchallenged minds. This article offers a technique that engages students in active, reflective thought by utilizing the National Geographic Society videotape, Connections. Using the videotape narrative prior to viewing provides students with opportunities to become critical consumers of technology.     

Problem-Based Learning for Promoting Student Learning in High School Geography

ABSTRACT

This study determines the impact of problem-based learning on a preuniversity geography class. Learning activities include problem analysis, information collection, an examination of concepts, oral presentations, and group summaries in relation to current and perennial geographical issues of local and/or global concern. Assessment for learning and assessment of learning were done by the teacher, classmates, and students themselves. Results showed that students could analyze problem statements and present their understanding systematically but varied considerably in organization, argument, and quality of thinking. To seek improvements, teachers should become more active facilitators while encouraging students to learn as problem solvers. Teacher training and school-based support are needed for creating a collaborative inquiry-oriented atmosphere in the classroom.     

Minneapolis and Its Environs

Abstract

University students participated in a research project on communities and conservation on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Students contributed by gathering data with various methods that will be compiled in a GIS. Living in three villages at different elevations on the mountain, students facilitated GPS mapping, a random survey of over 90 households, and recording of observations and interviews with the people of these villages. While the inclusion of students in the research project brought greater logistical demands, their participation allowed quick collection of data on a broad scale, more intimate knowledge of the three villages and the communities in them, and provided a valuable learning experience for the students with opportunities to develop and carry-out a research project in an international setting.     

Critical Thinking in Physical Geography: Linking Concepts of Content and Applicability

Abstract

This research examines the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) in an online geographic information systems (GIS) course for adult learners. Adults expect to take greater control of their learning and tend to be self-directed. Students are encouraged to take an active role as problem-solvers in PBL courses. The effectiveness of PBL in face-to-face courses has been shown. Effectiveness in online courses is demonstrated in this study. The performance and experiences of students and instructor in two online courses are compared. The results show that PBL can be more engaging than traditional methods, making PBL-GIS a good choice for an online adult audience.     

Lessons Learned from Reviewing Research in GIS Education

Abstract

Traditional lectures generally force students to play a passive role in the classroom. In an effort to promote active learning, we added discussion sections to a large lecture hall course. Field trips, student journals, and group-based assignments, in particular, enhanced the learning experience. To ensure the success of the new format, course planners must enlist the sustained cooperation of key faculty and administrators on campus, as well as teaching assistants assigned to the new sections. The new discussion sections allowed students to acknowledge the environmental impact their actions have on campus and to recognize that environmental problems occur at multiple scales.     

Intervention: Simulating the War on Global Terrorism

Abstract

Students analyze a contemporary geopolitical event from a comprehensive geographic perspective using role play simulation, discussion, and decision-making. The three-day activity provides teachers with a realistic, ready-made classroom lesson that combines powerful conceptual learning with drama and surprise. The task of the teacher is to transform the map into a transparency and review the teacher background and student background information sections. During the capstone socratic seminar, students generate their own geographic concepts and principles inductively.     

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.     

Concept Learning through Writing for Learning: Using Journals in an Introductory Geography Course

Abstract

To effectively use journals and other writing for learning tasks as critical thinking and learning tools, geographic educators need to draw from the education literature on concept learning. Using the literature on concept learning and critical thinking, geographic educators can construct different kinds of journal assignments that give students opportunities to personalize and understand concepts. I demonstrate that students, regardless of their sex, level of education, or previous coursework in geography, found journal assignments helpful in understanding human geographic concepts.     

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.     

Tools for Developing Short-Term Study Abroad Classes for Geography Studies

Abstract

Short-term international field study is an attractive alternative for many students to traditional, longer-term study abroad programs. We present a discussion of critical planning, administrative, and curricular elements related to the development and implementation of such courses. In doing so, we share a number of checklists and planning tools that other instructors may find helpful in the context of developing their own international field studies courses. In addition, we provide representative examples and experiences from two short-term international courses taught by the authors in the Geography Department at Shippensburg University.     

Transportation Part II

Abstract

This article presents research on evaluating problem-based learning using GIS technology in a Singapore secondary school. A quasi-experimental research design was carried to test the PBL pedagogy (PBL-GIS) with an experimental group of students and compare their learning outcomes with a control group who were exposed to PBL but not GIS. The results show significant differences in the learning outcomes between the two groups. Specifically, students in the control group show more memorization skill while students in the experimental group demonstrate more analytical and evaluation skills. The conclusion is that learning with PBL-GIS pedagogy can result in higher-order learning outcomes.     

Delmarva Coastal Bays Map Contest for Fourth Graders

Abstract

This map contest is an exercise in geographic education for fourth grade students. It is sponsored by a grassroots, nonprofit environmental organization to raise the awareness and appreciation of students to the special features of their home region. The maps illustrate some aspect of the living resources or history of the region. As a case study of the map contest, this paper describes its design, publicity, appeal to teachers, judging of entries, and role of volunteers. It considers the research on map skills among young students and ways in which the contest supports geographic education.     

Theory and Research in Geography Education

Abstract

Interim semester field trips provide a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to collect field data in support of their capstone research experience. We encourage students to participate in collaborative research projects prior to the semester for which they enroll in the capstone course. Students select a research project based on a field trip itinerary, submit a research proposal to faculty, conduct preliminary research prior to departure and collect data in the field during a January “Winterim” course. During the spring semester, students continue laboratory research, incorporating data collected in the field to complete their research project and prepare scientific presentations. Field trips provide an inherent mentoring system whereby faculty interact with students, and underclass students collaborate on capstone research projects. This approach facilitates learning by emphasizing preparation and planning, collaborative learning and integration of classroom knowledge into field research.     

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.     

Building Environmental Literacy through Participation in GIS and Multimedia Assisted Field Research

Abstract

A Learning Support System (LSS) that emphasizes experiential research in natural environments using the cutting-edge technologies of GIS and multimedia has been developed for teaching environmental literacy to undergraduate students at the University of Georgia. Computers are used as cognitive tools to create a context in which students become interns in an ecological research center. Students are instructed to conduct research in the form of two field laboratories (the stream and forest laboratories). They accomplish their tasks by collecting data in the field (the State Botanical Garden of Georgia near the campus). They enter the data in the Learning Support System (LSS), and are guided to formulate hypotheses relating to stream water quality and human impact on forest succession for testing. Students also interact with the Environmental Research Support Site (ERSS) within the LSS for explanations to their findings. A specially customized Arc View GIS program within the LSS provides a tool to students for spatial analysis in the case of the forest laboratory. Students and faculty evaluations as well as final examination results confirmed the receptiveness of students to the LSS approach and its effectiveness in the learning of environmental literacy.