On Methods of Teaching Geography

This study investigates the location and varying spatiality of questions in geography textbooks. The results show that study questions posed in page margins address the three components of spatial thinking—concepts of space, using tools of representation, and processes of reasoning—more than questions in other locations within the text. Three practices are particularly recommended to help students develop spatial thinking skills through answering textbook questions: (1) utilize page-margin questions; (2) select questions around spatial representations; and (3) focus on higher-level cognitive processes.     

Transformations in the discipline of geography experienced over 60 years by a Norwegian geographer

ABSTRACT

The article presents the changes in the discipline of geography over 60 years as experienced both in fieldwork and in practice by a Norwegian geographer. Based on diaries and collections of memoirs, the author, Arild Holt-Jensen, presents his life story and how it has been impacted by people, places and special events. His intention is to show how geography and his own work reflect social, political and intellectual changes since the late 1950s. Initially, a regional geography approach was adopted in the fieldwork for his master’s thesis but the approach was challenged by new ideas and methods from both the spatial science school and model thinking. As a young lecturer in 1968, the author was shocked by the positivism debate and critical philosophy, and his spatial science and quantitative approach in his PhD project had to be adapted. His political engagement and interest in planning led him to research social exclusion in European neighbourhoods. His need to trace the identity of geography as a discipline resulted in a textbook that throughout the years has been updated by following up on research trends to the present. Thus, the book and the article show Holt-Jensen’s shifts in disciplinary identity and research practice.     

Changing Perspectives in High School World Geography: 1950–2005

Abstract

This study set out to better understand the changing links between geography and citizenship. Content analysis was conducted on eighteen high school world geography textbooks and state/national standards. Interviews were conducted with teachers and textbook authors. Five significant changes were noted: decline of national orientation and a greater focus on non-Western cultures; greater emphasis upon consumption over production; the accentuation of values clarification; increasing coverage of basic or prevocational skills; and standardization of format and content in textbooks. Many of these changes point towards a new cosmopolitan citizenship model, although some teachers and state social studies standards still see geography from a national perspective.     

Concept Mapping Strategies: Content,Tools and Assessment for Human Geography

Abstract

This article examines the use of concept mapping for formative and summative assessment of northeast Florida middle school students’ knowledge of human geography. The students were participants in an afterschool, academic, college reach-out program that provided opportunities to test concept mapping strategies that support spatial thinking and stimulate interest in human geography. The study documents the use of concept mapping for assessment of seventh graders’ achievement of a specific lesson and for students’ human geography achievement across all implementation grades. Concept mapping results provided insight into aspects of the curriculum and instruction where appropriate modifications could better facilitate meaningful learning.     

Spatial Thinking Concepts in Early Grade-Level Geography Standards

ABSTRACT

Research in the cognition and learning sciences has demonstrated that the human brain contains basic structures whose functions are to perform a variety of specific spatial reasoning tasks and that children are capable of learning basic spatial concepts at an early age. There has been a call from within geography to recognize research on spatial cognition in a meaningful way in primary school curriculum. This article utilizes the spatial thinking taxonomy proposed by Gersmehl and Gersmehl (2006) to examine to the extent to which spatial thinking concepts are being practiced in U.S. schools. The National Geography Standards and forty-nine state social studies or geography standards are examined. Using standards as a measure of geography content, it is concluded that while some of spatial thinking concepts appear often in curriculum, others are largely absent. Designing geography standards that address the findings of spatial cognition research may serve as a means of improving geography instruction.     

Seedbed of Reform: Arnold Guyot and School Geography in Massachusetts, 1849–1855

Abstract

Swiss-born Arnold Henri Guyot (1807–1884) was the first professionally trained geographer to hold an academic position in the United States. After his migration to this country in 1848 he lived for several years in Massachusetts. During this period he introduced contemporary German-Swiss ideas of geography to key opinion leaders in an important series of lectures (published as Earth and Man), established a system of weather stations, and lectured on methods of teaching geography in Massachusetts teachers' institutes and normal schools. This article discusses Guyot's work in the reform of school geography in Massachusetts as the seedbed for his later, better-known work as the author of innovative textbooks and other teaching aids.     

20世纪90年代以来欧美人文地理学(导论)教材编写新趋向及其启示

基于对欧美人文地理学（导论）教材出版的新情况,对相关问题作些尝试性的探讨,以期为编写出优秀且符合时代要求的人文地理学（导论）教材提供一些参考。欧美同类教材的趋向：① 在原有多样化的基础上重构;② 概念主导的教材在增长;③ 概念主导教材的作者在增多。这些新动向给我们的启示：① 针对多样化的需要,编出多样化的导论教材;② 加强教材的学术性和思想性;③ 教材写作要突出基本概念,培养地理学思维。     

Economic Notes

Abstract

This article introduces the development and validation of the spatial thinking ability test (STAT). The STAT consists of sixteen multiple-choice questions of eight types. The STAT was validated by administering it to a sample of 532 junior high, high school, and university students. Factor analysis using principal components extraction was applied to identify underlying spatial thinking components and to evaluate the construct validity of the STAT. Spatial components identified through factor analysis only partly coincided with spatial concepts used to develop the questions that compose the STAT and with the components of spatial thinking hypothesized by other researchers.     

植物地理学教材更新刍议

近20 a来,植物地理学研究已从描述走向解释和分析,并在不同水平不同时空尺度上全面地探究植物的分布格局、形成过程和机制。然而,国内现行的植物地理学教材仍然沿袭20世纪60~70年代的结构体系,内容陈旧、时效性差,明显滞后于学科的发展。因此,在分析植物地理学教材现状的基础上提出建议：① 在现行教科书的结构和内容上增加全球变化对植物分布格局的影响和植物地理学的实践应用2个版块;② 删减教科书中常见的植物学、生态学知识以及植物区系和植被专著的内容;③ 在绪论中补充近20 a来该学科的主要进展和发展趋势,主要理论和研究方法,国内外刊登该学科研究的重要学术期刊简介,在每章末尾增加一个建议阅读书目和文献;④ 用彩色照片更新教科书中的黑白图片;⑤ 制作质量精良的教学课件和光盘;⑥ 编写与教科书相互呼应的实习教材,补充和更新植物地理学的研究方法,如植物谱系地理学研究方法、植物群落取样设计与野外监测技术、数据处理与分析、植被遥感与植被制图等。     

BIOGEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

In the February 1977 issue of THE PROFESSIONAL GEOGRAPHER Leonard Guelke proposed a new approach to regional geography. This article questions the logic of Guelke's “idealist alternative'’and its applicability to geographical problems.     

Activities to Develop a Spatial Perspective Among Students in Introductory Geography Courses

Abstract

Teaching students to gain a spatial perspective is one of the most difficult yet important components of geographic education. This paper presents a series of activities designed to develop a more comprehensive understanding of spatial concepts among students in introductory geography courses. The activities and content are most appropriate for high school or university undergraduate students. An evaluation of these activities demonstrates that they enhance the student's spatial perspective and their understanding of the role of spatial concepts in geography.     

Clusters of Nonmedical Exemptions to Vaccination in Illinois K–12 Schools

Vaccination rates in Illinois schools are decreasing as more parents opt for nonmedical exemptions (NMEs). At the local scale, higher levels of exemptions affect herd immunity levels. Few studies have previously conducted or proposed methods to conduct local-scale spatial and temporal cluster pattern analysis. This study used vaccination exemption data from the Illinois School Board of Education’s annual Immunization School Survey for the 2003–2004 and 2013–2014 academic years. The Getis–Ord General G statistic was used to identify cluster detection by individual vaccine at the school level. The Getis–Ord Gi* statistic was used with two different parameter models to identify hot and cold spots. This study found that NMEs are highly clustered. More clusters of high and low NMEs were identified for the 2013–2014 academic year than for 2003–2004. The percentages of schools that were neither hot nor cold averaged 94.0 percent for the 2003–2004 school year and 78.7 percent for the 2013–2014 school year. NME rates in Illinois are rising. The increase in hot and cold spots is evidence that the polarity of vaccination choice is growing. As vaccination exemption rates continue to polarize U.S. society, it is essential for public health efforts to monitor and conduct local-level studies. Key Words: antivaccination, hot spot analysis, medical geography, nonmedical exemption, spatial statistics.     

G. Stanley Hall,Child Study,and the Teaching of Geography

Abstract

G. Stanley Hall (1844-1924), founding president of Clark University, was a leader in the child study movement and a significant figure in psychology and education in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Hall had pronounced opinions on many educational subjects, including the teaching of geography. His criticisms and program for the reform of school geography were based on a mix of European ideas of heimatkunde or “home geography,” developmental or “genetic” psychology, and his work in the child study and nature study movements. This article traces Hall's involvement with geographic pedagogy from the 1880s through World War I, including his sponsorship of the first American Ph.D. dissertation in the teaching of geography, completed at Clark in 1906.     

The Weavers of the “Western Isles”

This study provides an in-depth investigation of Turkish primary school students’ perceptions of geography. Gender differences in students’ perceptions of geography were investigated, including definitions of geography and its field of study. The findings showed that landforms, our geographical regions/Turkey, mapwork, and countries dominated among students’ definitions. Geography topics cited were mainly within the physical geography category and mostly those of landforms and cartography. A chi-square test revealed a statistically significant difference between girls and boys in the Turkey category and the history-related issues category.     

Textbook Errors in the Application of the Kelvin Temperature Scale

Abstract

The units of the Kelvin temperature scale (with an upper case K for the proper noun “Kelvin”) are incorrectly introduced in most undergraduate introductory physical geography textbooks. The internationally recognized unit of the Kelvin temperature scale is the kelvin (lower case k), abbreviated to K (upper case). However, many introductory physical geography textbooks incorrectly use units of “Kelvin,” “degrees Kelvin,” or “^oK.” The errors detract from the prestige of physical geography as a natural science discipline.     

Cartographic Methods for Determining the Qibla

Abstract

Islam is an important topic in human and regional geography instruction, and major textbooks include maps showing Islam's core and rapid expansion diffusion, along with the number of pilgrims to Mecca from different countries. Determining the qibla, the sacred direction for daily prayer, and the distance to Mecca are additional topics that link human geography, Islamic mathematical geography, and modern geographic information science. Recently discovered Persian instruments used a retro-azimuthal map projection devised by medieval Muslim mathematicians to compute the qibla and distance to Mecca from anywhere within the seventeenth century realm of Islam. Modern global maps that allow the qibla and distance to Mecca to be determined from all populated areas on earth are added to the Persian instruments.     

The Boston Park System

Abstract

This article is a study of early women geography educators between the years 1783 and 1932. Many women were working in the field at that time, but with varying degrees of activity. Twenty-six were especially active in geography contributing significantly to the growth of geography in universities, colleges, and public schools. Some of the women wrote geography textbooks in the pre-professional geography period before 1875. As such, they would be considered geographers, but it was not until the 1890s that women became involved in professional geography. The professional activities of seven women are highlighted as representative of women who were especially active in the discipline.     

Chile

Abstract

This study provides empirical information about the extent of geography instruction present in history classrooms. Techniques of protocol analysis were applied to oral references to geography made by teachers and students in 44 U. S. and European history lessons in several grades. The references were coded according to GENIP' s five themes plus a sixth coding category for explicit references to maps. Two types of references were found: passing references, which merely mentioned a geographic issue or feature, and substantive references, in which geography was taught or played a substantial role. That 550 geographic references occur in these lessons may explain why so many history teachers believe that they are adequately integrating geography and history. However, 75 percent of all the references were passing and not substantive. We conclude that the core epistemological events for learning and reasoning in, about, and with geography are not being taught adequately in history lessons.     

The cultural approach and geography ‐ the perspective of communication

An interest in culture developed in human geography from its beginning. It was rooted in a conception of 'geography as a science of places, not of men' (Vidal de la Blache), and focused on the study of man/milieu relationships through the analysis of landscapes or genres de vie , the origin and dispersal of agriculture, and the regional diversity of the earth. A neo-Weberian orientation appeared in the 1960s, but the main shift occurred in the 1970s, with the adoption of phenomenological or critical perspectives. The new cultural approach modernises the traditional orientations in the field, explores the meaning that people give to their spatial experience, and introduces new questions about the epistemological foundations of geography as a scientific discipline. In order to understand how society is produced and reproduced and how significance is given to the world, the new approach stresses the role of communication in cultural processes and spatial organisation.     

China＇s geographical regionalization in Chinese secondary school curriculum （1902-2012）

As geographic literacy training is an essential content for Chinese citizens’ literacy education,national geographical education is one of the indispensable key aspects of that training.Because of China’s vast land area and the significance of the regional differences,it is difficult for students to receive a solid education regarding China’s geography.In 1902,the government established the geography curriculum and began to incorporate the concept of geographical regionalization to facilitate the teaching of China’s geography by publishing the first syllabi,which was modified later and put into use in 1904.Since 1904,numerous geography textbooks have attempted to find an appropriate way to present China’s geographical regionalization,as it is important for secondary students to have a clear understanding and appreciation for the different regional characteristics.Accordingly,the geographical regionalization content is divided into four main phases:1902 to 1927;1928 to 1948;1949 to 1986;and 1986 to the present.During these phases,the content related to China’s geographical regionalization in secondary middle school geography textbooks has been gradually simplified and has adopted a more scientific foundation,thus leading to the present time where there are now four geographical regional areas.From this historical study,we find that while China’s geographical regionalization has gradually matured,there are still some problems.For example,dividing the study into four regions to describe the panorama of China is too simplified,and the learning therefore becomes too scattered and haphazard,particularly given the new curriculum reform.