Why Geography Still Needs Pen and Ink Cartography

Abstract

Maps are fundamental in geographic explanation and education, but as map-making becomes firmly entrenched in the GIS lab, it becomes harder for students to imagine how they can make maps for their papers. Students need to illustrate papers with maps: among other things, maps provide clarity, links to real places, and insights into patterns and context of phenomena discussed in student papers. A simple, quick, and aesthetically satisfying method for students to make their own maps is presented. This map making method can help students can think more creatively and geographically about their topics.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Colorado’s Millennial Generation: Youth Perceptions and Experiences of Nature

Abstract

This study uses survey and focus group methods to explore attitudes toward and experiences of nature among millennial-aged students in northern Colorado. First, results confirm that young people possess a strong interest in the outdoors yet time, transportation, and new technologies hamper their ability to visit public lands and outdoor spaces. Second, respondents experience nature in ways more mediated by new technologies such as cell phones and nature DVDs. Third, citizen science and active learning show promise as techniques for returning young people to the outdoors. The challenge lies in teaching young people to reimagine the outdoors not as elsewhere or out there but as a backyard geographic space.     

Lesson Plans in Geography

Abstract

This article advocates that geography teachers undertake field studies of human systems with their students. A field trip process is described that helps teachers to guide students to explore and analyze a real human system with the expressed goal of building skills that can transfer to and complement a wide range of geographic learning tasks identified in Geography for Life: National Geography Standards 1994. Students are taken to a human system, such as a supermarket or a hotel. In groups, students interview as well as tour with a representative of a key department of the human system. Using teacher-supplied materials, groups create models or visual schematics of the whole human system they studied. The model must show the complex as a collection of interdependent elements with distinct functions. The learning outcomes achieved by students are a collection of geographic skills ideal for transfer to subsequent geographic investigations of urban places and or regions.     

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.     

Geography Current

Abstract

Broadening the intercultural awareness and international outlook of undergraduate students is best achieved through active rather than passive learning. The international student interview provides an excellent strategy for such active learning in introductory human geography classes. It allows American-born students to enter into a dialogue with students from other countries and learn about their cultures while simultaneously reexamining their own society and cultural frames of reference. The exercise also provides instructors with an opportunity to discuss the ethics and social practices associated with interviewing. Feedback from University of Georgia students completing this assignment underscored these benefits and provided suggestions for refinement of the exercise.     

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.     

Gender vs. Sex Differences: Factors Affecting Performance in Geographic Education

Abstract

Much has been written about sex differences in learning, but less attention has been paid to the impacts of gender—which is socially constructed—on learning geography. This article investigates whether differences in gender influence performance on a standardized test of geography knowledge. Undergraduate students in two large clases completed a standardized inventory of gender differences and then completed a standardized test of geography knowledge. The results of our analysis of the correlation between gender traits and geographic learning resulted in somewhat unexpected results, as well as a set of complex questions for further research on learning styles in geographic education.     

Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days: Helping Teach the National Geography Standards

Abstract

Consistent with developments in American education pedagogy, geography educators have made great strides exploring a wide range of high- and low-tech methods for teaching and learning geographic concepts. This article draws on a qualitative analysis of essays in which college students discuss tenets of the National Geography Standards in the context of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. Most of the students in this study reported that not only did their knowledge of the world increase after completing the course assignment but that their interest in the discipline increased as well.     

Defining Appalachia: Public Policy and Regional Dynamics in Appalachia's Low-income Counties, 1965-2000

Abstract

The extant literature on place location learning resolves in varying degrees that place location knowledge (PLK) is deficient in the United States and abroad. This is particularly true for younger school-attending age groups. This study has three main aims: to investigate the validity of that claim in regard to secondary-level students in Dublin by testing their PLK; to assess what characteristics of tested place locations render some sites more visible in students' eyes than others; and to investigate statistically what traits of the respondents shape their PLK. The implications of these findings on geographic education and future research are also discussed.     

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.     

Observing Metropolitan Atlanta,Georgia: Using an urban field study to enhance student experiences and instructor knowledge in urban geography

Abstract

In urban geography courses, knowledge of a local area is especially useful for demonstrating geographic principles. These classroom examples are further enhanced when students conduct their own field observations, with direction from the instructor. This paper describes a field study of the metropolitan Atlanta area that is used in an intermediate geography class, in which students compare their observations of Atlanta with urban geography models and theories. I argue that the preparation of the project, and the completion of it by students, represents a valuable firsthand observation experience for both the instructor and the students.     

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.     

The State of Geography Education Research

Abstract

College enrollment and Association of American Geographers membership data reveal a significant deficit in minority participation in geography and environmental science. The author asserts that this dearth may have its origin at the K-12 level, where science subjects are presented in a manner that alienates socioeconomically disadvantaged pupils. With recent research indicating that low-income and nonwhite communities are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation, it is pertinent that methods be developed to increase the number of minority students choosing to pursue environmental careers. Involving students directly in projects investigating the pollution in their communities aids in enhancing student interest. By participating in a lead (Pb) contamination study, students are introduced to several geographic subdisciplines including cartography, demography, and environmental geography. Students also acquire skills in spatial analysis, map interpretation, and graphic design. Complementing basic lead-soil field investigations with geographic information systems, spreadsheet, and/or computer mapping software, offers students a valuable high-tech learning experience.     

Problem-Based Inquiry on World Water Problems in Large Undergraduate Classes

Abstract

This paper reports on the design and implementation of a project-based course—World Water Problems—that was introduced within the framework of introductory undergraduate geography education. The aims of the course were twofold: (1) to cultivate in students a world geographic perspective on water problems; and (2) to conduct an original research project on the search for detailed appraisals, or ex-post evaluations, of completed water projects and programs. The project involved problem-based inquiry and learning through several interrelated tasks including: hypothesis testing, systematic electronic library and database searching, corresponding with water resources experts; and synthesizing of results. Evaluation of the project, and the course more generally, was achieved through a questionnaire administered to the students and a focused in-class discussion. Overall, the students' comments about the course project demonstrate learning in the form of greater knowledge of world geographic regions and water sectors as well as enhancement of database search skills and critical thinking.     

School Students' Understanding of Choropleth Maps: Evidence From Collaborative Mapmaking Using GIS

Abstract

Pairs of students from two age groups made choropleth maps using Arc View. Evidence from their discourse is used to assess aspects of their cartographic understanding as well as the nature of their collaboration. Students from both age groups spent a high percentage of their time talking about cartographic strategy and a low percentage of time on technical aspects of GIS functionality. Older students engaged in more reasoning and questioning. Key areas for teacher intervention include promoting better student understanding of what the mapped data mean (including directionality and numerical characteristics) and the most effective strategies for raising the level of students' conceptual exchange during collaborative learning.     

The Photographic Essay in Geographic Instruction

Abstract

Among the many instructional media techniques available for use in geographic education, slides are probably more frequently utilized than most other visual aids. Unfortunately, all too often not enough attention is given to establishing objectives and, then, organizing the slides accordingly for effective learning. In this paper a media technique which has not been generally exploited in geographic instruction, the photograpihc essay, is examined. The procedures for planning and executing a photo essay are explained along with a discussion of some basic principles of photo composition. It is proposed that both students and teachers at the elementary and secondary level will find this learning activity stimulating and fun.