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.     

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.     

The shifting sand of geography in South Africa

South African geography, like other subjects, has to undergo the arduous process of curriculum change in order to meet the demands of the new education system and to contribute to a broader agenda of national reconstruction. Changes within geography can shed light on the impact and implications of the new national curriculum on teaching subjects. The paper suggests that the introduction of environmental education into Curriculum 2005 offers geography educators the opportunity and the challenge to advance geographic knowledge.     

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 Geography Course in the Oswego State Normal and Training School

Abstract

This article addresses the knowledge of geography and geography-related careers of sixth and ninth grade students in six Florida schools. For geography knowledge no sex differences were noted for the total sample, ninth grade African American males outperformed African American females, achievement differed by school, and students knew most about skills and least about physical geography Students' career knowledge increased with grade level; males were more knowledgeable than females; African American females were the least knowledgeable; sex-related differences became more pronounced in ninth grade; and the most frequently cited careers were cartographer, explorer, meteorologist, and news person.     

Retarded Children and the Concepts of Distance and Direction

Abstract

Ideally the test questions we give to students reflect our educational objectives. Recent curriculum developments in geography show a change in these objectives, from an emphasis on imparting knowledge towards a greater stress on involving students in solving geographic problems. Most teachers, however, are accustomed to writing questions which measure factual knowledge. What kinds of questions can we ask which would be better aligned with our objectives? This paper is an attempt to indicate some such questions. It discusses aspects of test design, item classification, and styles of presentation which facilitate the preparation of tests measuring a variety of objectives. It also comments briefly on student performance on different kinds of items.     

THE ARCHIVES OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS

Although numerous courses in geographic information systems (GIS) have been introduced into the geography curriculum over the past few years, there has been remarkably little debate over the issues involved. This paper first discusses the arguments for geography as an appropriate disciplinary setting for GIS teaching at the undergraduate level. This is followed by a discussion of the nature of GIS courses and their appropriate place in the undergraduate geography curriculum. The final section of the paper describes the NCGIA Core Curriculum project and examines its significance in this broader context.     

Using Herman Melville's Moby-Dick to Explore Geographic Themes

Abstract

The classic American novel, Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, can be used in geography and English classes at the high school and college levels to explore five themes that have a geographic component or are of interest to geography students: (1) the journey, (2) human/ environment interactions, (3) social relationships in space, (4) acquiring knowledge, and (5) ambiguities and their resolution. Included are detailed discussions of the themes with specific references to critical literature and passages in the novel, suggestions for background reading, and suggestions for classroom discussions and assignments.     

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.     

The Digital Versatile Disc as a Learning Support Medium in the Teaching and Learning of Map Work

Abstract

This article describes the results of a study where the digital versatile disc (DVD) was used as a variant of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in order to aid in the teaching and learning of map work in geography at secondary school level. A group of grade 10 learners of a previously disadvantaged school in South Africa comprised the target group for the project. A case study was conducted and data was gathered on the implementation of the DVD and the learners' perceptions thereof. Qualitative analysis techniques such as field notes, observation, interviews with the learners, and questionnaires were used to analyze the effectiveness of the implementation of the DVD as well as the learners' perceptions regarding the use of the DVD in geography education. The results of the study indicated that the geography learners demonstrated positive attitudes towards the implementation of the DVD as a learning support medium. To determine the contribution of the DVD project towards the achieved results of the learners in map work, both the experimental and control groups participated in a pre- and post-test at the beginning and conclusion of the project. Effect size was used to determine the significance of the differences between the two groups and indicates a strong practical significance regarding the contribution of the DVD project towards the achieved test results of the learners.     

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.     

A Proposal for Assessment in Geography Education

Abstract

The geographic skills, as outlined in Geography for Life, provide an avenue for assessing students' work in geography. If used across the scope and sequence of the curriculum, a common scoring guide based on these skills offers opportunities for students to demonstrate their ability to use inquiry approaches to study geography and to improve those abilities over time and over different geographic questions. If used consistently, a geographic skills scoring guide can also help to communicate to a broader audience of parents, administration, and the public as to what the discipline of geography encompasses.     

Mentoring: A New Approach to Geography Teacher Preparation

Abstract

Geography teacher preparation is an ongoing problem for the discipline. Changes in certification requirements and federal and state educational policies have diminished the role of colleges and universities in educating teachers. At the same time, geography education reform efforts have resulted in higher standards and an increased quantity of geography in the curriculum, pre-service programs have failed to produce an adequate supply of highly qualified geography teachers. This paper suggests that geographers implement geography mentoring programs to improve the quality of geography instruction in early-career teachers. A model developed for the National Geographic Society is described. The model uses Teacher Consultants as mentors to assist novice teachers at the stage in their development when they are most ready to improve practice: between years two and five of their career.     

Writing a Successful Fulbright Group Projects Abroad Grant: Voices from a Journey to South Africa

Abstract

The authors share a successful Fulbright Group Projects Abroad grant award. The purpose of the grant was to enhance American educators' experience and knowledge of South Africa, in particular, and sub-Saharan Africa more generally. Toward that end, participants experienced a multifaceted view of South Africa's geographical diversity, both physical and cultural, through visiting three provinces and four major cities. Participants experienced people and places associated with reconciliation, segregation, and creolization, making comparisons with the U.S. historical experience. The program required participants to attend an orientation, participate in predeparture readings and to develop curriculum units that were shared at a national conference.     

Attitudes to Geography in Australia

This article reports on an initial study in Australia of attitudes to geography held by members of the community at large. The study focused on perceptions of the role of geography in contributing to wider social goals relating to lifelong learning and living. Groups of business people, government representatives, professional people, educators and members of the general public were surveyed. The results focus on the perceptions of the importance of geography to Australian society; important knowledge, skills and values that are learned while doing geography; and the importance of geography for work. The generally positive appreciation of geography that is held by the wider community needs to be promoted carefully in the education sectors and in society at large if geography is to live up to the importance that is ascribed to it.     

The Establishment of the Validities of Experimental Materials in Geography

Abstract

This paper describes the various procedures followed in validating some research tools to be used to investigate pupils' attitudes toward and achievements in geography taught by programmed instruction. The research tools consist of learning materials and measuring instruments. The learning materials include five geography programmed texts, five conventional texts in geography, and a familiarization program in civics. The measuring instruments also include a geography achievement test, and two attitude questionnaires designed to measure attitudes toward geography and programmed instruction. The paper highlights the roles of formative evaluation in preparing curriculum materials in geography.     

Children's Reasoning About Their Environment

Abstract

Research into children's thinking has shown age-linked differences in their abilities to structure the concrete and abstract features of their environment. This study attempted to investigate how these differences revealed themselves when children were asked to try to make sense of objects extracted from their environment by finding some meaningful relationship between them. The ways in which the children reasoned about everyday objects depicted on cards have implications for the design of curriculum materials used in geography.     

Towards a Regionally Balanced Geographic Education Beyond Geography Class

Abstract

This contribution to the “Comments” section first introduces a metric designed to estimate the amount of attention given to different countries of the world in academia using Internet “term paper mills”. This metric is used to introduce a call for the incorporation of more geographic education regarding peripheral areas of the world into the broader college curriculum. Even as geography courses struggle to incorporate knowledge of many peripheral parts of the world, the rest of the university experience is continuing to reflect perceived “national interests.”     

Sources of Literature for Commercial Geography

Abstract

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation has resulted in declining classroom time dedicated to geography instruction, especially in grades K-8. To combat this problem, a National Geographic Society Grosvenor grant provided resources allowing 28 teacher-authors to generate a package of more than 80 lessons that combine the teaching of geography and mathematics skills tested on Arizona's state mandated testing. When taught in 113 piloting classrooms that mirror Arizona's student demographics, GeoMath lessons generated statistically significant increases in performance in math skills and improved understanding of geography standards. In addition, a fourth of the K-8 piloting teachers surveyed felt that teaching GeoMath lessons increased in their level of comfort in teaching mathematics. Given the success of this GeoMath strategy, and a prior GeoLiteracy program, we advocate here a national agenda of articulating geography curriculum to high-stakes tested subjects of reading and math.     

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.