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.     

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.     

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.     

Content-Based Language Instruction: A New Window of Opportunity in Geography Education

Abstract

The use of content-based language instruction (CBI) offers an innovative and effective method for teaching core geographic concepts and skills while students study a second language. This article focuses on a collaborative initiative developed and tested by university and high school level geography and second-language educators. The goal of the MOSAIC project is to develop and disseminate rigorous instructional modules using CBI to reach students in language classrooms who may or may not ever enroll in a stand-alone geography course.     

Challenges of Teaching Advanced Placement Human Geography

Abstract

The new Advanced Placement (AP) human geography course is a wonderful opportunity to ensure the availability of high quality geographic education for high school students. As with any course, in addition to the students' interest and ability, their success is also closely linked to the teachers' preparation. In order to be as well prepared as possible, most AP human geography teachers want and need to know several things in addition to the course content. Questions addressed include how to promote the course, who to promote it to, necessary geographic background for both students and teachers, recommended texts and other resources, how to prepare students for the examination, and how to incorporate the course into the school curriculum.     

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.     

Census 2000 and Geography Education

Abstract

By using stream restoration as a seminar theme, geography faculty can create a topical course that helps provide a shared intellectual agenda for both physical and human geography students, while highlighting the holistic strengths of our discipline. Although it is not necessary that faculty have prior knowledge about the topic, a willingness to work collaboratively is essential to creating an effective course about this complex endeavor. The course can simultaneously meets the needs of students continuing on to graduate studies as well as those preparing for teaching careers. Guidance on how a stream restoration class could be used to teach the eighteen geography standards is also provided.     

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.     

Cultural Patterns and Processes in Advanced Placement Human Geography

Abstract

In this article I outline some of the key concepts and approaches that form the cultural patterns and processes section of the Advanced Placement human geography course. In addition, I provide examples to illuminate and help explain those concepts and suggest strategies for pursuing educational discussions concerning the range of cultural geographies.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Population in Advanced Placement Human Geography

Abstract

The Advanced Placement human geography course affords high school students the opportunity to experience an introductory college-level course in geography. Population is one of six major themes in the course. The course outline identifies four key areas of study in the population unit: geographical analysis of population, population distribution and composition, population growth and decline over time and space, and population movement. This article addresses each of these areas of study and identifies examples of concepts, topics, and types of data that could form the basis for instructional activities. A resource list is provided for additional reading.     

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.     

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.     

Fifteen Year Follow-Up Geography Skills Test Administered in Indiana, 1987 and 2002

Abstract

After fifteen years of geographic education efforts, a baseline geography skills test was repeated in Indiana. In 2002, 2,278 students in college freshman geography courses were tested with a revision of the National Council for Geographic Education Competency-Based Geography Test, Secondary Level Form II. The test measured geographic ability in map skills, place name location, physical geography, and human geography. As in 1987, the 2002 test gathered personal information from each student on age, gender, travel experience, and prior geographic education. Test scores were lower by two percent in 2002. Travel and lifetime experience are again the best teachers of geography as opposed to high school geography course work. Significant performance differences persist between gender and ethnic groups. Arts and science students perform significantly higher than students from education, business, and other schools. Test results underscore the need to emphasize more intentional classroom focus on state standards and preparation of classroom teachers.     

Inventing Geography: Writing as a Social Justice Pedagogy

Abstract

A critical geographic pedagogy of writing can help students participate in public life by gaining access to the means of knowledge production. Drawing on pedagogical and composition theory, this article analyzes student papers from an introductory-level geography course to show how geography teachers can create assignments that broaden the scope of student agency and expand access to power. This is one way to promote social justice in the classroom because it fosters habits and skills of critical citizenship and participatory democracy instead of passive, consumption-oriented attitudes. Students are better able to position themselves as active members of a community and as agents in the process of critically reshaping knowledge about the world.     

Teaching Geography's four traditions with Poetry

Abstract

Poetry is a powerful form of writing that has received relatively little attention from geography educators. However, most poetry is imbued with explicit and vivid references to physical and human phenomena over space, and is thus a source of information that may help illustrate a variety of geographic concepts. This article uses William Pattison's four traditions of geography as a framework for illustrating the explicitly spatial concepts present in selected poetry. Through the poetry of authors like Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, and Maya Angelou, this work introduces a new perspective from which to teach and to learn familiar geographic themes.     

Integrated Teaching of Geographic Information Science and Physical Geography Through Digital Terrain Analysis

Abstract

We present an outline of a course in digital terrain analysis that provides students with integrated instruction in geographic information science (GISci) and topics in physical geography and earth science. Integrated teaching of GISci and other sub-fields of geography has value because it presents GISci technologies in the context of their application. Nevertheless, the design of college and university geography courses is often fragmented rather than integrated. Our course provides one potential model for such integration. Assessment of student reaction, using focus groups of both enrolled and non-enrolled students, revealed a generally positive attitude toward the course and pointed out the barriers that prevent some students from taking it.     

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.