Looking Toward the Future: A Concepts,Themes, and Standards Approach to Preservice Teacher Education

Abstract

Preservice teacher education based on content, skills, and perspectives specified in Geography for Life: National Geography Standards 1994 is essential for dissemination of the Standards to classrooms all across the country. Curricular materials are often structured around the five fundamental themes of geography; however, it is essential that teacher preparation courses integrate the content of the Standards into the themes of location, place, human—environment interaction, and region. One model of this approach to preservice education, as summarized here, provides future teachers with a conceptual basis for learning and teaching geography, enhancing opportunities for disseminating solid geography content to all grade levels nationwide.     

Assessment as a Diagnostic Tool

Abstract

This paper introduces the development and validation of the Test of Geography-Related Attitudes (ToGRA). The ToGRA measures student attitude on four discrete scales: 1) leisure interest in geography; 2) enjoyment of geographic education; 3) career interest in geography; and 4) interest in place. The ToGRA was validated from a field test sample of 388 ninth-grade World Geography students who responded to the Web-based instrument. Statistical analyses were performed on these data in order to enhance the overall scale characteristics and to determine construct validity. The resultant survey is the first validated affective-trait measurement instrument available to secondary-level researchers and practitioners.     

Using mnemonics to learn place geography

Abstract

Learning place geography, the location of cities, nations, regions, major physical features, etc., is an important part of school geography. This investigation builds on research findings from educational psychology to address questions about effective ways to teach place geography. The study assesses the pedagogical effectiveness of several instructional strategies featuring keyword mnemonics and the attention-enhancing devices of repeated test-like practice and cooperative learning. The results of the research show a significant difference in place geography learning between mnemonic and non-mnemonic treatment groups. Geographic educators should continue to research cognitive strategies to determine their effect in learning place geography, particularly in the long-term effects of using keyword mnemonics alone and keyword mnemonics in combination with repeated test-like practice.     

Differential Adoption of Internet-based Teaching Practices in College Geography

Abstract

Innovation diffusion research has shown that users of innovations have identifiable characteristics that can be used to differentiate them from nonusers. This research classifies practitioners of Internet-based teaching in college geography and relates adoption patterns to faculty members' research specialty, place of employment, teaching experience, and academic rank. All variables except academic rank were related to faculty members' adoption of and approach to Internet-based teaching. The results of the study provide insight into how the Internet is being used to teach geography in higher education.     

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.     

Rockin' and Rappin' in American Music: Themes and Resources

Abstract

As a relevant aspect of contemporary culture, music is a significant part of the lifestyles of students at all levels of education. Thus, use of various genres of American music is framed in the context of the National Standards five themes of geography—location, movement, human-environment interaction, region, and place. Several classroom projects appropriate for grades 7–12 are identified, including data collection, map preparation, and development of a research paper. Teaching resources consist of references used in text, music geography bibliography in addition to references, data sources, useful music-related websites, and list of research paper topics.     

THE FAILURE OF FEDERALISM IN CENTRAL AFRICA: A POLITICO-GEOGRAPHICAL POSTMORTEM

Basic concepts of cultural historical geography have been applied to a variety of community issues in St. Paul, MN. Through the process a sense of place has been developed at several scales. This inclusive sense of place has provided a link among various factions and made possible several compromises in land use and economic development issues. Most of the work was done through undergraduate field seminars.     

Field Trips as Valuable Learning Experiences in Geography Courses

Abstract

Field trips have been acknowledged as valuable learning experiences in geography. This article uses Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning model to discuss how students learn and how field trips can help enhance learning. Using Kolb’s experiential learning theory as a guide in the design of field trips helps ensure that field trips contribute to internalizing relevant geographical theory and concepts. Three types of field trips are presented: an informal survey of a neighborhood, a more formal scavenger hunt, and a virtual field trip using Google Earth.

Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.

—Kolb (1984)     

Green infrastructure,green space,and sustainable urbanism: geography’s important role

ABSTRACT

This paper is a broad review of green infrastructure theory and practice relative to urban sustainability and the space for geographers in these discussions. We use examples from various urban sustainability plans to highlight ways in which green infrastructure is being conceptualized and implemented. We explore how geography contributes research on green infrastructure as well as the emerging practices as seen within sustainability plans. We identify four areas in which geographers can influence both green infrastructure theory and practice: 1) scale; 2) mapping distribution; 3) sensitivity to place and locale; and 4) equity and access. We conclude that in these areas geographers have tremendous opportunity contribute more deliberately to sustainable urbanism.     

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.     

Childhood asthma: Regional and social inequalities in parents' perceptions of the diagnostic process in Norway

This paper focuses on the 'cultural turn' which has taken place in British and to a lesser extent North American and Australian human geography in the last decade. It begins by exploring what constitutes the cultural in what has been dubbed 'new cultural geography'. It then explores contemporary claims that cultural geography has eclipsed or marginalised social geography. The final section evaluates these claims about the demise of the social, arguing that the social has not been evacuated but rather has been redefined. While this paper tells a specific story about a particular tradition and geographical frame of reference, it nonetheless has wider relevance because it provides an example of the differential development of particular sub-disciplinary areas, of the way subdisciplinary knowledges shape each other, and of the way understandings of disciplinary trends are contested.     

Reading the World: Integrating Geography in an English Language Learner Literacy Program

Abstract

English language development classes focus on teaching students of other languages how to speak, read, and write English. They must also prepare students to meet the many standards and requirements that are prerequisites to content classes, such as geography, and high school graduation. This discussion focuses on the integration of literacy and geography in a classroom with English language learners. A common English language development model, the “Into, Through, Beyond” model of learning, sets a foundation that integrates components of English language acquisition with language arts and geography standards. In turn, this approach to learning prepares the learners for success in social and academic arenas.     

Leisure and community assessments: Emotional place relations among young teenagers in a Norwegian industrial stronghold

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the article is to explore the role of participation in organized leisure activities in young teenagers’ emotional place relations. Data from a survey of students in lower secondary schools were analysed using multivariate linear regression models to address the research questions concerning whether participation in organized leisure activities was associated with more positive community assessments in youths in line with early Nordic welfare theory and the role played by socio-economic hardships and gender in the association. The results showed that for boys there were no indications of a general positive association between participation in organized leisure activities and community assessments, while for girls the association was modest. Students who experienced socio-economic hardships had more negative assessments of community compared with well-off students, even when they participated in organized leisure activities. The author discusses the results according to a welfare theory approach to emotional place relations, supplemented by other theoretical perspectives. From a theoretical perspective, the findings point to social exclusion and inclusion dynamics instead of early Nordic welfare theory approaches to leisure participation. The author concludes that gender, class and school relations are strongly associated with young teenagers’ emotional place relations.     

American viticultural areas: A problem in regional geography

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine a particular type of formal geographic region—the viticultural region—to promote an understanding of the geographical bases of wine production. The authors have found that the viticultural area is an excellent vehicle for teaching students how geographers construct and analyze regions. Although the wine industry in the United States is concentrated overwhelmingly in California and secondarily in a belt running from New York across Pennsylvania and into Ohio, most of the lower 48 states have at least one officially recognized viticultural area. The following problem has been developed to be used “as is” or to be modified for any state or region in the country. By the end of the problem, students have gained hands-on experience in defining regions, correlating physical geography with human activities, and thinking about the importance of place names and scale.     

SOIL SURVEYS AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS TO BE USED WITH SAMPLE AREAS DEPICTED IN THE LOOK OF OUR LAND—AN AIRPHOTO ATLAS OF THE RURAL UNITED STATES

Considering the influence of German geography on the historic development of the discipline in North America, surprisingly little communication takes place between German-speaking and English-speaking geographers today. This report is intended to provide readers of THE PROFESSIONAL GEOGRAPHER with a review of recent events in the German-speaking countries of Europe, giving special attention to ways in which ideological differences have influenced geographic research in the two parts of divided Germany. It also traces the emergence of theoretical-quantitative geography in German research, the rise of applied research, and recent trends in regional geography.     

Certain Persistent Errors in Geography

Abstract

Reform in geography education, as reflected in Geography for Life: National Geography Standards (1994) for the U.S.A., favors a constructivist approach to learning. This study examines the acceptance of this approach among students in two upper secondary schools in China. A lesson was developed to illustrate interactive problem solving methods. The students reacted positively to the lesson. The instructional practices stimulating their response and the potential for problem solving geography educational methods in China are discussed.     

Farewell to Bongo,Ahab and Iglook

Abstract

Hilltop Geography is a year-long integrated geography program that involves first and second graders in a hands-on laboratory approach to exploring their immediate environment while at the same time providing a stepping stone to their understanding of the world. This article will describe how teachers and students in a rural New Mexico school have been utilizing the semi-arid hills surrounding their building as an outdoor geography learning laboratory, involving parents and the local community in the process.     

Internet-Based GIS in an Inductive Learning Environment: A Case Study of Ninth-Grade Geography Students

Abstract

This article reports the results of a qualitative case study that explored the use of Internet-based geographic information systems (IGIS) with ninth-grade geography students. The students worked in teams to examine the geography of Africa using IGIS resources with the instructional goal of developing a presentation on a significant issue facing one region or country. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of IGIS as a tool for integrating geospatial technologies into ninth-grade geography curriculum and instruction within an inductive learning environment. The findings for this study indicate that IGIS can be a successful tool for geography education in an inductive learning environment. Based on qualitative data collected through classroom observations, focus group interviews with students, student work samples, and a teacher journal, two assertions are offered: students perceived expanded freedom as a positive aspect of this IGIS project and IGIS projects such as this can lead to gains in students' cultural awareness and empathy for distant others.     

GEOGRAPHIC PUBLICATION IN GERMANY

Abstract

Feminist geography and political geography still represent two solitudes within the discipline. While increased traffic between these different parts of the discipline points to a degree of intellectual engagement, there remains a paucity of feminist thought in political geography. This article examines recent scholarship on feminist political geography, with a view to applying its insights to the struggles to protest and end political violence. The concept of feminist geopolitics is employed and recast, both as a bridging concept between feminist and political geography and as an analytical approach that has political valence in the context of the war in Iraq. Feminist geopolitics is revisited in this article, but remains a critical analytic in relation to body counts and other casualties in war zones.