Experienced Teacher Participation in Preservice Programs: A Model in Geography at the University of Northern Colorado

Abstract

This paper discusses a model program for preparing secondary geography teachers in the Department of Geography at the University of Northern Colorado. The key feature of the program is the presence of an outstanding secondary teacher in residence throughout the year who team-teaches the Teaching Methods in Geography and World Geography courses with geography faculty, modeling effective ways of teaching the subject. Students are paired with Colorado Geographic Alliance teacher-consultants in summer institutes and for student teaching. Analysis of formative evaluation data collected through the third year provides some measure of the program's success. Students have responded favorably to the use of a variety of teaching strategies, the opportunity to discuss with faculty why certain strategies are utilized, and how their own constructed lessons have worked in their student teaching. They have also reported that their understanding of geography has improved from taking the team-taught courses.     

Integrating GIS into the Undergraduate Learning Environment

Abstract

Despite the promise of GIS, substantial barriers have prevented its widespread use in geographic education. Among the key factors are technical impediments stemming from software complexity, pedagogic issues related to the lack of experienced faculty and the shortage of curriculum materials, and systemic issues associated with faculty motivation. This case study describes strategies that were employed for addressing each of these barriers in a large enrollment, multisection world geography course. Successful implementation of those strategies has enabled large numbers of students in classes taught by instructors with no formal GIS experience to spend a substantial amount of time learning geography with the help of simple, easy-to-use GIS software applications.     

Gaps,Intellectual Enthusiasms,Personal Insecurities: Response to “Stages on Journeys”

Abstract

The Department of Geography at Arizona State University implemented a field exam as part of its PhD program requirements. This field exam requires students to develop an independent field-based research project based on a general question in the student's specialty area. A survey of current and former PhD students and faculty members document how the field exam assists students in developing skills necessary for continuing graduate research and for preparing them for the rigors of academic employment. The outcomes of the exam include both long-term, process-related benefits and more immediate tangible rewards. For some students, the preliminary fieldwork and results redirect student interests and form the basis for their eventual dissertation. The field exam is adaptable to a diversity of geography research methods, subject areas, and graduate degree programs, while remaining grounded in the discipline's vibrant, widely respected fieldwork tradition.

     

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.     

Faculty Reappointment,Tenure, and Promotion: Barriers for Women

Women faculty continue to experience academe differently than male faculty. A review of recent literature indicates that women's representation on university faculties has advanced slowly; women are less likely to be tenured or promoted compared to male faculty; and women faculty earn less than their male colleagues. A recurring theme is that the intellectual and social isolation of women faculty affects their research productivity. Gender stereotypes held by colleagues, departmental and college administrators, and students also contribute to the difficulties women face in the reappointment, tenure, and promotion process. A personal perspective on the reappointment process is provided in order to illustrate how isolation and naïvete regarding the social structure of academe can affect a woman's career advancement. The benefits of greater representation of women on university faculties are reviewed, and departmental and college administrators are reminded of the important role they play in ensuring future gender‐balanced faculties.     

Faculty Reappointment,Tenure, and Promotion: Barriers for Women

Women faculty continue to experience academe differently than male faculty. A review of recent literature indicates that women's representation on university faculties has advanced slowly; women are less likely to be tenured or promoted compared to male faculty; and women faculty earn less than their male colleagues. A recurring theme is that the intellectual and social isolation of women faculty affects their research productivity. Gender stereotypes held by colleagues, departmental and college administrators, and students also contribute to the difficulties women face in the reappointment, tenure, and promotion process. A personal perspective on the reappointment process is provided in order to illustrate how isolation and naïvete regarding the social structure of academe can affect a woman's career advancement. The benefits of greater representation of women on university faculties are reviewed, and departmental and college administrators are reminded of the important role they play in ensuring future gender-balanced faculties.     

Study Abroad: A Review of the Kentucky Institute for International Studies (KIIS) and Geographers' Role in the Consortium

Abstract

The Kentucky Institute for International Studies is a consortium of colleges and universities that provides semester length and short summer semester over-seas study programs. This article traces the growth of the consortium from its ro-ots at Murray State University in 1975 through the celebration of its thirtieth anniversary in 2005. Aspects considered include the overall growth of the consor-tium and the type and number of progr-ams offered, as well as the composition of the faculty and students who participate. Contributions of consortium geography faculty members are examined.     

Italian Renaissance and Japanese Zen Gardens: An Approach for Introducing Cultural Landscapes

Abstract

This paper outlines a method for teaching about cultural landscapes in introductory geography classes by contrasting the Renaissance gardens of Italy with the Zen gardens of Japan. The ordered, symmetrical, formal arrangement of the Renaissance gardens are compared to the Zen gardens where landscape features appear to be completely natural. By contrasting these two garden traditions—their physical characteristics, their paths of diffusion, and the world views they express—it is possible to illustrate how cultural landscapes develop and persist in areas as a result of differing combinations of physical, social, and cultural circumstances.     

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.     

Commentaries on “Automated Geography”. Automated Geography and the DIDS (Decision Information Display System) Experiment

Age profiles of geographers having varying topical and areal subfields are compiled using the Guide to Graduate Departments of Geography in the United States and Canada, 1983–1984 and the 1982 AAG Directory. Major retirement trends for the next 10 to 20 years suggest that replacement of faculty may raise key appointment issues and priorities that may significantly change the nature of academic geography.     

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.     

Lessons Learned from Reviewing Research in GIS Education

Abstract

Traditional lectures generally force students to play a passive role in the classroom. In an effort to promote active learning, we added discussion sections to a large lecture hall course. Field trips, student journals, and group-based assignments, in particular, enhanced the learning experience. To ensure the success of the new format, course planners must enlist the sustained cooperation of key faculty and administrators on campus, as well as teaching assistants assigned to the new sections. The new discussion sections allowed students to acknowledge the environmental impact their actions have on campus and to recognize that environmental problems occur at multiple scales.     

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.     

Journal Writing and the Development of Spatial Thinking Skills

Abstract

Informal journal writing in freshman level World Regional Geography classes is discussed as an active learning method that helps students to develop their spatial perspective and gain a better understanding of the interconnected nature of geographic phenomena. In particular, students read about events in the world and write their ideas about the geographic nature and implications of those events. Thinking spatially and thinking critically by creating their own framework for interpreting the event and applying concepts learned in class means that students are actively participating in their own learning. Ongoing instructor feedback and assessment are essential to this learning activity and are discussed as part of this exercise.     

Geographical Notes

Abstract

To improve student retention and to combat problems of declining enrollments, many colleges are turning to freshman or first year experience (FYE) programs. These programs are designed to aid students in the transition to college, and in doing so make students more satisfied and more successful in their new environments. FYE programs are offered in many forms, one of which is to offer FYE instruction as an integral part of the existing curriculum. Using existing courses makes the inclusion of introductory geography courses viable for FYE programs. The inclusion of FYE-related materials in an Introduction to Geography course, as illustrated here, can result in greater student satisfaction with faculty and the institution as a whole, higher rates of retention, and student skill development without a significant loss in geographic course content. Although the resulting improvements may be modest, when projected over an entire incoming class, even small gains may affect significant numbers of students. Participation in FYE may give geography programs greater exposure to incoming students and could help to attract new majors to the discipline.     

Future Teachers of Geography: Whose Opportunity?

Abstract

Although geography is being revived in the K-12 curriculum, preservice teachers—candidates for the teaching profession—now in our universities are not universally reaping the benefits of cooperative efforts of geography and college of education faculty. Reform is appropriate in both camps. Colleges of education, influenced by many agents, including Certificate/licensing regulations, accrediting agencies, professional organizations, and a stream of reform movements, are bringing education to the level of a true profession. The dimensions of the reform underway and several key players offer great opportunities for geography education and for improving the general climate for teaching excellence in institutions of higher learning. Candidates for the new teaching profession and their education faculty are teaching and learning collaboratively, and conducting research in diverse school districts. Geographers have new reasons and new opportunities to participate in the education of the geography teachers of tomorrow.     

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.     

Promoting Lifelong Professional Development in Geography Education: International Perspectives on Developing the Scholarship of Teaching in Higher Education in the Twenty‐First Century*

Whereas the global march towards the professional development of geography teachers in schools was, perhaps, the major achievement in geography education of the twentieth century, promoting the professional development of faculty teaching geography in higher education is one of the major challenges that faces us in geography education for the twenty‐first century. What little educational development is currently provided for faculty teaching in universities is largely generic. There is a need for a disciplinary specific component in educational development, both for the initial training of faculty and for their continuing professional development. This article explores how the professional development of faculty is related to the international debate about developing the scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education. It reviews some recent initiatives, particularly from the United States and the United Kingdom, and examines the role of national associations and international networks in supporting faculty teaching geography in higher education. Some of the challenges involved in professionalizing teaching geography in higher education are discussed. The article ends with some suggestions for promoting lifelong professional development in geography in higher education nationally and internationally.     

Demographic Transition: Threat to Developing Nations

Abstract

As computers become commonplace in the nation's schools, interactive maps are finding their way into the geography classroom. Students can use electronic atlases to access information as well as use authoring software to produce their own interactive maps. Does this change in media correspond to better geography education for our children? This article addresses whether using interactive maps for gathering and presenting information can have a positive influence on learning geography content. A two-week experiment was conducted in five 7th grade classrooms. Students in four of the classes researched and produced map products using both traditional and computer-assisted techniques. The fifth class was a control group. A pretest and two post-tests were given to quantitatively assess student learning after each project. Also, students were given a qualitative questionnaire to determine their attitude towards the different techniques. Quantitative results of the study indicate that there was no significant difference in student post-test performance after using each of the techniques, but qualitative results suggest that students prefer using the computer techniques over the traditional methods for gathering and presenting information.