Community Vulnerability to Tropical Cyclones: Cairns, 1996–2000

This paper is a partial discussion of a four-year study that investigated the vulnerability of the people living in the Cairns region to the tropical cyclone hazard. The longitudinal case study, focussing on the Cairns Northern Beaches area, was unique in that it included a social and societal `pre-cyclone impact' evaluation of various resident communities within the region, and then two consecutive `post-cyclone impact' studies. The primary research method supported an inductive qualitative approach to the collection and analysis of survey data. Some quantitative methods were invoked to support qualitative research findings. Survey data was collected in five separate questionnaire-based social surveys that were administered between 1996 and 2000. During the study, residents experiencedthe direct impact of two land-falling tropical cyclones. In addition to this, targeted andfocussed tropical cyclone awareness education was made increasingly available withinthe community. The social and demographic attributes that influence the individual'sperception of risk and contribute to our understanding of community vulnerability were examined and evaluated. Changes in the residents' attitudes, cyclone preparednessbehaviours and willingness to respond to cyclone warnings were monitored and measured. Analysis of early survey data indicated that community residents generally had some knowledge of cyclones but a limited understanding of cyclone processes and very little direct personal experience of the cyclone hazard. Individually and collectively, residents frequently demonstrated a biased perception of the risks associated with cyclones. The resident community was shown to be fragmented, with limited support being available to individual households. Initially, residents were found to be poorly prepared for cyclones and unlikely to respond to warnings appropriately. It appeared that, in the event of a land-falling tropical cyclone impacting the area, the community was highly vulnerable to unnecessary loss of property, livelihood and – in extreme circumstances – life. By 2000, Cairns community residents were somewhat better informed about cyclones and certainly more experienced. This paper provides some insight into how cyclone experience and education may synergisticly have contributed to a change in risk perceptions and a reduction in the vulnerability of Cairns residents to the tropical cyclone and storm surge hazards.     

Internet teaching foundation for the Remote Sensing Core Curriculum program

The Remote Sensing Core Curriculum (RSCC) was initiated in 1993 to meet the demands for a college-level set of resources to enhance the quality of education across national and international campuses. The American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing adopted the RSCC in 1996 to sustain support of this educational initiative for its membership and collegiate community. A series of volumes, containing lectures, exercises, and data, is being created by expert contributors to address the different technical fields of remote sensing. The RSCC program is designed to operate on the Internet taking full advantage of the World Wide Web (WWW) technology for distance learning. The issues of curriculum development related to the educational setting, with demands on faculty, students, and facilities, is considered to understand the new paradigms for WW-influenced computer-aided learning. The WWW is shown to be especially appropriate for facilitating remote sensing education with requirements for addressing image data sets and multimedia learning tools. The RSCC is located at http://www.umbc.edu/rscc     

Web Use in Geographical and Environmental Education: An International Survey at the Primary and Secondary Level

This article aims to study Web use and Web-based co-operation and collaboration in geographical and environmental education at the primary and secondary level around the world. Recent trends and future opportunities and challenges are taken into account. The theoretical part of the study considers Web use and different forms of Web-based co-operation. Web use and co-operation in education are classified as co-operative learning, collaborative learning or communal learning. Web use in geographical and environmental education is noted to be growing in significance. Web-based co-operation at any level of intensity is associated with many opportunities and challenges. The empirical part of this study involves a survey of geographical and environmental education researchers in various countries about their views of Web use in education. The results of this survey indicate that the Web in general finds minimal use in geographical and environmental education. As access to the Web is limited and only some pupils can use it, co-operation, particularly collaborative learning on the Web, is still rare in geographical and environmental education. The most often used application is e-mail. Researchers recognise the potential of the Web to enhance local, national and international co-operation, and to facilitate a better understanding of geographical and environmental issues at the grass-root level. Web-based learning can also help to increase and deepen the pupils' cultural understanding. Before that, however, problems in access, costs and teacher training must be solved. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Integrating Environmental Education Into Business Schools' Educational Plans in Finland

Environmental education in business school context has a significant effect on the way companies view environmental problems. Business schools train the future decision makers who can, with their own attitudes and practical actions, influence the contribution of business to the process of ecologically sustainable development. However, several studies show that no systematic thinking has been undertaken within business education as to what the educational prerequisites of the process of ecologically sustainable development are. In this article, I will firstly analyze by means of environmental education how business polytechnics in Finland have taken into consideration ecologically sustainable development. Secondly, I will raise the starting points for the development of the implementation of environmental education as part of the business schools▪ educational plans. Integrating environmental education into the vocational courses is identified as being one of the most effective ways of increasing the effectiveness of environmental education. Thirdly, the emphasis is on identification of barriers of integrating environmental education into the educational plans of business polytechnics. Theoretically, the article is attached to the objectives and learning concepts of environmental education and to educational planning theory in general. The empirical data are based on interviews I conducted 1999–2000 in all Finnish polytechnics offering business education. My article increases theoretical and practical understanding of how environmental education should be implemented in business education and how the current situation could be developed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The changing nature of, and approaches to, UK coastal management at the start of the twenty-first century

As we enter the twenty-first century, effective coastal management will become more of a central issue for coastal users and governors alike. The new century sees the review of many of the UK's existing management plans, and the subsequent publication of revised versions. Some of these new editions will have to show changes from their predecessors because of natural processes of erosion and accretion, yet other changes will be because of human interference. In this, we mean the continued ignoring of previous management plan recommendations regarding new development and coastal usage. Coastal management needs to adapt and develop, yet along with this, increased education and awareness is also necessary to allow users to understand and appreciate what is being recommended in management plans.     

Geography Education: The Glass Is Half Full and It's Getting Fuller

This article examines the recent progress of geography education as an academic subfield of geography and as an area of activity in K–12 education. Challenges to both endeavors are described. A restructuring of geography education's research program that focuses on spatial thinking and reasoning and merges applied and theoretical research is proposed.     

A Place for Geography in the Liberal Arts College?

This study charts the presence of geography at liberal arts colleges and explores the relationship between the liberal arts and the study of geography. The results of this study reveal a paradox: geography embodies many of the ideals of a liberal arts education and yet this study indicates an absence of degree‐granting geography programs at 93% of institutions. Geography thrives, however, at a select group of liberal arts colleges, and these colleges are disproportionately important as the undergraduate origin for doctorate recipients in geography.     

‘Committing to Place’ at the Local Scale: the potential of youth education programs for promoting community participation in regional natural resource management

Emerging approaches to environmental governance require a greater level of community participation than did previous approaches in which these responsibilities largely rested with government agencies. There is consequently a need for increased engagement with NRM among a broad community sector. This paper examines initiatives by two prominent government agencies, the Murray–Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) and the National Museum of Australia (NMA), to engage school children from regional communities using education programs that focus on place and environmental health. We focus on the MDBC's International Riverhealth Conference held in Mildura in 2003 and the associated Murray–Darling Basin TalkBack Classroom sponsored by the NMA and the Parliamentary Education Office (PEO). We explore how key themes of local scale, place-based identities, youth voice and critical engagement are developed in these programs and consider how they relate to the environmental agency of children. We then reflect on the potential for the kinds of environmental agency promoted through these programs to help build the capacity of local communities to progress larger goals of environmental restoration and sustainability in the Murray–Darling Basin. The evaluation research reported here forms part of the Committing to Place research project, an Australian Research Council Linkage grant involving the University of Tasmania, the National Museum of Australia and the Murray–Darling Basin Commission.     

Traces of the secondary Geography curriculum

Abstract: Expressions of dissatisfaction about the post‐compulsory Geography curriculum in the early 1970s were unusually concerted, leading to the creation of a National Geography Curriculum Committee. This essay reviews this history and the resulting Syllabus for Schools: Geography Forms 5–7 as a prelude to a discussion of contemporary curriculum development. The essay argues that curriculum development from 1975 and the ‘education reforms’ of the late 1980s failed to produce conditions in which satisfactory outcomes for a Geography curriculum can be assured in 2005, and that a new and concerted period of participation in curriculum discussion is required. Some goals for this process are outlined in the final section of the paper.     

工程测量高职教育存在的问题与改革建议

主要阐述工程测量高职教育中在教师的选聘、课程的设置、实习设备、技能考核、顶岗实习等方面出现的问题。通过对以上问题的分析,探求工程测量高职教育的改革思路,并提出教改的个人观点。