GIS professional development for teachers: lessons learned from high-needs schools

University faculty partners from the Departments of Geography and Instruction and Teacher Education at a large, public university collaborated with K-12 teachers and the leadership of a rural school district in order to investigate the crosscutting content of science, mathematics, and geography through the integration of web-based GIS technologies. The project explored the critical connections among technology, pedagogy, and content with a particular emphasis on developing technology-enhanced, inquiry-based lessons in which the teachers and their students used GIS technologies to analyze, visualize, and present data in real-world contexts. The findings highlight the importance of well-structured professional development that builds community, integrates diverse content and pedagogical expertise, provides feedback and coaching, and is of sufficient duration to effect change.     

基于整合理论的高校教师管理

整合理论实质就是对组织所拥有的资源进行优化配置,使其协调发展,产生最大效益.对于高校,教师是所拥有的不可缺少,最具有潜力的资源,这种资源所发挥的协同作用存在巨大的潜力.从整合理论的角度,分析了高校教师管理方面的整合问题,提出了高校教师管理过程中应该注意的问题.     

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.     

Teaching American Indian Geography and History with New Perspectives: The Lodge Pole River Project Example

Abstract

A three-year institute called “The Lodge Pole River Project” was designed to change educator perceptions of American Indian historical geography and encourage the creation of balanced and culturally sensitive American Indian K-12 curriculum. This project offered unique opportunities to assess a geography institute's impact upon teacher knowledge and perceptions towards Native people and pedagogical approaches to teaching about American Indians and their landscapes. The assessment suggests that three weeks of field work, archival research, and curriculum writing increased participant knowledge of American Indian history and culture, solidified sympathetic perceptions and attitudes towards Native people, and strengthened the ability of educators to offer different interpretations of American Indian geography and history to their students.     

Reform of Teacher Education: An Opportunity for Geographers

Abstract

This paper focuses on the context and major efforts designed to reform teacher education in the nation's universities. An overview of systems governing and impacting teacher education is provided, with focus on the issues and conflicting forces that form the context within which teacher education-and geography education—find themselves. The paper concludes with a discussion of general trends in education reform and renewal and leadership opportunities open to geographers.     

Norwegian school geography and geographical education: A new research field?

Despite having a long-standing relationship, teacher education and geography in primary and secondary education in Norway has received little attention as a research field within academic geography until recently. The author asks: How has Norwegian school geography related to geography taught at universities? Where does research on school geography and geographical education stand today and where should it go from here? She examines the development of the role played by academic geographers in the field from the 1970s until the present. Some potential future venues for this emerging research field are suggested on the basis of an examination of what themes are current focal points for research and comparing them to what other countries consider essential in their teacher education.     

Toward a Typology of Changes in Primary Teachers' Awareness of Geography Based on Receiving Graduate Education

This study illuminates the effects of graduate education on primary teachers' awareness of geography. Data were collected through interviews with twenty-one teachers who held M.A. or Ph.D. degrees in geography and analyzed using Straussian-grounded theory. The participants were categorized into four types. Many teachers (type A) showed meaningful refinement in their awareness of geography, and some of them (type B and C) identified themselves as experts in primary geography. However, a few participants (type D) showed only marginal development of their geographic knowledge. These results suggest the potential for improvements to graduate education in primary geography and for primary teachers.     

Geographic Information Technologies + Project-Based Science: A Contextualized Professional Development Approach

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of using a long-duration, project-based science professional development model on the acquisition of declarative knowledge and basic terminology associated with the use of geographic information technologies (GIT), teachers' self-assessed confidence in using GIT skills, and the implementation of GIT in participants' classrooms. Results suggest that a long-duration, project-based science model was effective in teaching GIT declarative knowledge and raising teachers' self-confidence in using GIT tools. The academy was funded through a grant from the US Department of Education with additional support from Environmental Science Resources Institute (ESRI), Inc., and members of the New Mexico Geographic Information Council.     

工业过程仿真培训系统教师指令机设计与实现

介绍了基于图形化编程语言LabVIEW的工业仿真培训系统中教师指令机的设计和实现，给出了PID控制算法、串级控制、TCP／IP通讯、仿真状态的保存及恢复、时标的改变、状态的切换等教师指令机具体功能实现程序。用这种方式建立教师指令机功能已在加氢精制仿真培训系统中实现并成功投入使用。     

An understanding of geography: The perspectives of English primary trainee teachers

There have been few studies of trainee teachers' conceptions of the term ‘geography’. Building on these, this study identifies a number of conceptions of geography held by primary school trainee teachers in England. Their ideas are compared with their understanding of the reasons for teaching geography to young children. Similar outcomes emerge. While a small number of primary trainee teachers see geography education as concerned with the study of places, a slightly larger group view teaching geography as developing children's sense of responsibility for the earth and its people. However, by far the largest groups of students perceive geography's role to be to develop younger children's awareness and knowledge of the environment. Additionally, a sizeable group of trainees see geography as providing knowledge about the features and countries of the world. The implications of these findings are considered for the brief geography study units which primary teacher trainees take as part of their initial teacher training programme in English higher education. The conclusion is that it is important to widen primary trainee teachers' perspectives during even the briefest of units, not least to enable them to teach the national curriculum requirements for geography in primary schools. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.