Capstones in professional masters-level programs serve a unique nexus of developing professional, industry-specific competencies within a graduate-level academic setting. Universities offering such degree programs must demonstrate the benefits of an academic approach to working professionals, while focusing on the development or enhancement of a…

There are increasing pressures within the higher education sector to incorporate digital pedagogies into teaching and learning, a trend amplified by recent extensive recourse to online delivery within the sector. This trend carries with it both opportunities and challenges in effectively fostering those graduate competences that a converging…

Teaching geographic information systems (GIS) requires linking concepts with technical skills, which can be challenging, especially in standard lecture and laboratory-format courses. This paper reports on an introductory undergraduate GIS course that incorporated a community-driven problem-based learning exercise as a major component of the…

Drawing on experiences from a project conducted in the "Drentsche Aa" area in the Netherlands, this article discusses the concept of the "rural atelier" as a form of problem-based learning. The rural atelier principle was used originally in rural development planning and described as such by Foorthuis (2005) and Elerie and…

Assessment is a key component of the learning process. In order to maximize student learning, instructors need to provide students with appropriate, explicit and timely assessment. Despite the potential benefits of problem-based learning, some instructors may be reluctant to adopt this approach because it will require them to modify their current…

While some geographers have embraced active learning as a means to engage students in a course, many others stick to conventional teaching methods. They are often deterred by suggestions that it can be difficult to implement active learning where students have no prior knowledge of a subject, that active learning requires too much work of…

How, where and why GIS is taught has been debated heavily in the geography literature. This article is a contribution to that debate, because it offers a new perspective from which to teach GIS: problem-based learning. In a problem-based learning classroom, theoretical foundations and the real world of problems are understood as constitutive of…

Problem-based learning (PBL) works with a series of problems that form the syllabus for a course or the basis of a curriculum. Learning occurs through the definition of the problem and its attempted resolution. PBL is challenging but offers much potential for geography with its interdisciplinary character. The challenge to geography lecturers is…

Recommends employing problem-based learning (PBL) in the preparation of geography students for field classes. Utilizing PBL students work on problems drawn from professional practice with the assistance of tutors. Briefly reviews the characteristics, contributions, and issues of PBL and provides an undergraduate geography case study. (MJP)