Developing students' systems thinking is an often-posed demand in education for sustainable development (ESD) and science literacy. Several studies have shown that systems thinking can be fostered in students of different education levels. Therefore, science teachers who are required to teach ESD-relevant topics should be proficient in systems…

How to improve geography education via teacher preparation programs has been a concern for nearly three decades, but few examples of a single, comprehensive university-level course exist. The purpose of this article is to share the model of a pre-service geography education methods course. Within the course, geography content (physical and social)…

Quantitative reasoning and interdisciplinary skills are central to real-world environmental problem solving. Enhancing those skills for students in environmental programs will help them succeed as future environmental professionals. This paper describes an approach that uses an applied geophysical imaging course to enhance quantitative reasoning…

Field-based undergraduate geography courses provide numerous pedagogical benefits including an opportunity for students to acquire employable skills in an applied context. This article presents one unique approach to teaching geographic field methods using paleoecological research. The goals of this course are to teach students key geographic…

Geographic information science (GIS) features a wide range of disciplines and has broad applicability. Challenges associated with rapidly developing GIS technology and the currently limited teaching and practice materials hinder universities from cultivating highly skilled GIS graduates. Based on the idea of "small core, big network," a…

This article discusses attempts to revive gender in the context of the geography curriculum at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. The reluctance of Dutch geography/-ers to embrace gender geography is related to the way in which the discipline has been understood and practised in the past and by whom as well as to the neglect of gender…

The article focuses upon an experiment in a university class designed specifically to teach geographic concepts. Attention is placed on the degree certain concepts can be learned and some factors which affect the degree of learning. (Author)

Reports results of a study designed to assess the effects of organizing a physical geography course according to the General Theory of Systems in order to help students think about the environment in more holistic terms. Concludes that more committed, achievement-oriented students did better under this approach, while those with a nonacademic…

Described here are efforts to modify instructional procedures in a spatial organization course given in 1971, and the roles of the professor, course monitor (author), and students in this experiment. The objectives of the modification were: a) to improve methods for determining student learning; b) to determine the relationship between student…

A project involving third-year college geography students in determining the most accurate method of predicting mean flow velocity in a stream, using three different methods of estimating Manning's roughness coefficient, is described and evaluated. (Author/RM)

Described is a project that involved undergraduate geography students in developing a model of the accessibility of the pre-school population in Cardiff (England) to child care clinics. Programing skills were acquired through spatial modelling. Networks of mini- and micro-computers were used. (Author/RM)

A meteorological instruments course that provided undergraduate geography students the opportunity to use and/or observe meteorological equipment while also preparing for possible internships with the National Weather Service is evaluated and suggestions for improving it in the future are offered. The paper first provides a general course…

Described are two approaches for using newspapers to teach local, regional, or state geography courses to college students. In the first approach, the instructor developed a manual to supplement an introductory geography course which examined spatial patterns of various phenomena as they are found in the Cincinnati (Ohio) metropolitan area. He…

Discusses theoretical and practical problems arising from an educational and political commitment to challenging racism through geography teaching. Focuses on student reactions to the anti-racist approach by reviewing the findings of an evaluation of a course taught at University College London. Provides teaching strategies for using this…

This paper evaluates two experimental social studies courses, Mass Communication (Grade 9) and Man and his Environment (Grade 12); both were judged to have merit. A copy of a questionnaire given to the ninth graders, student responses, and a description of the Media Development Centre at the test school are included. (DLG)