Gerrymandering, or more broadly legislative redistricting, is almost unique as a focus of geographic inquiry in that a typical young adult will (a) know what it is, (b) recognize it as geography, and (c) think it is important. These qualities make redistricting an excellent choice for drawing students into the discipline of geography while…

Prior to the 1980s, Turkey experienced a period of vicious political polarisation and even violent conflicts. The 1980 coup administration strived to reach an agreement regarding nationalism, religion, and Kemalism. Following the military coup of 1980, the Social Studies course was abandoned in secondary schools in 1985 and the National History,…

Three decades ago, Stephen Kemmis (1990) argued that curricula provide insights into how nations and states interpret themselves and how they want to be interpreted. He also noted that 'debates about curriculum reveal fundamental concerns, uncertainties and tensions which preoccupy nations and states as they struggle to adapt to changing…

The purpose of this article is to examine how geography is represented and positioned in primary and secondary (referred to here as K-12) education in the United States through a critical analysis of the content and implementation of the National Geography Standards, "Geography for Life." We begin by providing context on the organization…

Geography lessons center on a language-based product with socially relevant geographic content. The subject of geography in secondary schools in Germany faces three major challenges that make a stronger focus on language in the monolingual geography classroom necessary. First, more than 30 percent of German pupils in secondary schools have a…

The massive open online course (MOOC) is a new approach for teaching online. MOOCs stand apart from traditional online classes in that they support thousands of learners through content and assessment mechanisms that can scale. A reason for their size is that MOOCs are free for anyone to take. Here we describe the design, development, and teaching…

How school geography should be taught has been a longstanding issue for geography educators. In some countries, state or national level curriculum predicates how the subject should be taught in schools. This paper examines these questions in relation to existing frameworks of conceptualizing school geography, such as the International Charter on…

This article explores the contemporary function and value of field-oriented geography experiences for university-level students. The article details the design and delivery of an interinstitutional field course that partnered faculty and students--both graduate and undergraduate--from two geography programs with different curricular and research…

Describes a workshop designed to communicate to students the idea of appropriate technology in soil conservation enabling them to experience concepts in the geography of development. Explains that the workshop was evaluated by students using open and closed style questions. Includes references. (CMK)

Argues that students with limited high school geography education may identify regional courses with typical geography, and that these courses may play a significant role in recruiting geography majors. Discusses the role of a regional course in a geography curriculum and the structuring of the course to avoid common instructional deficiencies.…

An analysis of the content and methods of college courses in map use yields a three-section result. The first is a rather traditional overview of the general uniformity in content (scale, coordinates, symbols, relief, and directions) but some diversity in methods. The focus is usually on map use skills. The second part classifies and analyzes the…

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…

Outlines the rationale for a course designed to deliver key spatial skills to a large cohort of students using computer-aided learning methods and the World Wide Web. Examines the results in the context of using technology to enhance learning. Follows up by noting and assessing subsequent changes to the course. (DSK)

Attempts to differentiate the characteristics of courses that involve token empowerment from those that involve deeper empowerment. Describes a course where students role-played the part of consultants involved in group work involving global issues. Includes a chart that outlines the components of token and deep empowerment. (MJP)