This paper discusses how geography's disciplinary ways of thinking can equip teachers "to organize deep geographical learning" about sustainable development in their students. These ways of thinking are based on the subject's core concepts, and the ones selected for discussion in this paper are environment, interconnection and place. The…

Although, a number of studies exists regarding students' experiences of Geography as a school subject, the gender differences in students' geographical knowledge and interests are rarely recognised. Drawing from the cognitive interest theory, and using a qualitative phenomenological design, this study explored the gender differences in the…

This article examines whether geography can provide the powerful knowledge that is a key element of a Future 3 curriculum, and an important component of the GeoCapabilities Project's proposals for the teaching of geography. Powerful knowledge is knowledge that gives students the intellectual ability to analyse, explain, predict, evaluate and think…

Pupils' conceptual change processes that have led to long-term changes in learning processes can be very challenging and interwoven with several issues. Meanwhile, school learning is often determined as fragmented, without providing connections to pupils' different life and societal contexts. In this study, Science, Technology, and Society (STS)…

Springs are an important hydrological concept because springs form an interface between underground and surface sub-systems of the hydrological cycle. Furthermore, springs are important suppliers of drinking water but are at risk today due to numerous anthropogenic interferences. The general knowledge of springs and their formation is usually…

Australia is in the process of implementing a national geography curriculum to replace the separate state and territory curriculums. The paper describes the process of curriculum development, and identifies the different groups that were involved. These included the board and staff of the national curriculum authority, geography teachers across…

This paper reports on the second part of a two pronged qualitative investigation that examines the ways in which Australian primary teachers conceptualise geography and geography teaching. In the first part of the project, 47 pre-service primary teachers were surveyed. In this paper, I draw on interviews with six in-service primary teachers to…

Remodeling of geography education has been an ongoing challenge recently. Constructivist pedagogy, employing tools of problem and model-based learning, offers new opportunities to meet these challenges. Geomodels, flumes and stream tables may ease the understanding of geographic processes through hand-on-experience for students. With a…

There are ongoing calls for research that identifies students' conceptions about geographical phenomena. In response, this study investigates junior secondary school students' (N = 95) conceptions about plate tectonics. Student response data was generated from semi-structured interviews-about-instances and a two-tiered multiple-choice test…

Climate change is an important theme in the investigation of human-environment interactions in geographic education. This study explored the nature of students' understanding of concepts and processes related to climate change. Through semi-structured interviews, data was collected from 27 Secondary 3 (Grade 9) students from Singapore. The data…

"Research has consistently found that pedagogy informed by knowledge of students' existing ideas is more efficient in promoting conceptual change than traditional methods of instruction". Learners in the sub-field of environmental geography exhibit preconceptions that frame and sometimes hinder their knowledge acquisition. Those…

This study attempted to investigate Hong Kong junior secondary students' conceptions of China before and after the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China, with a view to finding out any changes in their conceptions, and if any, the factors that might have contributed to these changes. The study found that, over the years from 1997 to 2009, students…

While Shulman argues that an important component of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is teachers' understanding of the alternative conceptions commonly held by students, relatively little is known about what students believe about many topics in the school curriculum. This paper focuses on a content area typically featured in Geography…

This paper explores substantive and methodological issues in relation to pupils' conceptions of geography. It draws on an in-depth qualitative study with 13-14-year-old pupils from three secondary schools. Selected pupils were interviewed numerous times about their geography classroom experiences and ideas about the subject in general. A detailed…

When discussing the topic "Hunger in Africa" with students, incorrect and biased ideas on the causes for hunger are revealed. In order to change the students' personal concepts it is necessary to become acquainted with their mental models. Therefore, a survey of Geography students' different personal theories concerning "Hunger in…