This paper details the process and results of redesigning an introductory undergraduate World Geography course, from a survey of world regions to a project-based course. Through two student projects, one tracing commodities and another eliciting migration experiences, the course renders the world not as the sum of discrete regions but as the…

Amid the shift to virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, educators across disciplines were faced with developing new strategies for active learning. This article discusses findings from a case study of using Google Earth for virtual field trips and projects in an undergraduate Geography of North America course, assessing the process of…

Based on students' reflections and testimonials, we examined what it takes to help students become engaged in an online course designed with educators and education researchers in mind. The purpose of this paper is to provide the readers with insights into creating an online learning environment where students succeed by taking active roles and…

This study examines the application of photovoice as a pedagogical tool in a geography class. The main stages of photovoice were modified to suit the context for learning about a geographical issue, animal rights in relation to street cats in South Korea. Data were collected, and grounded theory was applied for the analysis. Based on the results,…

Designed for middle school grades, the National Geographic Geo-Inquiry Process engages students in geographic inquiry that begins with formulating a question that addresses an issue in the local community and ends with taking informed action to advocate for a specific, concrete solution. This research employs a pretest and post-test in classrooms…

Media are the arena where the discursive struggle over identities, cultures and geographies is carried out. Media organize our ways of thinking and acting vis-à-vis our ideas and perceptions of "us" and of "others." With the proliferation of participative information technology, (young) media users reinforce or challenge media…

Storm disasters are amplified in the coastal environment due to population pressures and the power of the sea. The upper-division/graduate university course "Coastal Storms" was designed to equip future practitioners with the skills necessary to understand, respond to, and mitigate for these natural disasters. To accomplish this, "Coastal Storms"…

Field trips have been acknowledged as valuable learning experiences in geography. This article uses Kolb's (1984) experiential learning model to discuss how students learn and how field trips can help enhance learning. Using Kolb's experiential learning theory as a guide in the design of field trips helps ensure that field trips contribute to…

GIS has shown promise in Project Based Learning (PBL) environments, but many obstacles exist in its integration into school curriculums. This article discusses the development and utilization of an online GIS tool that was created to illustrate that the perceptual gap between relevance and ease of use of GIS software can be bridged at the K-12…

Environmental change is ideally taught through field observations; however, leaving the classroom is often unrealistic due to financial and logistical constraints. The Internet offers several feasible alternatives using webcams that instructors can use to illustrate a variety of geographic examples and exercises for students. This article explores…

University instructors are increasingly drawing on active learning exercises to engender critical thinking skills among students. In this article, we introduce the design and implementation of an active learning exercise about mobility and transportation that we assigned in an introductory human geography class at the University of Georgia. The…

Films are often used in schools to illustrate geography, but doing so may favor mainly passive learning. An experiment with twenty-eight pupils aged thirteen years (a whole class) had the aim of using cinema to promote active geographical learning. First, it was ascertained what the dominant geographical stereotypes were among the pupils and the…

Active learning strategies include a variety of methods, such as inquiry and discovery, in which students are actively engaged in the learning process. This article describes several strategies that can be used in secondary-or college-level world geography courses. The goal of these activities is to foster development of a spatial perspective in…

This paper presents strategies for actively involving students in studying cultural geography through a research project on youth cultures. It provides a basic framework to investigate selected "subcultures" focusing on the origin and diffusion of each culture, its material and non-material aspects and the attributes and meanings of spaces used by…

Argues that hands-on, project-oriented teaching offers an ideal approach to integrating Geographical Information Systems (GIS) education and training. Presents a project-oriented GIS teaching experience as an instructional paradigm that can be used to ensure balance between conceptual GIS learning and software-based hands-on training in…