Remote sensing analysis and statistical methods were used to analyze the coastal dunes of Plum Island, Massachusetts. The research methodology used provides an example of a student project for remote sensing, geomorphology, or spatial analysis courses at the university level. (RM)

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…

Students frequently struggle when scientific instruction seems divorced from personal experience, especially in the physical sub-disciplines, like climatology, where exercise books often present historical or abstracted case studies. In contrast I present a three-phase project involving student input on experimental design, data collection, and…

Describes a college-level geography project for students limited to urban areas. Students investigate the rock-weathering process through library resources, then observe, collect, and analyze data about stone monuments. An individually written report concludes the project. (KC)

Climatology field experiences are described showing that midlatitude cities show manifestations of the modified thermal environment known as the heat island. Suggestions for project planning and precautions regarding weather, timing, and safety are included. (AV)

Undergraduate students increase their understanding of human geography and become aware of their community's health ecology by examining the degree and geographical pattern of dog-associated health hazards in Athens, Georgia, and by studying the behavioral patterns and attitudes of Athens's residents that might be causally related to these health…

Suggests using city directories to integrate original geographic research into the classroom. Explains that using directories allows students to think geographically, teaches map skills, and provides the basis for field experience. Provides a case study of the ethnic patterns using the city directory of Sacramento, California. Illustrates other…

This paper reports on the design and implementation of a project-based course--World Water Problems--that was introduced within the framework of introductory undergraduate geography education. The aims of the course were twofold: (1) to cultivate in students a world geographic perspective on water problems; and (2) to conduct an original research…

Uses the U.S. General Land Office Survey as a source of data for reconstruction of local presettlement vegetation patterns in the United States. Data serve as a basis for an introductory biogeography course at Indiana University, Indianapolis. Includes field exercises, questions, and tables of frequency of witness-trees records. (NL)

Presents a geography program to show students why the European Community was formed. Involves student research of economic data, creation of a computer database on the European Community, and simulation of trading. Emphasizes geographic themes of movement, region formation, and change in response to economic forces. Includes game rules, sample…

Presents a classroom project dealing with tropical deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Addresses environmental consequences and economic, social, and political causes. Involves both lectures and individual research and reports by student groups on deforestation causes. Includes a note-playing activity in which students make recommendations for…

Describes an undergraduate course in applied shoreline management offered in three different formats: traditional lecture, half-lecture half-collaborative, and fully cooperative. Student evaluations significantly supported the fully cooperative format over the others. Discusses the reasons for this and includes examples of the questions used in…

Reports on a field project that allowed students to engage in problem solving, gather field data, and apply geographic concepts and tools. Students conducted a topographic survey of a shoreline and classified, counted, and weighed litter collected from the shoreline. Discusses the classification system and the students' findings. (MJP)