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…

This article presents a field technique that exposes students to the indirect effects of habitat fragmentation on plant distributions through studying edge effects. This assignment, suited for students in an introductory biogeography or resource geography class, increases students' knowledge of basic biogeographic concepts such as environmental…

The use of field classes and the need for university master planning are presented as a way to enhance learning. This field-oriented, goal-oriented approach to learning is proposed as a general model for university-level geographic education. This approach is presented for physical geography classes, but could also be applied to other subdivisions…

Discusses how instructors can design a local field trip for undergraduate students enrolled in an economic geography class. The purpose of the field trip is to help students observe and interpret familiar scenes in terms of geographical concepts such as central place theory, changing land use, and spatial competition. (RM)

States that firsthand observations of the dynamic process that shapes landforms are important to understanding physical geography. Posits that locally planned, short-duration field exercises to study miniature or fourth-order landforms will enhance instruction about these fundamental geographic concepts. (DB)

Outlines a method for conducting a rural cultural-landscape field project. Notes that this activity is especially useful with students whose life experiences are primarily urban. Describes a cemetery survey, a small town reconnaissance, and rural land and building survey. Provides examples of student generated materials. (KO)

Advocates that geography teachers undertake field studies of human systems with their students. Describes a learning process in which teachers take students to a human system (supermarket, hotel) and guide them through exploration and analysis of the system with the goal of building skills that can transfer to other geographic tasks. (MJP)

Describes a primary-level field geography program in which students explore the geography and archaeology of their rural community. Presents a set of mapping activities to help students understand cardinal directions and use locational skills. Concludes that the program has successfully involved students, parents, and community members 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)