This article reports some of the findings of a longitudinal ethnographic research study on the intercultural transition experiences of 50 engineering students in a China-U.K. articulation program. It focuses on the interaction between these students and the U.K.-based cohort, mainly home students. The findings indicate that lack of suitable…

Over the last two decades Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has received increasing attention. Due to the close affinity that geography as a school subject shares with both theoretical constructs and methodologies of ESD, geography has assumed a key position in the implementation of ESD in formal education. Still, little attention has so…

Foucault's notion of heterotopia offers a novel way to understand teachers' conceptualizations of childhood, in juxtaposing adult memories of childhood with their present context of teaching children. Memory writing prompts were given to 41 early childhood teachers, and the resulting written narratives were analyzed as heterotopic spaces. The…

Limited research exists that considers the usefulness of outdoor learning as a legitimate pedagogical approach for the delivery of a mainstream secondary school curriculum. To address this shortcoming, we investigated the ways in which mathematics and geography teachers and students from three secondary schools in Scotland responded to the…

"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…

Graduate attributes are a framework of skills, attitudes, values and knowledge that graduates should develop by the end of their degree programmes. Adopting a largely qualitative approach and using semi-structured interviews, this paper outlines students' experiences at a national undergraduate research conference over three years and evidences…

Policy around the legal status and social rights of the nation's estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants is unresolved, making it imperative that PK-12 schools and educators prepare for challenges to undocumented students' educational access. In 2008, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appeared near an elementary school, which required…

Teaching education is Ireland is currently undergoing significant structural and conceptual changes. School placement is at the centre of these reforms. This article reports the findings of an all-Ireland study which investigates student teachers' experiences of teaching geography during their school placements. Based on data collected from…

Students' conceptions are a central learning condition. Until now there have only been qualitative results regarding the important geographical area of the desert, especially its location and formation. Therefore this study surveys students' conceptions (N = 585; n = 448 without pre-instruction on deserts and n = 137 with pre-instruction on…

Young children are naturally inquisitive, and teachers often invite them to question, challenge, and create to expand their ever growing knowledge base. This article describes an inspiration one kindergarten teacher had when she overheard two children in her class discussing their recent experiences at an airport. The students were sharing some of…

This article examines the use of concept mapping for formative and summative assessment of northeast Florida middle school students' knowledge of human geography. The students were participants in an afterschool, academic, college reach-out program that provided opportunities to test concept mapping strategies that support spatial thinking and…

Computer games, whether accessed online or through commercial software, have learning potential in educational settings. However, alignment with national, state, or local curriculum requirements can create a barrier. The purpose of this study was to conduct a content analysis of selected games that could be used in a sixth grade geography or…

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…

The regional divisions termed as "Latin America" versus "Anglo-America" used by many geographers do not fully reflect the cultural and political trends in the world today. "Latin" is a term that was coined by the French Emperor Napoleon the III in order to justify Mexico's being ruled by Maximillian, and later picked…

Scholars trained and credentialed in disciplines have a vast array of response options when challenged to engage with others from other disciplinary backgrounds. By considering the ways in which disciplines are like cultures and putting acculturation theory squarely into the domain of interdisciplinary studies, this article takes a new look at…