Compares the aims, structure, and methods of postgraduate training in Britain, Canada, and the United States and discusses common problems confronting students. Makes suggestions for smoothing the abrupt transition from undergraduate to postgraduate life in Britain so that degree completion rates will improve without sacrificing the quality of…

Presents an instructional unit in which grade 6 students used PFS:File to create a computerized database containing information about many countries. Six lessons are described: (1) introduction to a database; (2) selecting topics for the database form; (3) designing forms; (4) beginning research; (5) adding files; and (6) retrieving information.…

States that classroom debate can stimulate students to think critically about important issues and strengthen their abilities to express ideas logically. Outlines a teaching strategy that utilizes a debate format to improve students' verbal articulation as well as their writing skills. (Author/GEA)

This article is an essay on the importance of attention as a personal trait. Offers a definition of attention, reviews symptoms of inattention, and identifies the categories of objects which typically hold a person's attention. (JDH)

This paper reports on 30 years of data collected concerning the level of knowledge about Africa University of Minnesota junior- and senior-level students had. The data show the dominance of the Middle East in Western media and the level of confusion and lack of knowledge shown by most students. Concludes with recommendations concerning geography…

This article describes how the 1984 German school atlas, Seydlitz Weltatlas, can be used to enhance regular secondary or college geography instruction. The activities provided show how to integrate German language instruction and geography. (JDH)

A project involving third-year college geography students in determining the most accurate method of predicting mean flow velocity in a stream, using three different methods of estimating Manning's roughness coefficient, is described and evaluated. (Author/RM)

Facilities that teachers and students can use to store and access bibliographic materials on a computer, referred to as a bibliographic information system (BIS), are described. Advantages and disadvantages of the BIS in teaching are examined, and questions to consider before acquiring a BIS and how to acquire a BIS are discussed. (RM)

Presents a senior British academic's perspectives on geography's major concerns, priorities, and objectives. Topics include: geography as a discipline; structure and divisions of academic labor; teaching versus research; and future transformations. (TRS)

Rastafarians have used biblical geography to invest themselves with sanctity, status, and a global significance. They have reinterpreted the geography of the Bible in a novel manner that makes sense for them and provides a world map essential to their doctrine and manner of life. (RM)

Satisfactory completion of this self-contained map exercise will demonstrate student ability to use symbols, legends, scale, orientation, index, and grid in map reading and map use to give directions for way-finding. The exercise should take one class period to complete. (RM)

Describes a simulation game, "Kisan--The Game of Farming in India," that can be used to teach high school students about the rural environment of India. (RM)

Enthusiasm for the introduction of computer-based skills needs to be tempered by a realistic assessment of what is possible and desirable within the context of a balanced geography degree. To help teachers identify an appropriate role for computing in the undergraduate geography curriculum, a ladder of computing skills is outlined. (Author/RM)

At many colleges and universities, an opportunity exists for geographers to offer and popularize an interesting course that includes as its central theme geographical, geological, and ecological hazards and disaster. The course is outlined and described, and instructional materials are listed. (RM)

Exploratory data analysis (EDA) gives students a feel for the data being considered. Four applications of EDA are discussed: the use of displays, resistant statistics, transformations, and smoothing. (RM)