Presents a learning activity for students in upper elementary and junior high schools that capitalizes on the appeal of the Olympic Games. Using statistical information on the Games, students are asked to generate world maps indicating medal-winning countries. Includes sample Olympic data and maps. (DSK)

Outlines a course in Digital Terrain Analysis taught at Michigan State University (Lansing) during the 1997 spring semester. Explains that focus groups were conducted with enrolled students about the usefulness of the course material and with geography majors and non-geography majors to determine any barriers they might have in taking the course…

Role-playing activities are an example of active learning that introduces students to "real-world" situations. This paper discusses the development and assessment of a role-play that involves an undergraduate geography class in a local public land management process. This particular case study is useful because it reflects broader themes and…

A nation's folk literature offers a window into its people and their beliefs across time and geographic locations. Whether the stories are tall tales, creation stories, or fairy tales, they reveal insights into the make-up of the populace--what they believe, what motivates them, what their attitudes are, how they behave, and how time and place…

Geographical knowledge about foreign countries is considered to be a significant factor related to the successful marketing of goods and services in international markets-a not insignificant conclusion by experts given the sizable trade deficits run up by the United States in 2000 ($365 billion), 2001 ($346 billion), and 2002 ($435 billion).…

In this paper, the history of modern geographical education and training at Turkish universities from 1915 until today is briefly explained. At present, the number of departments of geography adds up to 13 and teacher training departments in geography are seven in total. Information is given about the structure of programmes and subjects selected…

Six physical geography textbooks published between 1901 and 2002 were qualitatively analysed for content and compared to the National Geography Standards. General relationships to dominant approaches to geography, content, and pedagogy of these textbooks were analysed. These textbooks reflect dominant approaches to geography at the time they were…

Over the last 20 years policy makers have introduced a number of measures intended to improve the quality of education provided by state secondary schools in England. The survey reported here, undertaken at the request of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), offers an insight into geography education in such schools with particular…

Recent events in England and Wales would suggest that geography teachers need to re-engage with their subject matter to enable them to improve how they teach the geography. However, this requires a detailed understanding of how teachers use their subject knowledge. This paper outlines how two geography teachers experience tension between how they…

When literature in the form of picture books was introduced to the social studies curriculum in the author's classroom, she wondered what her second-grade students would learn from it. She decided to investigate and ascertain whether the children learned geographic concepts when they were taught through a literature-based approach. Given the…

This study was conducted to assess interactive multimedia for aiding students with dyslexia to learn geography. Guided by the National Geography Standards, four sections of a lesson were created in two formats: traditional text and interactive multimedia. Forty-six eighth grade students (dyslexic and non-dyslexic) participated. They took a pretest…

The Sanders housing lawsuit in Pennsylvania provides a case study of how to incorporate current events into the teaching of cartography or population geography at the high school or college level. Settlement of the Sanders case resulted in the release of information about the segregation of public housing by race in the Pittsburgh area. The issues…

Women throughout the world are demonstrating solidarity and activism on behalf of environmental issues. A World Regional Geography course is an appropriate setting for discussing some of the contributions women make to protect the environment. Using case studies that draw upon women's environmental activism in four world cultures, this article…

Teaching methods in the 1880s and 1890s were influenced by the energies and publications of the Herbartians from Illinois State Normal University. Memorization was replaced by inductive questioning, field trips and the use of visual aids. Four men and one woman were followed by Douglas Clay Ridgley who built up the geography major and made tools…

Informal journal writing in freshman level World Regional Geography classes is discussed as an active learning method that helps students to develop their spatial perspective and gain a better understanding of the interconnected nature of geographic phenomena. In particular, students read about events in the world and write their ideas about the…