Rethinking Postgraduate Education in Geography: The Case of the Netherlands

This paper discusses reforms in postgraduate education in geography in the Netherlands in the context of Europeanization and globalization. Europeanization and globalization have resulted in challenges as well as opportunities for students and universities. In terms of internationalization, Europeanization and the global economic crisis have opposite effects. Although Europeanization has resulted in an increased international orientation of postgraduate students in geography, the global economic crisis and the resulting cuts in the university and students' budgets hamper other aspects of the internationalization of postgraduate education in the Netherlands.     

Developing Dialogic Learning Space: The Case of Online Undergraduate Research Journals

This paper explores the learning spaces associated with two geography undergraduate research journals. Wikis provide dedicated spaces for postgraduate reviewers to collaboratively develop constructive feedback to authors creating a supportive online learning environment. In becoming published authors, undergraduates reported that they gained not only academic recognition and curriculum vitae (CV) material but an ability to apply constructive criticism, a desire for more dialogue about their research and the motivation to publish further work in the future. This paper concludes that scaffolding the research writing process can be greatly enhanced by the strategic design of dialogic online learning space.     

Doing Independent Overseas Fieldwork 2: Getting Funding

The development and testing of a Web‐based GIS e‐learning resource is described. This focuses on the application of GIS for siting a nuclear waste disposal facility and the associated principles of spatial decision‐making using Boolean and weighted overlay methods. Initial student experiences in using the system are analysed as part of a research project on teaching GIS concepts to large numbers of students with little or no prior GIS experience. Some general thoughts on the utility of Web‐based GIS for learning and teaching are presented. Results from the first cohort of 167 undergraduate/postgraduate geography students using the system indicate that students find it easy to use, a useful aid to learning about the issues involved, and a thought‐provoking exercise in Internet‐based democracy.     

When bodies do not fit: an analysis of postgraduate fieldwork

Feminist geographers are increasingly examining embodied aspects of research. These embodied dimensions of fieldwork often build upon intersecting positionalities, yet studies focusing on bodily limitations encountered by feminists in the field are relatively few. In this article, we explore what it is like to be bodies that do not fit easily into the context within which they are supposed to be doing fieldwork. We are both female postgraduate students conducting fieldwork in the Global South. We have encountered, many times over, instances where, because of our sick and fatigued bodies, we have not been able to continue our work. We question the normalization of able-bodied postgraduate students by problematizing our own experiences, and argue that discourses of ability dominate fieldwork, in both its expectations and its conduct. This is especially the case for those with invisible disabilities because researchers may appear healthy but are not. As a result, postgraduate students may jeopardize their health for the sake of their research.     

Commerce and the European City Center: Modernization,Regeneration and Management

The Second European Congress on Commerce and City was held in Lille between 15 and 17 November 2000. It was organized by the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry under the umbrella of the French Presidency of the European Union. Its major aim was to discuss how, and under what conditions, the evolution of commerce in Europe can contribute to the renaissance of European cities. The congress included plenary sessions, the presentation of two major studies on commerce and urban regeneration in Europe, three guided study tours, and the discussion of 25 European best practices aggregated into four thematic workshops: city strategies, enterprise strategies, public-private cooperation, and urban planning tools and programmes. This paper identifies those best practices, highlights some of the discussed issues, and presents a synthesis of the congress's declaration.     

Doing Participatory Action Research and Doing a PhD: Words of Encouragement for Prospective Students

Participatory action research (PAR) carries the promise that academics can make a difference, an appealing prospect for many postgraduate students. This paper is written by an early career researcher who ‘survived’ a PAR PhD. Despite acknowledging the unique challenges faced by students attempting PAR, it argues that these have been overstated in much of the literature. This paper offers a detailed personal insight into the ways in which PAR and PhDs do (and do not) mix, and argues that successful PAR PhDs can be undertaken, contra the prevailing despondent rhetoric. It concludes with suggestions for ‘energizing’ PAR in graduate geographical education.     

Geography and representation: introduction

Simulation games have a long history in education and are well suited to learning about negotiation, power, relationships and uncertain outcomes. This paper reflects on the experience of using a semester-long simulation game to introduce postgraduate students to development policy. It focuses on three issues identified in the literature—realism, the role of staff and assessment—and maintains that the risks and uncertainties associated with simulation games are beneficial in ensuring effective learning about policy.     

Reflective Journals as a Tool for Auto-Ethnographic Learning: A Case Study of Student Experiences With Individualized Sustainability

This paper critically evaluates the use of journals as a pedagogic tool to encourage reflection, critique and self-analysis by students. Based within a postgraduate teaching module that has operated annually since 2008 and was awarded the Royal Town Planning Institute's Award for Teaching Excellence in 2009, reflexive journals were employed as a method of assessment which, supplemented by conventional lectures and student focus groups, sought to explore the relations, opportunities and obstacles for sustainable development at the individual level.     

Engaging Students in the Learning Process: The learning journal

This paper explores the usefulness of the learning journal as a means of actively engaging students in the learning process, based on a case study of a third-year undergraduate geography course. After briefly reviewing the literature on journal writing in different contexts, the paper outlines the approach adopted in the new geography course, in which students were given guidelines on how to write a journal that would be assessed as part of the course. Extracts from students' journals for this course are used to illustrate how they approached the task, and how they viewed the experience. It is concluded that the learning journal has good potential to increase student interest in and engagement with course material, to encourage and empower students to take more responsibility for their own learning, to be more reflective in their study, and to allow them to have a voice and provide valuable feedback to the teacher.     

Undergraduate student perceptions of assessment and feedback practice: fostering agency and dialogue

ABSTRACT

Assessment and feedback practices sit at the heart of education and the student experience. This paper reports on undergraduate perceptions of assessment and feedback in the Department of Geography at King’s College London, UK. Twenty-eight first and second-year students across six focus groups provided comments on their understanding of feedback, their feedback experiences, and what they felt could be improved. It was clear that students desired feedback that would help them improve summative performance, but were unsure of how best to use it and consequently had high expectations that led to dissatisfaction. Particular concern was expressed about marking and feedback consistency, and the inherent variation in practice they experienced. Many comments indicated a lack of student agency, which may reflect the power relations that students find themselves in within their community of practice. Finding ways of fostering agency and improving dialogue over perceptions and expectations are suggested to be important steps in improving assessment and feedback practice, and student satisfaction.     

Some Ideas and Reflections on Teaching 'Ideas' in Geography

This paper outlines the characteristics of a seminar on realism which forms part of the teaching of 'ideas and methods in geography' in the department concerned. The seminar requires each of about a dozen students to answer a specific question by reading a single paper, writing a summary answer to the question based on this source, and delivering an oral presentation. The questions are structured to deal with abstract theoretical issues at first, and then to consider the implications of these issues for research practice. The experience of the seminar is intended to help students prepare for an open-book examination, and to develop the research planning for their dissertations. Student feedback is reviewed, and ideas for modification of the seminar structure are discussed.     

Virtual Development and Virtual Geographies: Using the Internet to teach interactive distance courses in the global South

This paper evaluates the delivery and learning outcomes of an interactive postgraduate geography and development MSc programme taught partially over the Internet, to students living in some of the most connectivity-poor regions of the world. It focuses particularly on the experiences of course developers, tutors and students, with the distance strand of a Master's Programme pioneered by Royal Holloway, University of London, and IW:LEARN (International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network), a UNDP-implemented project of the Global Environment Facility. Issues of design and implementation are discussed, with particular reference to pedagogical and financial questions and the considerable technical and personnel difficulties encountered. Comparability of experience between distance and residential students forms a central concern.     

Implementing a Problem-Based Learning Approach for Teaching Research Methods in Geography

This paper first describes problem-based learning; second describes how a research methods course in geography is taught using a problem-based learning approach; and finally relates student and staff experiences of this approach. The course is run through regular group meetings, two residential field trips and optional skills-based workshops. Course evaluations improved markedly following the introduction of this approach and students appreciated the benefits of the problem-based learning approach, particularly through working in groups on authentic problems that were relevant to future workplace scenarios. They were also able to further develop a range of transferable skills, particularly in teamwork. However, they may not have increased other transferable skills (such as in oral communication) as much as desired due to the tendency for groups to draw on individual strengths to complete collaborative group tasks. Other concerns were group size, the high workload and coping with group dynamics. Tutors found the teaching to be enjoyable, relaxing and very rewarding but there were some anxieties due to the unpredictable nature of the course as well as frustration at knowing when to intervene. However, despite these difficulties for both students and staff, the authors are sufficiently encouraged by the response to continue teaching using a problem-based learning approach.     

Teaching Postgraduate Development Studies: Possibilities within geography

This article outlines theoretical insights generated at the crossroads of geography and development studies, and elaborates their implications for postgraduate education. Reflecting on curriculum design and teaching experiences at one university (the University of Colorado, Boulder), the analysis focuses on the strengths of geography as a disciplinary home for postgraduate training in development studies. To this end, and based on faculty and student projects, it examines the relevance of geographic debates around space, place and scale for understanding specific development questions. While most postgraduate education in development geography already takes account of these themes, this article aims to make explicit the intellectual rationale behind such a focus, and to provide specific substantive strategies relevant to putting geography at the centre of postgraduate development studies education.     

Effective Teaching of Research Design in Physical Geography: a case study

A problem-solving approach to the teaching of research design in physical geography is introduced. Focusing on the study of the effectiveness of a local river restoration scheme, students are empowered with the responsibility for and control of their learning by means of group discussions and decision making in a series of workshops. With carefully staged guidance by tutors, students devise research questions and execute their project, analysing data collected on a field day. Although students may find this approach to be challenging and demanding, they acquire research experience and develop key skills, such as visualisation of problems and capacity for logical thought, aided by critical self-appraisal of their performance. Such an approach is particularly relevant today because of subject benchmarking skills. Developing transferable skills, such as initiative and teamwork, valued by employers also promotes self-confidence. Using a case study, this paper considers the experiences of students and staff with this approach, identifying its strengths and weaknesses, and offers possible options for its development.     

Advanced Research Training in Human Geography: the Scottish Experience

Formal research training is integral to research degrees in human geography completed in UK higher education institutions today. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has been the driving force behind the formalization of research training. Arguably less well known among the ESRC research training recommendations is the stipulation that postgraduate research students complete advanced research training. This paper will draw upon the authors' experiences of the collaborative ESRC/Royal Scottish Geographical Society Advanced Research Training for Scottish Postgraduate Human Geographers. A detailed account of the advanced research training provision will be given, followed by staff and student reflections on the training. The paper concludes by considering what advanced research training offers to the PhD process and future developments in advanced research training.     

Reflections on the ESRC internship scheme for postgraduates

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in the UK is one of the main sources of funding for postgraduate study in human geography. For some years now, the ESRC has offered funded students the opportunity to apply to undertake a short internship in a government department or with a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). This paper provides a collective reflection from the perspective of four former postgraduates who completed different ESRC supported internships in the UK. We discuss the enhancement of writing skills for diverse audiences, the advancement of knowledge in diverse subject areas, and the opening up of employment opportunities as key benefits of participating in the ESRC internship scheme.     

The use of campus based field teaching to provide an authentic experience to all students

Abstract

Fieldwork is an important part of undergraduate degrees in Geography and has been shown to be an effective pedagogic strategy. Fieldtrips are often to remote locations, both residential and shorter day trips. For institutions, field trips can be costly in terms of money and staff time and difficult to timetable. Some students may have difficulty attending due to caring commitments or employment. For some, going to a novel environment to learn new skills can be overwhelming. At Askham Bryan College a “Field and Environmental Techniques” module for Foundation Degree level students, ran in weekly two hour sessions, for 24 sessions. These were formatted to suit the College timetable and to fit with students other commitments. It resulted in a structure re-think, moving from individual lectures and longer fieldtrips to an integration of theory and fieldwork in short sessions utilizing the campus environment. Student surveys revealed this structure benefited learning as they could link theory with practice and it prepared them for carrying out future fieldwork in novel locations. In addition, students highlighted the social benefits of the module. Social aspects of fieldwork are regularly reported as a benefit of residential trips, but it was an unexpected benefit of this module.     

Archaeology Underfoot: On-Campus Approaches to Education,Outreach, and Historical Archaeology at Brown University

This article explores the methods and outcomes of “The Archaeology of College Hill” (AoCH), a hands-on fieldwork course at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. The first half of this paper recounts the results of a three-year research program (2012–2014) on the Quiet Green of the university’s campus. This work identified a material assemblage associated with the school’s first official President’s House and uncovered evidence for over two centuries of student life. The second half of this article addresses our pedagogical methods, including elements of replicable course design and feedback from a qualitative survey on students’ impressions of the class. By situating this project within wider dialogues on the role of fieldwork in undergraduate teaching, we demonstrate the ways in which practical, on-campus projects like AoCH can reach a more diverse body of students, increase enrollments in other archaeology courses, and develop a more engaged, de-centered pedagogy.     

Using a Web-based Resource to Prepare Students for Fieldwork: Evaluating the Dark Peak Virtual Tour

This paper reports on development of a Dark Peak website and its use to prepare first-year geography students for a one-day physical geography field course in the south Pennines. The Virtual Tour (VT) component of the website is the main focus of this paper. Pre- and post-fieldwork evaluations of the first version of the VT by 195 students are presented with the revisions undertaken as a result of this feedback. Recommendations for the design and implementation of virtual fieldwork websites are made. The current version is available at http://www.art.man.ac.uk/Geog/fieldwork/