Geospatial Technologies as a Vehicle for Enhancing Graduate Education and Promoting the Value of Geography

Geospatial technologies (GSTs), such as geographic information systems, global positioning systems and remote sensing, present an avenue for expanding the already strong interdisciplinary nature of geography. This paper discusses how GSTs served as a common thread for a crosscutting faculty institute that was established to enhance graduate student teaching and learning at a comprehensive university. Results of this institute demonstrate that this effort advanced graduate education and promoted the value of geographic scholarship across the university.     

The sky is the limit: reconstructing physical geography from an aerial perspective

In an era of rapid geographical data acquisition, interpretations of remote sensing products are an integral part of many undergraduate geography degree schemes but there are fewer opportunities for collection and processing of primary remote sensing data. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) provide a relatively inexpensive opportunity to introduce the principles and practice of airborne remote sensing into field courses, enabling students to learn about image acquisition, data processing and interpretation of derived products. Two case studies illustrate how a low-cost “DJI Phantom Vision+” UAV can be used by students to acquire images that can be processed using Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry software. Results from a student questionnaire and analysis of assessed student reports showed that using UAVs enhanced student engagement and equipped them with data processing skills. The derivation of bespoke orthophotos and Digital Elevation Models has the potential to provide students with opportunities to gain insight into various remote sensing data quality issues, although additional training is required to maximize this potential. Recognition of the successes and limitations of this teaching intervention provides scope for improving future UAV exercises. UAVs are enabling both a reconstruction of how we measure the Earth’s surface and a reconstruction of how students do fieldwork.     

Remote sensing,GIS, the geospatial technologies,and Unmanned Airborne Vehicles at Aberdeen University

ABSTRACT

Aberdeen University has a long history of using aerial photography, photogrammetry, cartography, remote sensing and surveying in Geography teaching and research. The development of an MSc in Environmental Remote Sensing (ERS) in 1987 offered students a new opportunity to specialise further in this rapidly evolving area of technology. The programme has continued to thrive and the MSc in GIS celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 2017. Recently the degree has included courses on current applications of GIS and web-GIS. The introduction of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) remote sensing broadened the appeal and competitiveness of the degree, ensuring students have access to cutting edge remote sensing technology. Alongside PhD studies, applied academic research in the Aberdeen Institute for Coastal Science and Management (AICSM), and the Unmanned Airborne Vehicle (UAV)/Unmanned Airborne System (UAS) Centre for Environmental Monitoring and Mapping (UCEMM), make widespread use of GIS and remote sensing. As the geospatial technologies continue to evolve and are integrated with drones the role of education, training and research utilising these technologies will become integral to the Geography degree. Geospatial technologies have and will continue to provide valuable tools and techniques for graduates.     

Development of a web-enabled learning platform for geospatial laboratories: improving the undergraduate learning experience

This paper describes a web-enabled learning platform providing remote access to geospatial software that extends the learning experience outside of the laboratory setting. The platform was piloted in two undergraduate courses, and includes a software server, a data server, and remote student users. The platform was designed to improve the quality of the learning experience and to increase student confidence and proficiency with software-based geospatial skills. Laboratory grades of students using the platform were significantly higher than those of students who did not use the platform, and survey responses reported that students overwhelmingly liked the convenience of the platform, which allowed them to work from any location.     

浅谈小学语文教学中的经典教育

教育的本质属性是培养人的社会活动,即根据一定的社会现实和未来的需要,遵循青年一代身心发展的规律,使之全面发展,成为适应一定社会需要和促进社会发展的人。袭轰烈烈的教改下的新课程的基本取向是为了每个学生的发展,这也正是教改的灵魂。换言之,培养学生的独立性和自主性,也就是让每一个学生的个性充分发展,培养出丰富多彩的人格。《全日制义务教育语文课程标准》提出了全新的语文教育理念：全面提高学生的语文素养,准确把握语文学科的特点,积极倡导自主、合作、探究的学习方式,努力建设开放而有活力的语文课程。而经典教育对于学生能力及内涵的培养是必要的。     

新课改下信息技术教学的几点思考

新课程改革中教师的最大变化是角色的变化,教师不再只是知识技能的传授者和管理者,而是培养学生学习能力的促进者和引导者。学生的学也不再只是技能的简单学习,而是要求学生能有独立的自主学习能力。那么怎样促进和引导学生去学习就成了我们信息技术老师面临的主要问题,也是值得我们去思考的关键问题。     

浅析高中班主任老师与学生和谐关系的建立

班主任与学生的关系成为了学校教育中最主要的关系,从某种程度上来讲,班主任老师与学生关系的好坏直接反应了班级文化建设的优劣,甚至直接决定班级建设的成败。     

Providing University Education in Physical Geography Across the South Pacific Islands: Multi-modal Course Delivery and Student Grade Performance

Enormous distances across the vast South Pacific hinder student access to the main Fiji campus of the regional tertiary education provider, the University of the South Pacific (USP). Fortunately, USP has been a pioneer in distance education (DE) and promotes multi-modal delivery of programmes. Geography has embraced DE, but doubts remain about comparability of various modes of study. This paper offers a diachronic examination of final grade performance of undergraduate physical geography students learning via three different modes. Data collected over 10 years on the pass rates of >1300 students are analysed. Various influences on student achievement are highlighted.     

The Role of Remote Sensing in Ethnohistorical Research

Abstract

Recent changes in ethnohistorical theory and methods have necessitated new research strategies. Remote sensing technology has a great deal to offer in constructing new research methods and consequently can play an important role in this transition. It is important, however, that the researcher first attempt to “demystify” remote sensing. This can be accomplished by learning the intricacies of various sensors and noting previous applications within ethnohistory, archaeology, and related fields. It is also important that the scholar know that national and international archival sources of imagery and aerial photography exist.     

Student perspectives on the teaching of geographical information systems (GIS) in geography degrees

In an era when graduate employability is a key concern, the teaching of geographical information systems (GIS) has become a subject of considerable interest. This paper reports on a study of the GIS student learning experience using student survey data from six UK geography undergraduate programmes. The findings show that although students’ satisfaction levels are generally encouraging, more could be done to capitalize on the opportunities GIS offers both for the discipline and for our students. Recommendations are made for further enhancing the profile and quality of GIS pedagogy in geography curricula.     

Pre-service teachers learn to teach geography: a suggested course model

How to improve geography education via teacher preparation programs has been a concern for nearly three decades, but few examples of a single, comprehensive university-level course exist. The purpose of this article is to share the model of a pre-service geography education methods course. Within the course, geography content (physical and social) is paired with different pedagogic strategies (visual, kinesthetic, technology) and other content areas (reading, history) to refine pre-service teacher conceptualizations of geography as a subject and to see geography’s potential inclusion across various grade levels. End of course student evaluations demonstrate student satisfaction and learning, while post-course interviews similarly indicate that the class was (1) more useful and practical than other education program coursework for beginning ones teaching career, and (2) stimulated the continued use of geographic concepts and materials.     

Learning across distances: an international collaborative learning project between Berlin and Turku

Many geographers graduating from universities enter an international and project-based professional life, which includes working in geographically dispersed project teams. In Europe, the Bologna process aligned study programs and supported student mobility to prepare students for such a work environment. However, research on higher education has reported few examples of international courses that include collaborative learning during which students have experience of both co-location and geographical dispersion. This paper reports on a pilot course that implemented international student-led research projects in two Geography Departments: the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the University of Turku. We monitored the students’ learning processes via a survey that was administered at the beginning, middle and end of the course, complemented by observations, informal discussions and student team reports. We analysed the survey and observations within a proximity-distance framework to identify the key challenges and good practices for supporting collaborative learning. We developed a model for organising an international course that applies both geographical distance and co-location.     

Transitions in U.S. Higher Education: implications for geography learning

In the United States, higher education institutions and structures governing higher education are going through dramatic change. The implications of new technology and changing modes of course structure, and evolving federal and state policies have the potential for significant impact on higher education. The historic federal mandates regarding university systems, including land-grants, and renewal of the U.S. Higher Education Act, for example, have impacts related to higher education regulations, performance expectations, accreditation, and student success. In addition, there are new research questions related to student learning. Several of the key themes impacting higher education also have implications and expectations for university geography programs. Geographers and geography programs in many universities are contributing toward addressing these changes in ways that contribute toward programs and universities that are more committed to new learning paradigms, as well as curricula that enhance engagement, concepts of sustainability, innovation, entrepreneurship, and efforts at more integrated scholarship, among others.     

Using Teaching Observations and Reflective Practice to Challenge Conventions and Conceptions of Teaching in Geography

Cultural activities such as teaching and learning are highly complex systems that are deeply embedded in a wider culture and these factors impede change. Despite feeling directly the effect of the recent drive towards mass participation in higher education, most lecturers have not accounted for these changes in their teaching methods. Unless lecturers engage in critical reflection and ongoing discovery they stay trapped in unexamined judgements, interpretations, assumptions and expectations. Collaborative teaching observations and reflective practice were conducted by the author and colleagues with a range of experience within a geography department. Several surprising discrepancies appeared between lecturers' expectations and observations of the teaching sessions. The experience showed that, regardless of teaching experience, lectures allow the lecturer in his/her routine practice to neither appreciate his/her performance nor be aware of student understanding. Reflection on these experiences caused the re-evaluation of events and experience and the investigation of other firmly held beliefs that were frustrating and difficult to explain. If lecturers are to become proactive in their professional development, to question their teaching practice and become reflective practitioners, then our teaching culture must embrace the need for change and differences in teaching and learning.     

Active learning through online quizzes: better learning and less (busy) work

Active learning is increasingly promoted within institutions of higher education to assist students develop higher order thinking and link knowledge to meaning. In this paper, the authors evaluate the use of weekly online quizzes based on prescribed preparatory material as a tool to incentivize preparatory reading in order to enable and encourage active learning. The study is based on mixed data sources, including three years of student-evaluation data, to understand student perceptions of the role and value of online quizzes. The study shows a high level of student engagement with the quizzes and positive assessment of their role in encouraging the completion of prescribed reading. Online quizzes were found to be an effective mechanism for incentivizing student completion of preparatory work, enhancing active learning (such as through in-class discussions), and were relatively time efficient from the perspective of the educator.     

The Effectiveness of Internet-based Instruction: An experiment in physical geography

Geographers increasingly use the Internet as an instructional tool in higher education. The effect of Internet-based instruction on learning, however, is essentially unknown. This research involves a matched-pairs experiment that assesses the differences in student performance between a group of students taking an Internet-based lesson in introductory physical geography, and another group learning the same material via traditional classroom methods. Both groups were subject to the same knowledge assessment post-test, and scores were statistically analysed to determine whether one instructional method led to better student performance over the other. Results show that the Internet can be a viable alternative instructional tool compared with traditional classroom methods.     

Towards a critical service learning in geography education: exploring challenges and possibilities through testimonio

There has been an increasing interest in exploring the transformational possibilities of experiential learning approaches like service learning, across post-secondary education, including geography. At the same time, scholars caution that such initiatives can entrench neoliberalism, white supremacy and other power structures and call for implementing a critical service learning (CSL) approach that is rooted in action against injustice. In response, this paper uses testimonio methodology to explore the experiences of a student and instructor engaging in a graduate geography course that implements CSL. We demonstrate how CSL is a complex process that is mired in the very power structures and institutional barriers it attempts to disrupt. Nonetheless, CSL creates opportunities for social change in the classroom and community, which make it a promising pedagogical strategy for geographers aiming to create alternative teaching approaches in their classrooms.     

Practice What You Teach: Facilitating Anarchism In and Out of the Classroom

Abstract: In recent years, human geographers have criticized the increasing corporatization, commodification, and objectification of knowledge production, and have looked to critical pedagogical frameworks that seek to counteract these forces. Anarchism, as a body of theories and practices, has a long history of engagement with radical pedagogical experimentation. Anarchism and geography have much to contribute to one another: anarchism, through its support for creative, non‐coercive, practical learning spaces, and geography, for its critical examination of the spaces of education. In this paper, I evaluate the prospects for anarchist‐geographic pedagogies theoretically, as well as through my own experiences teaching and learning about anarchism over the past decade in a liberal arts, higher education US environment. I argue for a combined critical anarchist‐geographic pedagogical approach that appreciates the challenges of building alternative learning models within existing neoliberalizing institutions, provides the necessary tools for finding uniquely situated opportunities for educational change, and emplaces a grounded, liberating, student‐led critical pedagogy.     

Investigating student use and value of e-learning resources to develop academic writing within the discipline of environmental science

The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in higher education to support student learning is expanding. However, student usage has been low and the value of e-learning resources has been under investigation. We reflect on best practices for pedagogical design of e-learning resources to support academic writing in environmental science. A case study demonstrates that where resources are embedded into the curriculum they are highly valued by students with on average 83% of the class accessing files. Students were confident at writing tasks indicating that the resources effectively met their needs and expectations and enabled them to further develop discipline-specific writing skills. Scaffolded e-learning resources, designed around the identified threshold concepts of writing within the discipline, incorporating a knowledge narrative of explicit instruction and a strong teacher presence, delivered in a sequential manner and embedded into the curriculum, are valued and highly used by students in academic writing tasks.