Using blended learning to facilitate large room seminar provision in the era of TEF: reflections from a year two cultural geography module

The introduction of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) in 2016 has placed the practice and quality of teaching centre of the UK university agenda, with concerns around contact, delivery, research/teaching balance and facility support framing debates within institutions. Situating the implementation of blended learning on a year 2 cultural geography in the broader context of these discussions, this paper explores some of the challenges and opportunities this approach has in addressing some of these broader concerns, whilst improving student engagement and performance.     

Converting a large lecture class to an active blended learning class: why,how, and what we learned

Faced with diminished faculty resources and increased student enrolment from 2010 to 2017, we sought to use blended learning to achieve active learning in a large c.400-student introductory geography class. Working iteratively over seven years and eight classes and using smart classrooms, better timetabling, experimentation with peer review and learning management system (LMS) technologies, as well as the expertise of Queen’s University Continuing and Distance Studies instructional design team to improve integration between course elements, we closely approached the quality of learning achieved in a much smaller enrolment class. It is possible to teach large classes of 400 students in an active and engaged manner. The greatest obstacle to the development and maintenance of this model is institutional culture.     

Social learning as an analytical lens for co-creative planning

This article highlights the psychological dimension of social learning. Insights from psychology address the interrelated role of personal and group dynamics in social learning. This can provide a useful starting point for a rewarding use of social learning as an analytical tool in co-creative planning. Such an approach to social learning proves beneficial to (i) identify both positive and negative potential effects of social learning, (ii) untangle hidden power relationships at play at individual and small group levels in relation to social psychological factors, and (iii) discern the role of individuals and small groups within their larger contexts. The findings are empirically illustrated with a case of incremental urban development in Groningen, the Netherlands.     

What drives the spatial wage premium in formal and informal labor markets? The case of Ecuador

This article investigates the incidence of agglomeration externalities in Ecuador, a small-sized, middle-income developing country. In particular, we analyze the role of the informal sector within these relations, since informal employment accounts for a significant part of total employment in the developing countries. Using individual level data and instrumental variable techniques, we investigate the impact of spatial externalities, in terms of population density, local specialization and urban size, on the wages of workers in Ecuadorian cities. The results show that spatial externalities matter also for a small developing country. Moreover, analysis of the interaction between spatial externalities and informality shows that, on average, workers employed in the informal sector do not enjoy significant benefits from agglomeration externalities. Finally, by investigating the possible channels behind spatial agglomeration gains we show that the advantages from agglomeration for formal sector workers may well be accounted for by better job-quality matches and, to a lesser extent, by learning externalities. For informal sector workers, our findings also suggest possible gains from job changes, which offset a penalty for remaining employed in the same occupation.     

Out of the Ivy and into the Arctic: Imitation Coral Reconstruction in Cross-Cultural Contexts

This essay discusses imitation coral reconstruction workshops based on a recipe from a sixteenth-century “book of secrets” that took place in three different educational contexts: Columbia University, Nunavut Arctic College, and Universität Hamburg. It reflects on the utility of reconstruction and material literacy as present-day history of science methodologies in which scholarly textual interpretation meets physical research. It also considers the nature of cultural heritage in shaping material practice through an Inuit cultural context, in which the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge is not rooted in textual traditions, but bodily embedded in oral histories, craft technology, and land stewardship. The essay also presents suggestions for new collaborative practices between humanists, artisans, and scientists that can be facilitated by reconstruction methodology.     

Classrooms without borders: new spaces and places of learning

This article identifies what can be learned from seeking to adapt teaching and learning styles in a post-disaster environment. It focuses on the development of student research through community-based learning as a means of increasing engagement and contributing to recovery in an earthquake-damaged city. It urges consideration of the socio-political context within which such pedagogies are developed, and highlights the management of expectations amongst students, community partners and academic staff. It discusses some of the benefits and difficulties in developing new spaces and places of learning, and reflects critically on what these initiatives represent.     

Redesigning Physical Geography 101: bringing students into the discussion

This article analyses student-learning outcomes from the redesign of Introduction to Physical Geography 101. Among the purposes of the redesigned course were to enhance student learning by providing rich interactive online content, provide more meaningful instructor–student and peer–peer exchanges, and to promote attitudes that facilitate student opportunities to construct new knowledge. Through empirically testing two of the redesigned course’s key components on students’ learning, we determine the positive effects on students’ exam scores. We offer, despite the additional work required from instructors and teaching assistants for such a redesigned course, that with further refinement these pedagogical changes may offer potential longer term impact on students’ learning behaviors.     

Speculating on Slums: Infrastructural Fixes in Informal Housing in the Global South

In this paper, we seek to revisit earlier work on the theory of rent, situating it in the current period of economic crisis and in relation to informal housing in the global South. More than ever, land is treated as a pure financial asset. Finance capital now exerts a profound influence over the production of space and exposes the built environment to the kinds of speculative binges that we have witnessed over the last decade. This is now as much a feature of living conditions in the poorest settlements of the global South as it is in the financial heartlands of the global North. We question key assumptions behind development interventions by arguing that infrastructural upgrading may decrease the security of tenure of residents of informal housing and call for a more nuanced approach that recognises the (post)colonial histories of urbanisation structuring access to land and housing.     

Creating Regional Futures: A Scenario-Based Inter- and Transdisciplinary Case Study as a Model for Applied Student-centred Learning in Geography

Human geography students face changing qualification requirements due to a shift towards new topics, educational tasks and professional options regarding issues of spatial development. This ‘practical turn’ raises the importance of inter- and transdisciplinary work, management and capability building skills, with case study projects and student-centred learning providing suitable approaches. This paper introduces the example of the teaching and research project ‘Leben 2014’: Students, faculty and local actors have collectively worked out future development scenarios for a rural region in Austria, actually creating impact. The project may thus serve as a model that inspires similar schemes in other countries.     

A Framework for the Integration of DVD Technology in Geography Teaching and Learning

This article discusses the results when integrating digital versatile disc (DVD) technology in full-time second-year geography for BEd degree students at a university in South Africa, a developing country. It proposes a framework for the integration of the DVD in geography teaching and learning, steered by students’ needs, feedback and observations by the lecturer. The proposed framework recommends clear guidelines on how to integrate the DVD, as well as the interactions between the role players/resources. It also explains how the DVD was compiled, what was included and how it was effectively applied in conjunction with seminars, as an alternative to traditional lectures. An action research design was utilized and both qualitative and quantitative data were collected.