Student Employability and its Implications for Geography Curricula and Learning Practices

The nature and mission of universities have changed over the past two decades. The move towards mass education with decreased levels of state support has come with greater levels of accountability to stakeholders, including students, employers and the state itself. Graduates are expected to exhibit greater degrees of employability: that is they are more likely to gain and maintain employment, and to progress in workplaces and build careers. In this paper, we discuss the varying mixes of geographical knowledge, technical competencies and personal attributes that graduates require, before examining the implications on the design of geography curricula and learning practices.     

Teaching (Political) Economic Geography: Some Personal Reflections

Teaching economic geography is not a matter of replicating textbook models. It requires engagement with the ever-changing global economy, which often puts the lie to existing theory. It demands that the teacher break down the economy into its major parts, in a way that students can grasp. This does not mean abandoning theory; on the contrary, it means getting beyond static exchange models to grasp the dynamics of commodity systems, divisions of labour, technology and capital flows. To this, add how geography matters to the way economies work. And always maintain a critical stance toward the world and toward received wisdom.     

Interactive online tools for enhancing student learning experiences in remote sensing

The rapid growth in Information and Communications Technologies usage in higher education has provided immense opportunities to foster effective student learning experiences in geography. In particular, remote sensing lends itself to the creative utilization of multimedia technologies. This paper presents a case study of a remote sensing computer aided learning (RSCAL) program, which was developed in Australia to facilitate student active engagement with foundational knowledge and skills. We demonstrate how RSCAL has evolved to become scalable and responsive to newer pedagogical perspectives and emerging learner needs. It has become a recommended key resource in contemporary remote sensing education and training.     

Teaching foreign policy analysis in Australia: on cultivating an ‘FPA disposition’

ABSTRACT

The United States-centric nature of the Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) subfield poses a range of pedagogical challenges, especially when the subject is taught outside North America. The preponderance of FPA literature written by US scholars and examining US cases can frustrate non-US students, who often wish to study decisions they consider more directly relevant to their own region and experience. I this piece, I reflect on how I have grappled with this tension in teaching a postgraduate FPA course at the Australian National University. I discuss my choice to prioritise cultivating an ‘FPA disposition’ among students and how, as a means of doing so, I chose to design a curriculum based on a semester-long case study examining the US decision to invade Iraq in 2003. While this pedagogical approach may initially seem contradictory to my long-term aim of contributing to the expansion of FPA beyond North America, it reflects my conviction that instilling an ‘FPA disposition’ in the next generation of graduate students is essential to growing and enriching the subfield in the long term.     

Innovations in teaching Australian foreign policy: trust,simulations, and study tours

ABSTRACT

More than ever as the uncertainties of a digitalised world are upon us and where power shifts to and within the region disrupt the familiar patterns of engagement, the acquisition of the knowledge and competencies necessary for Australia to be a trusted international partner are pressing matters. So too, in the development of both personal and professional skills, our pedagogic remit to students guides us to assist them in learning more about themselves in the process. How, then, should we teach Australian foreign policy and in doing so grow the conjunctive tissue of student self-learning in order to prepare students for the world of diplomacy necessitated by Australia's international workspace? Here, experiential learning can have a powerful effect in the teaching of Australian foreign policy and in the development of students' life and professional skills. Both in-person simulations situated within the context of a thoughtful curriculum, and short-term international mobility study tours can contribute to an effective mix of learning experiences and assist us in moving closer toward effective practice in the current uncertainties and an era of digital transformation.