Teaching Research Through Field Studies: A Cumulative Opportunity for Teaching Methodology to Human Geography Undergraduates

Abstract

Notwithstanding its iconic status within geography, the debate continues about how fieldwork should be taught to undergraduate students. The authors engage with this debate and argue that field studies should follow the teaching of research methodology. In this paper they review relevant literature on the place of fieldwork in geography training, the importance of problem solving and the challenges of group learning. Drawing on these themes they outline the 300-level human geography fieldwork course taught at Otago University (NZ) and review student responses to this curriculum. They record observations on both the field studies course and the linkages between it and the preceding research methodology training students receive. They show that while the wish for more ‘real’ or ‘hands on’ field practice is widely expressed by their students, so is satisfaction with the group learning approach adopted in the 300-level course and with the range of personal skills covered in the research methodology and field studies training received.