ABSTRACT This article examines how undergraduate students negotiate the use of photography as a pedagogical tool during an overseas field-based learning course in the Mekong Delta. While existing scholarship has established theoretical frameworks for ethical visual research and documented the benefits of field-based learning, a critical gap remains in understanding how undergraduate learners navigate the messy, affective dimensions of conducting visual research in cross-cultural contexts. Drawing on reflection essays written by 27 students across two cohorts at a university in Singapore, this study reveals how photography functions simultaneously as a site of ethical negotiation, a catalyst for affective-cognitive transformation, and a reflexive practice that shapes students’ meta-understanding of cross-cultural learning in an overseas field course. Findings demonstrate that visual engagement involves a recursive learning process where ethical struggles generate emotional responses that deepen understanding, which in turn prompts critical reflection on positionality and privilege. Informed by scholarship in geography education and beyond, this article contributes to field-based learning by documenting the subjective experience of learning through photography, revealing the development of visual competence through iterative reflection on embodied encounters with communities in cross-cultural contexts. It also offers a pedagogically informed model for teaching field-based pedagogy to enrich undergraduate visual learning.

ABSTRACT Various research projects have proven the importance of spatial thinking in Geography curricula. However, a comprehensive framework for improving spatial thinking in undergraduate Geography modules is lacking. This research paper addresses this shortfall by developing a framework for improving spatial thinking skills in undergraduate Geography modules at South African universities. This framework was developed based on previous studies by the authors to determine the extent and nature of the incorporation of spatial thinking into the syllabi of a selection of undergraduate Geography modules at South African universities. It included a critical assessment of the methods used by the lecturers to convey module content to foster students’ spatial thinking abilities, consideration of the disposition of these lecturers towards teaching spatial thinking, and an assessment of their considerations when developing new Geography modules. Finally, an analysis and critical assessment were conducted on the spatiality of the questions posed in formative and summative assessments and the spatial thinking capabilities of undergraduate Geography students at the selected universities. While this paper outlines this framework, it also encourages Geography departments to implement it as a first step towards enhancing spatial thinking within their curricula and to recommit to teaching spatial thinking to undergraduate Geography students.

ABSTRACT Climate change presents challenges for environmental education, as traditional methods often struggle to convey the urgency and complexity of climate change impacts, failing to inspire engagement. This study examines a desktop-based 3D web scene (a screen-based geovisualization environment accessed through a standard computer interface) as a tool to enhance student understanding of climate change and flood risk mitigation. A desktop-based 3D web scene was developed integrating drone imagery with future flood scenarios based on sea-level rise projections for 2075. Drone-acquired images of a university campus were transformed into a 3D mesh, simulating inundation with and without flood mitigation infrastructure in Norfolk, Virginia. Twenty-two participants explored these simulations and completed assessments using the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS) alongside pre- and post-surveys to evaluate learning outcomes and engagement. Results indicate that the 3D web scene significantly improved students’ understanding, awareness, and concern about flood risks and mitigation strategies. Participants found the desktop-based 3D web scene more engaging and effective than traditional methods. This study demonstrates that 3D web scenes can make complex environmental concepts more accessible by connecting abstract climate issues to real-world scenarios. The findings highlight the potential of desktop-based 3D web scenes as a powerful educational tool in geographic and climate change education, enhancing spatial understanding and engagement.

ABSTRACT As financial geography has grown into a mature thematic geographic subdiscipline, it is not only time to discuss how to teach financial geography but also to debate its potential contribution to human geography’s wider curriculum, pedagogy and training requirements. This intervention argues that all geographers would benefit from becoming critically financially literate, to obtain Financial Geoliteracy. It will then, drawing on the curriculum design experience of a postgraduate programme in financial geography at Loughborough University, flesh out questions of “what to learn” (curriculum), “how to learn” (pedagogy) and “why we learn” (training) in financial geography. The contribution concludes by reflecting on the required institutional work to make financial geography a mainstay in broader geography curricula.

ABSTRACT As critical development scholars teaching the climate crisis, we sit at a juncture. The neoliberal university has placed employability and impact at the forefront of teaching metrics to our elite international student cohort. At the same time, our students face affective tensions in confronting the climate crisis as young people, aspiring to work in consulting, finance or policy careers. On climate, this dissonance means a commitment towards ecomodernist neoliberal policy approaches, the capitalist drivers of the climate crisis. In our paper, we propose a “radical pragmatism” in our climate education, which navigates the tensions of balancing critical climate pedagogy, climate anxiety and demands of the neoliberal university. We draw on eight in-depth interviews with undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled in a climate change module in our International Development department at King’s College London. Through radical pragmatism, we teach “solutions” to the climate crisis as embedded in everyday struggles against fossil capitalism. Concrete alternatives and future imaginaries to the climate crisis are possible without foreclosing hope. Yet, we are not impractically prescriptive on student’s future career aspirations. We hope to provide a climate education that prepares students with critical skills needed to navigate the political realities of the capitalist world we inhabit.

ABSTRACT The manifesto for fieldwork is an invitation to engage in pedagogic discussion that sets out visions for the future of teaching fieldwork. At a time when curriculum projects in many universities are advocating for more experiential learning in authentic and real-world contexts, teaching and learning in the field faces challenges from climate and nature crises, pandemics, financial pressures, technology and the importance of ensuring fieldwork is inclusive and accessible. The manifesto offers provocations that we hope will be discussed, shared and contested. Fieldwork must be part of an ethical education that works towards just and liveable futures. Fieldwork must build new habits that address traditions rooted in masculinist, extractivist and colonialist science. Making fieldwork inclusive demands radical shifts in field practices, sites and relations. Fieldwork must be accountable to climate and nature crises. AI, VR and digital tools demand a re-imagining and remaking of the field. Fieldwork must be built on collaboration. Our ambition for the manifesto is not to encourage righteous equivocation about good or bad fieldwork. Instead, we invite you to reflect on, and respond to, these provocations as part of a project that will articulate a renewed vision for, and robust justification of, the future of fieldwork.

ABSTRACT This paper begins by outlining five forces that have prompted geographers in higher education to reconsider the principles of assessment and feedback. What emerges is an impetus to develop an assessment approach that evaluates both what students are able to do and who they are becoming, placing greater emphasis on metacognition, agency and wellbeing. I term this approach holistic assessment, which is enacted through student dialogue with their teacher and/or peers and engagement in ongoing reflection about their development. I delineate the challenges and opportunities to delivering holistic assessment, which relate to resourcing and scaling within programmes, evaluating outcomes, dealing with emotional labour, training teachers appropriately, and interfacing productively with GenAI. Holistic assessment offers a relational and inclusive assessment as learning approach, encouraging students to actively participate in and self-evaluate authentic assignments. It sustains positive learner wellbeing and enables true expressions of individual proficiency. But institutions will need to demonstrate focused leadership and genuine strategic investment in policies, regulations, infrastructure and staff development to succeed in delivering future-ready holistic assessment. Success in this endeavour will meaningfully prepare geography graduates to be life-long learners who are confident to challenge socio-ecological injustices and to create a better world.

ABSTRACT This study examines pre-service geography teachers’ perceptions of food systems, a newly introduced topic in South Korea’s 2022 revised geography curriculum. Using Q methodology, four distinct perception types were identified: Technological Innovation Pragmatists, Ethical Autonomy Practitioners, Integrative Education & Sustainability Advocates, and Contextual Balance Selectors. To enhance the strengths and address the limitations of each type, this paper proposes targeted pedagogical strategies: critical case studies to foster multi-dimensional understanding (Type 1); structural connection activities to link ethical consumption with political-economic contexts (Type 2); methodology-focused training to apply concept mapping and problem-based learning (Type 3); and decision-oriented discussions to enhance rational judgment (Type 4). These findings offer a diagnostic framework and practical prescriptions for teacher education programs, contributing to the cultivation of teachers capable of fostering food citizenship and sustainability.

ABSTRACT Aspects of the digital world have become a fundamental dimension of spatial experience and, consequently, of Geography education. With geodata, social media, and maps in algorithmic contexts shaping everyday spatial life-worlds, Geography teachers need competences that integrate digital literacy and pedagogical content knowledge. This paper presents the development and validation of three vignette items designed to assess such competences in pre-service Geography teachers. Rooted in a seminar on digital sovereignty and aligned with the DigCompEdu framework, the vignettes reflect realistic classroom scenarios blending digital literacy in Geography and teaching strategies. Each vignette was derived through a structured theory-driven process involving expert review and pilot testing. The final instrument was administered to 177 participants across six German universities. Exploratory factor analysis and Rasch modeling with DIF supported the vignettes’ construct validity and measurement precision. Furthermore, descriptive trends showed that higher semester levels and teaching experience were linked to better performance. Distractor analysis revealed a frequent preference for surface-level digital engagement. Concludingly, the paper highlights the importance of critical-reflective dimensions of digital literacy in Geography education and discusses vignettes as a promising method in higher education research.

ABSTRACT This article examines the transformative potential of Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) in reimagining geography education for pre-university students in the Global South. Drawing on a mixed-methods study conducted with 93 students in Mexico, the research investigates how a CBL intervention influenced learners’ understanding of geography, their awareness of professional pathways, their valuation of community knowledge and geospatial tools, and their motivation to further engage with geographic thinking. Anchored in constructivist, socio-constructivist, and critical pedagogical theories and informed by the disciplinary ethos of geography, the study reveals significant conceptual and affective shifts. Post-intervention data show that students moved from static and descriptive views of geography towards recognising it as a socially relevant, interdisciplinary, and problem-solving discipline. The findings also highlight the emergence of disciplinary identity and civic agency among participants. The article explores the implications of these outcomes for curriculum reform, teacher education, and the integration of geography into broader educational strategies that promote sustainability and global citizenship. It argues that CBL offers a robust pedagogical framework for engaging learners with the spatial dimensions of societal challenges and for positioning geography education as a platform for critical inquiry, anticipatory learning, and transformative action.