Undergraduate Geography Research Articles

The Persistence of Selected Geographic Misperceptions: A Survey of Junior High Through Undergraduate College Students

Abstract The degree to which students misperceive the relative locations of continents, states, and ocean sizes was assessed. In order to test suspected geographic misperceptions, identical questionnaires were given to more than 700 students from the junior high school through upper undergraduate levels, including future teachers. Misperception rates as a function of class level, gender, and expressed student interests were tested using Chi Square. Geographic misperceptions were found to persist across all measured educational levels. Upper level undergraduate geography and earth science students had the best overall score. Junior high school students scored better than students entering both general elementary and science-related teacher preparation classes. Junior high males did significantly better than females. This gender difference decreased in high school and was virtually absent at the university level. No significant differences in misperceptions were found between students with different subject matter interests.

The Perception of Riverscape Aesthetics: an Example from Two Hampshire Rivers

Although the public perception of landscape aesthetics should be considered in environmental management, previous studies of riverscapes have given insufficient attention to rivers in woodland areas. In such woodland areas it is desirable to know how the unmanaged river channels are regarded aesthetically, and whether the presence of coarse woody debris affects the perception of riverscape aesthetics. This study used carefully selected photographs of type sites representing different types of woodland channel, together with some channels affected by urbanization, all in south-central England. After an initial pilot study, a data set was obtained from a total of 199 largely student responses to a set of 20 photographic slides in three groups of geography undergraduates, psychology undergraduates and research students and staff. In addition to analysis of these responses, the slides were rated by two independent operators according to their natural character, and the content of each of the 20 photographs was analysed quantitatively so that a regression analysis could relate the quantitative variables established for each photograph to the reaction of the respondents. The most natural woodland channels containing debris are not the most highly rated, and, according to the regression equations, the assessment of channel colour, reflecting water quality and the percentage of channelized bank are the two best single predictors of overall scenic aesthetic preference. In woodland areas, the general preference is for channels which do not have in-channel debris, but the advantages of retaining such debris should be considered in channel management strategies and an improvement in the public appreciation of the significance of such debris in woodland river channels could preferably be made.

The Interpretation and Indexing of Geoscience Fiction

Fictional writing contains sufficient factual description to constitute a minor non-technical form of geoscience literature. Novelists and short story writers have long acknowledged the significance of place and geography in their works. Literary scholars have recently begun to construct a serious framework for analyzing and comparing fictional geographical elements. This should assist geoscientists in interpreting the significance of fictional material. The instructional value of geographically oriented novels has long been recognized. Many geoscience educators recommend the incorporation of fictional material in some undergraduate geography and geology courses. Systematic incorporation of such material into an integrated earth systems curriculum has also been advocated for the public school system. The success of these approaches is partially dependent on the ability of literature-indexing systems to identify relevant material. Library of Congress subject headings, although helpful, are not sufficient. ...

The problems with fieldwork: a group‐based approach towards integrating fieldwork into the undergraduate geography curriculum

Abstract Field study, widely regarded as an essential part of geographical higher education, is under severe pressure due to its high cost, resource demands and a legacy of poor educational practices that have left it on the fringes of the curriculum. This paper outlines a case study of an undergraduate module, framed around a field course, which seeks to integrate fieldwork into the curriculum by combining training in field study with training in research and presentation skills. The module employs group‐based project work throughout, with no items assessed individually. The paper concludes by pointing to the pedagogic and tactical advantages of the approach adopted, but warns against the overuse of group work.

Teaching GIS in Geography ∗

Although numerous courses in geographic information systems (GIS) have been introduced into the geography curriculum over the past few years, there has been remarkably little debate over the issues involved. This paper first discusses the arguments for geography as an appropriate disciplinary setting for GIS teaching at the undergraduate level. This is followed by a discussion of the nature of GIS courses and their appropriate place in the undergraduate geography curriculum. The final section of the paper describes the NCGIA Core Curriculum project and examines its significance in this broader context.

Application of a poster exercise in an advanced undergraduate geography course

Abstract This paper discusses the nature and application of a research poster exercise in senior (e.g., final year undergraduate) university classes. The exercise consists of three components. First, students are involved in a piece of supervised research in which they set their own research question; design, execute and evaluate research strategies; and communicate the synthesised results of their activities to an audience. Second, the exercise is structured in such a way that it provides students with an introductory opportunity to explore the bureaucratic and competitive structure of the modern research environment. Third, student proficiency in oral, written, and graphical presentation of research results is refined. Expanding on earlier work on the use of posters in the teaching of geography at the tertiary level, the paper gives special emphasis to the rationale for conducting the research and to practical dimensions of poster production.

The great divide: central versus departmental support for teaching GIS

Abstract In 1990 Arc/Info, a major Geographical Information Systems (GIS) package, became available at a very modest price to all institutions of Higher Education in the United Kingdom. This availability has already raised many issues regarding its usage in undergraduate geography teaching and by users who have not been exposed to any formal GIS course. These issues are discussed together with related hardware issues by drawing on experiences gained at the University of Sussex. The use of Arc/Info in particular and GIS teaching and support in general highlights some different perspectives between departmental academic geography and central computing support.

The Attitudes of Final Year Geography Undergraduates to Teaching as a Career

The Attitudes of Final Year Geography Undergraduates to Teaching as a Career

Microcomputer Modules for Undergraduate Geography

Microcomputer Modules for Undergraduate Geography

Computing in the geography degree: limitations and objectives

Abstract That computing, in a variety of guises, will play an increasing role in undergraduate geography is a welcome inevitability. Experience of teaching aspects of computing to geography students, however, suggests that enthusiasm for the introduction of computer‐based skills needs to be tempered by a realistic assessment of what is possible and, indeed, desirable within the context of a balanced geography degree. A ladder of computing skills is outlined as a contribution towards the identification of an appropriate role for computing in the undergraduate geography curriculum.

The use of project work in undergraduate geography teaching

Abstract The paper discusses the use of project work as a method of teaching and assessment in two third‐year option courses in the Department of Geography at Reading University. We conclude that such work provides students with valuable training, both in the academic and non‐academic worlds, as well as being rewarding and enjoyable in itself.

Data collection and analysis for geographical research: a postgraduate training course

Abstract A recent course on research methods for data collection and analysis for first‐year postgraduates was the first of its kind in Britain. The deficiencies of a geography undergraduate's training are such that more courses of this type are highly desirable. At present research students have access to powerful research tools, but they cannot answer fundamental questions on their use. The course outline demonstrates that a wide range of topics can be covered and understood by postgraduates in a short course.

Undergraduate geography programs: Contemporary characteristics and recent changes

Undergraduate geography programs: Contemporary characteristics and recent changes

A self‐paced mastery instruction scheme in geography for a first year university course

Abstract The use of a self‐paced mastery system of instruction can help to overcome some of the problems resulting from variable educational backgrounds among first‐year geography undergraduates. The implementation of such a system at Carleton University is described, at the stages of specification, design and evaluation. The aim of ‘mastering’ subject material is achieved through a programme taken at the students’ own pace and self‐assessed. The preliminary results of an evaluation of the system suggest that more students progress to the second year because of it, though there is no significant improvement in the overall performance of second‐year students.

A strategy for career preparation: A note to graduate and undergraduate geography majors

A strategy for career preparation: A note to graduate and undergraduate geography majors

AN APPLICATION OF COMPUTER CARTOGRAPHY IN THE TEACHING OF CARTOGRAPHY

This paper describes an application of the computer in the teaching of cartography to geography undergraduates at Brock University. A basic aim is to impart an awareness of the limitations of maps. A series of assignments, demonstrating the subjectivity of isopleth mapping, plays a crucial role in this. A hypothetical population distribution is created for an urban study area, and a geographical base file modelled on the Area Master File of the GRDSR system is developed. The class divides into groups, and each group independently partitions the study area into data zones and derives a set of population density values. Maps are produced in a controlled sequence by SYMAP, and the students investigate the effects of the following variables: map type, data zone partition, number and sequence of class intervals, method of interpolation and symbolization. Though the resulting maps all represent the same population distribution they differ greatly in appearance due to the subjective decisions made in the mapping process.

The Fall Major Program: Undergraduate Geography at Dartmouth College

The Fall Major Program: Undergraduate Geography at Dartmouth College

A Student Internship Program in Geography

Abstract The Geography Department at California State University, San Diego, has initiated a formal internship program for both advanced undergraduate and graduate geography majors. This article presents informational background material on the organization and operation of the program. During the first year of operation, students have interned at various locations, including town, city, and regional planning departments, and state and county environmental and transportation agencies. The program has been an unqualified success with enrollment expanding. Students find that the work/learn experience has a far greater impact than many an hour of professional lecturing.

A TWO-WEEK FIELD COURSE WITH DEFERRED PAPERS: A POSSIBLE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF UNDERGRADUATE FIELD WORK

Abstract Field work is an important but often neglected facet of a sound undergraduate geography training program. Literature, both geographic and nongeographic, offers very few practical suggestions or realistic approaches that can be utilized in some way by geography departments organizing undergraduate field programs. This article eliminates a hiatus in the literature for it analyzes field work, explores proven methods of undergraduate field training, and describes the importance of the selection of a study area and field camp site. It stresses the value of careful organization, and problems of topic selection and field data generation, and provides a detailed model, a proven schedule, concomitantly with a sound approach to field work. The two-week field course with deferred papers is an immediate, realistic, and inexpensive solution to the problem of undergraduate field work.

Quantitative Methods in the Undergraduate Geography Curriculum

Quantitative Methods in the Undergraduate Geography Curriculum