Saturday, 26 Feb.

Progress in Teaching Geography I: Systems Thinking

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The geographic perspective helps people establish links among different aspects of human-environment systems. This session, sponsored by the Geography Education Specialty Group (GESG), explores progress in research on geography as the synthesis discipline.

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• Irina Kopteva, ; Remote Teaching of Earth and Environmental Science with Primary Sources 

• Bob Kolvoord, James Madison University; How Do High Schools Students Use GIS for Spatial Problem Solving? 

• Kori Armstrong, ; Sustainable Development Among Four–Year Higher Education Institutions in the United States: A Geographic and Anthropological Perspective 

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Wicked Problems – Challenges and Opportunities for Geography Education I

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The multitude of complex and overwhelming problems that the global community faces today requires swift and decisive action incorporating almost all dimensions of everyday life. Wicked problems refer to human-environment phenomena that feature high degrees of uncertainty and a lack of straightforward solutions. Wicked problems, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, social inequality, and unsustainable development, expose multiscale vulnerabilities that can undermine humanity’s path to a sustainable future. Education plays a significant role in tackling these challenges.

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• Roger Baars, ; Emotions and Affect in Climate Change Education 

• Kayla Yurco, James Madison University; “We don’t know how to do college with all this going on”: Managing eco-anxiety in today’s geography classroom 

• Suzy BLONDIN, ; Teaching geography through fieldwork: exploring sensory approaches for more environmental awareness. 

Time to Open Up Geography: Equity and Open Education Panel Discussion

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This panel discussion will explore the process and benefits of authoring open textbooks in geography. Open educational resources (OERs) have been shown to improve learning outcomes for students and to help provide a more equitable learning experience. OERs can also be used in a variety to learning modalities, to include traditional classroom settings, hybrid, and online courses. How can open education create a more inclusive geographic education? How can open textbooks be used to shift our modes of teaching and create a more open classroom more broadly? How might geographers go about authoring their own open content? All conference attendees are welcome and encouraged to attend.

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• Caitlin Finlayson, University of Mary Washington

• Nathan Burtch, George Mason University

• Christine Rosenfeld, George Mason University

• Adam Dastrup, Salt Lake Community College

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Wicked Problems – Challenges and Opportunities for Geography Education II

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Challenges and opportunities exist for teaching wicked problems in geography. Bringing wicked problems to the center of the geography curriculum prompts greater emphasis on knowledge management, problem-solving skills, and critical dispositions in geography education. In this special session, we explore how geography teachers can take up the challenges emerging from wicked problems.

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• Rachel Hansen, ; Mapping for Impact: Counter-mapping in 9-12 Social Studies 

• Thomas Larsen, University of Northern Iowa; Logic, Consilience, and Wicked Problems in Geographic Thought: A Humanistic Appraisal 

• Jerry Mitchell, University of South Carolina; Teaching the "Wicked": Educational structure, standards, and teacher training as obstacles to tackling change 

Wicked Problems – Challenges and Opportunities for Geography Education III

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The multitude of complex and overwhelming problems that the global community faces today requires swift and decisive action incorporating almost all dimensions of everyday life. Wicked problems refer to human-environment phenomena that feature high degrees of uncertainty and a lack of straightforward solutions. Wicked problems, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, social inequality, and unsustainable development, expose multiscale vulnerabilities that can undermine humanity’s path to a sustainable future. Education plays a significant role in tackling these challenges.

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• Rowena Butland, ; "I don't see how is relevant to me": Wicked Problems as a gateway to interdisciplinary undergraduate research education 

• Lisa Jordan, ; Think Local Act Local: Addressing Wicked Problems through Placed-Based Approaches in GIS Education 

• Susan Thieme, ; Teaching transdisciplinarity: Social Learning Video Method as a collaborative practice of learning 

Place-Making in Geography Education

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Teaching and learning geography serve as place-making practices. This virtual session, sponsored by the Geography Education Specialty Group (GESG), examines how geography education can be contextualized through community engagement.

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• Sandra Santos, ; The course of geography teaching in Bahia in the 19th century: contributions to Brazilian historiography 

• Yixin Zhang, ; College students’ emotion regulation strategies in international tourism learning environments 

• Dahui Kang, ; Jeju Global Education City from the perspective of relational place-making 

• Dianna Gielstra, Prescott College; Immersive, place-based education exploring three glacial basins in Glacier National Park, Montana to enhance learning in geography, geoheritage and geodiversity. 

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Best Practices for teaching Human Geography

Many early-career faculty in Geography and Geoscience departments are placed in a classroom teaching an introductory course - Human, World, Physical, or GIS - with or without prior teaching experience and very little mentoring or guidance on what practices work and what do not, what students respond to and what they do not. This session will compare practices and discuss methods for teaching the introductory to human and/or world geography courses that are taught at so many universities. The participants will share their experience teaching the course, their format for the course, and what does and does not work in the classroom (projects vs. exams, teaching online vs. in-person, teaching online asynchronously vs. synchronously, assignment types, online platforms, etc). Anyone interested is invited to also share their experiences in teaching the course, along with ideas on how to give students the best experience in learning about human and/or world geography, in the hopes that instructors new to the course will have some insight on where to begin their journey in teaching these dynamic subjects.

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• Caroline McClure, Georgia State University

• Ashley Allen, SUNY Oneonta

• Andrew J. Milson, University of Texas - Arlington

• Jana Brady, Southern Connecticut State University