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Various "turns" within human geography ("emotional", "sensory", "experimental", and "creative") have highlighted the role that the senses play in our embodied and emotional experiences of place, and the need for more sensuous scholarly practices. Resulting work has enriched the discipline theoretically and methodologically, however, the same cannot be said for our pedagogy. Drawing on data relating to one undergraduate Honours option course, this paper highlights the powerful role that sensorially engaged pedagogy can play in transforming the awareness and understanding of geography students. It focuses, in particular, on methods of emphasising the embodied, emplaced and individually constructed nature of knowledge, the critical potential of play in the learning process, and how students might be emboldened to enact performances of understanding leading to a transformation in the person of the student. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual analysis is a commonplace technique in geography pedagogy yet it is rarely used in the Australian literary studies context. This article explores the potential for visual analysis to contribute to the shared understanding of a work of literature in a university classroom setting. The use of visual analysis geography can encourage students to read texts closely and map them spatially using pen and paper. It proposes that literary studies educators may turn to innovative methods derived from geography to engage students with literary works. This article discusses a visual analysis assignment which centres on Jennifer Down's Melbourne-based novel Our Magic Hour (2016) for a Literary Studies subject at RMIT University delivered predominantly face- to-face in 2018-2019 and then entirely online in 2020. I describe it as a "messy mapping" assignment which encourages students to acknowledge the limitations and erasures of positivist maps, while trying to capture relationships between emotion and place. I argue that "messy mapping" can activate the many connections and overlaps between texts and students' own personal worlds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents pedagogic experiment focused on teaching future geography teachers to work with story maps with the use of three applications (Knight Lab StoryMapJS, Esri ArcGIS StoryMaps, and Google Tour Builder). The experiment was carried out by questionnaire form at two Slovak universities. The respondents were students of the geography teacher training program, whose task was to select and learn one of the mentioned applications to create a story map. The statistical analysis of the research results confirmed that the choice of the application by the students was influenced by their previous experience with the applications; it was not difficult for students to develop a story map using the selected applications even though they did not have enough experience about the selected applications before the experiment; and students would make more use of story maps than other applications in their educational practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geography undergraduate students have broad academic backgrounds; consequently, teaching statistics can be especially challenging. Unfortunately, there is a lack of up-to-date and geography-specific literature on the pedagogies of statistics instruction on an undergraduate geography degree course. In this paper we detail, discuss, and reflect on a range of innovative attempts to improve engagement and attainment. Many of the examples revolve around technological platforms to enhance student engagement, but also to improve and simplify module management, an under-valued part of delivering a team-taught module. We discuss a variety of quizzing platforms as effective ways of engaging students with content, but, also, as a method of scaffolding teaching, whereby student comprehension is gauged, and content is adapted on-the-fly. We also highlight that use of frequent formative quizzing can increase module engagement through a substantive increase in attendance in an era of lecture recording. We also reflect on differences in engagement pre-and-post pandemic. Overall, we highlight the benefit of incorporating technology into teaching geographical statistics, but caution that this must be on a case-by-case basis and should be used for clear pedagogical reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographers have long advocated for decolonizing geographic research and curriculum to produce forms of anti-oppressive knowledge and learning. While these calls have become more prominent in recent years, these conversations are rarely translated into a reflection on pedagogy and how we integrate anti-oppressive teaching in the classroom. This paper argues that introducing contemplative pedagogy into our classrooms presents one step toward teaching and producing anti-oppressive geographic knowledge. Anti-oppressive teaching and learning requires challenging oppressive forms of knowledge and asks that students and instructors develop self-reflexivity, reflect on their privilege, and learn to see the world through the experiences of others. Contemplative pedagogy helps both students and instructors engage more deeply with these challenging tasks by equipping students to reflect on their own experiences and positionalities and integrate contradictory and challenging viewpoints. I argue that by incorporating contemplative pedagogy and mindfulness into geography classrooms, both instructors and students will have a set of tools with which to transform the learning experience and provide students with the skills to productively engage in these difficult, but necessary, conversations around issues of privilege, colonialism, injustice, racism, and inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although higher education in Turkey does not have especially well-advanced systems and resources for addressing graduate employability, two developments are making it particularly important for Turkish geography departments to give increased priority to this agenda. One is the country’s new Higher Education Qualifications Framework and the other is a major increase in geography student numbers, which means that geographers seeking school teaching posts (traditionally seen as the natural career pathway) now hugely outnumber the posts available. Against this background, this paper proceeds to explore the potential of geographic information systems (GIS) to contribute to geographers’ employability in Turkey through a study involving the views and experiences of academic staff, students and employers. The paper reveals a mixed picture of both opportunities and challenges. It ends with a series of employability recommendations for geography and GIS in Turkey, a number of which could also be of wider relevance elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A principal focus in GIS higher education has been with developing curricula or accommodating new technologies to reflect the needs of the developing discipline. Pedagogy has largely reflected traditional metaphors of acquisition and transfer in the context of formal education, and this extends to preparation of students for the workplace. In this paper, the authors explore the potential for communities of practice, and in particular virtual communities of practice as a complement to more formal GIS education to provide a route to more situated, participatory learning. In so doing, the emphasis towards creating a GIS professional community of practice offers both the recognition of the role of situated knowledge in developing professional GIS expertise, and provides an important bridge from higher education to the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The arrival of the term Geographical Information System (GIS) in the 1960s soon created a demand for training and education in the use of this specialist hardware and software. Initially the main focus was on training people to use GIS, formal named degree programmes leading to postgraduate and undergraduate qualifications arrived later. This paper explores the changing landscape of U.K. degree level GIS education drawing on contemporary information from Higher Education Institution websites and a case study of the first single honours degree in GIS in Europe. The paper identifies a rise and fall in the number of named undergraduate “GIS” degrees since the late 1980s sandwiched between the continuation and development of postgraduate qualifications. In parallel with this trend the teaching and learning of GIS skills has emerged as a core component of undergraduate degree programmes with “Geography” in their title and in national school and degree level benchmarking statements for the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides evidence from a 4-year longitudinal study on the comparative use of illustrative video podcasts during Economic Geography lectures vis-à-vis traditional educational methods in order to guide pedagogic practice and future research on the relative merits of technology-enhanced learning in higher education. Key benefits derived from the introduction of video podcasts identified in this study included positive affective and cognitive attitudes of students towards educational technologies, increased teacher satisfaction and improved teaching evaluations. Key challenges included negative impact of video podcasts on student behaviour (attendance and broader engagement), and uncertain impact on learning performance (exam scores). The study highlights the benefit of sequencing the improvements to the learning/teaching process, starting with a module review and revised content, before proceeding towards the integration of learning technologies into the content delivery. More broadly, the paper calls for pedagogy to remain vigilant, critically reflecting on the intricate relationship between educational technologies, teaching content, and the wider socio-political context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on Revellers welcome in the New Year 2023 in TV pictures. Topics include working in transnational education in China showing the interregnum of COVID-19 restrictions lasted longer before an abrupt change in policy; and quality assurance and digital transformation of curricula in the respective schools and institutions.

This paper presents an update on some of the activities that have taken place since a World Bank report; "Guidelines for Education and Training in Environmental Information Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: Some Key Issues" was published and provides details on the current situation. It shows how organizations such as the African Association on Remote Sensing of Environment, International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, European Association of Remote Sensing Companies, Group on Earth Observation, and several others have helped to increase manpower resources in the region and strengthened institutional capacity in the field of geoinformatics, through capacity building, technology transfer, international cooperation and the provision of internal African resources. After reviewing what has happened in the field of geoinformatics education and training, we focused on current initiatives taken and challenges in five Sub-Saharan countries: Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. We reviewed GIS education and training in the private sector, government, information communications technology in higher education institutions, GIS application areas and challenges facing GIS education and training. Findings show that; change should involve education stakeholders in all levels of education and curriculum quality, regional and international cooperation through exchange programs, should be a priority for Sub-Saharan Africa countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advances in technology have created opportunities for collaborative multi-institution programme delivery which are increasingly attractive within a constrained financial environment. This paper details the development of a cross-institution collaboratively delivered masters and postgraduate diploma programme in Geographical Information Science in New Zealand. We explore the benefits of such an approach as well as the lessons learnt from its implementation. The recommendations presented will be of interest to teaching faculty considering specialized collaborative programmes as well as more senior staff who are keen to combine institutional resources to meet new and emerging demands for skills. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For many years internationalization has not been a strong point of geographical education in post-socialist countries, including Poland. Therefore, all attempts at intensifying it are a real challenge and good practices deserve dissemination. This paper seeks to present the organizational and programme assumptions of a new field of postgraduate study calledCultural industries in the development policies of cities and regions, (Project supported by the European Social Fund under the Human Capital Operational Programme in the years 2013–2015 (Priority IV: Tertiary Education and Science, Measure 4.3: Enhancing the didactic potential of universities in areas of key importance for the Europe 2020 Strategy. UDA-POKL.04.03.00–00-152/12–00).) developed by the staff of the Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (Poland) as a didactic innovation, based on a modular system of education offering wide internationalization possibilities. The analysis focuses on experiences connected with this process. They include classes prepared in cooperation with visiting professors and practitioners from eight universities and European institutions as well as week-long practical placements in Brussels, arranged thanks to a network of experts and institutions specifically established for this purpose. The results obtained help to formulate conclusions and recommendations for higher schools interested in adopting this kind of good practices connected with the development of geographical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper chronicles the experience of academic staff in developing a course to enhance the critical thinking skills of environmental management undergraduates. We outline our considerations and process for course development, discuss insights from course evaluations, and reflect on the challenges encountered. We believe these perspectives will be useful for others who are developing critical thinking skills curricula, especially first year courses. Aspects of the course design which were considered particularly effective were the use of scaffolded assessment, the application of threshold concepts, and well-structured collaborative learning activities paired with quality tutors. The key learning for the authors from the evaluation of the course was that while the tools and strategies developed were very useful, interweaving these tools into year 2 and 3 courses would help students see the ongoing value of critical thinking in their work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Identifying scientific collaborations helps in establishing new research policies and linkages among academic institutions. Geographical information system (GIS) research is relatively new in higher education in developing countries. Investigating scholarly communication is challenging for GIS research due to its broad application. Therefore, the main objective is to evaluate the current trends of GIS research in higher education in Pakistan. For this, we analyzed patterns of published literature using data from the Web of Science databases for 2000-2019. We used interactive visual exploration of the scientific literature organized in a fine-grained manner to mining research patterns in the field. Results show that international collaborations are highest with China, followed by the USA. We identified 29 academic institutes in Pakistan who made intensive research collaborations with the Chinese Academy of Science. GIS techniques were mostly studied to solve problems in the domains of water, atmospheric, and environmental sciences. GIS research output increased remarkably during the last decade, which we attribute to the availability of scholarships from the Higher Education Commission, the Chinese Government, and US Fulbright initiatives. The research output will help to strengthen the academic exchange on GIS research between higher education institutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“Energy literacy” is of great interest to those researching sustainable consumption, particularly with regard to its relationship to domestic energy use. This paper reflects on the pedagogic aspects of fieldwork recently carried out by undergraduate geography students in their own homes to assess energy-related technologies and practices, and how these come together into a singular, aggregated number produced by the energy meter. Conceptualising energy literacy as comprising cognitive, affective, and behavioral domains, we evaluate the experiences reported by the students, and discuss next steps in expanding the exercise and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Computer programming is not commonly taught to geographers as a part of geographic information system (GIS) courses, but the advent of NeoGeography, big data and open GIS means that programming skills are becoming more important. To encourage the teaching of programming to geographers, this paper outlines a course based around a series of laboratories that aims to provide an introduction to programming. Methods for teaching and assessment are recommended. These laboratories use core spatial concepts that are relevant for all areas of geographic study, and use an open source Python approach that has wider logistical and pedagogical benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes a web-enabled learning platform providing remote access to geospatial software that extends the learning experience outside of the laboratory setting. The platform was piloted in two undergraduate courses, and includes a software server, a data server, and remote student users. The platform was designed to improve the quality of the learning experience and to increase student confidence and proficiency with software-based geospatial skills. Laboratory grades of students using the platform were significantly higher than those of students who did not use the platform, and survey responses reported that students overwhelmingly liked the convenience of the platform, which allowed them to work from any location. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The importance of developing employability skills of graduates has become a strategic priority in higher education. Knowledge of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools is a valuable skill for graduates both in terms of the specific skillset it provides and of the wider transferable skills. This paper discusses the importance of GIS as an interdisciplinary and employability skill within the setting of a weeklong intensive GIS course taught in the School of International Development at UEA. GIS as an employability skill within a commercial setting is discussed, with the focus on how to teach GIS most effectively in this setting. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A geographic information system (GIS) can be a valuable research tool, helping scientists understand location and bridge the gaps between subjects in interdisciplinary research (IDR), which has been promoted for its real-world solutions. However, a GIS can be difficult to use and may require understanding of a number of concepts as well as tools and technology. This complexity is compounded by additional challenges commonly encountered in IDR. This paper examines some of the challenges facing learners of GIS in IDR projects, with a particular focus on the appropriateness of current teaching methods in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To contribute effectively to academic discourse on urban sustainability, disciplines need to think outside their silos and work together more collaboratively. Although straightforward to posit in theory, the practical realities of bringing together people with different worldviews, languages and skills can be frustrating and lead to loss of motivation. This paper presents the findings from a qualitative study of interdisciplinary team working on an urban sustainability project. Through analysis of archival materials, observations and interviews, a major theme of motivation was uncovered and explored. We conclude with some suggestions for working more effectively interdisciplinary, urban sustainability projects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on the opportunities and challenges for educators with Geographic Information Systems. It mentions that humanity continues to face an array of complex global challenges that require perspectives from many knowledge areas to understand and cooperation across them to devise solutions. It alos mentions the technologies being used by these researchers and continued advances provide analytical opportunities.

An introduction is presented wherein the editor discusses various reports in the issue on topics including the history of teaching energy in geography classes, the importance of bringing geographical perspectives to the teaching of energy and key challenges for conducting engaged, critical energy pedagogy.

In our digital age of information acquisition, multimedia information streams are constant, constantly changing and often contain multiple messages about topics important to everyday life, such as energy geographies. Recognizing that college students are prime consumers of digital information, it seems that crafting of academic engagement for and with students that is in touch with the knowledge networks they utilize and will continue to be part of today and into the future is important. Engaging students in the production of videos about important topics, such as energy geographies, aids them in becoming critical producers of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents the authors' experiences in designing a storytelling map guide for the botanical gardens of Palacký University, Czech Republic, from a pedagogical point of view. The authors introduce a three-pillared original concept. The overall educational contribution is a combination of educational, thematic and technological knowledge which supports successful engagement in the storytelling process. In the Storytelling Map Guide for the Botanical Gardens and Greenhouse Collections, the first pillar represents the educational aspect. Botanical knowledge and familiarity with the study area, i.e. the Palacký University Botanical Gardens, represent the thematic pillar. The technological pillar is covered by knowledge of software, cartography and application design skills, including an overview of contemporary storytelling applications. Finally, the educational impact and benefits to students of geoinformatics are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined the impacts of a Japanese university's international fieldwork programs on developing the higher-order thinking skills and attributes of the students who participated in the programs in the Philippines and India. Through students' self-evaluation questionnaires, the study compared the reported scores of these skills and attributes both before and after the fieldwork programs. The findings suggested that the fieldwork programs seem to have significantly contributed to improving critical thinking and problem-solving skills as well as adaptability. However, other skills and attributes did not improve significantly. The current study also explored the possible reasons for the positive, neutral, and negative impacts of the fieldwork programs through an analysis of the findings from a series of focus group interviews with the students. While the majority of the skills and attributes did not show significant improvement, the current research may have important implications. Indeed, students' responses from the focus group interviews suggest a more positive development of skills and attributes than was revealed by the self-evaluation questionnaires. The possible reasons for this discrepancy were also explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares the field experience and development of sense of place (in this case, human attributed meanings and attachments to the field area) in geoscience students on three separate course sections of a six-day introductory geological mapping field trip. Students stayed in a small farm station within their 4 km2 field area, worked in groups of three or four, and produced an individual final assessment. Findings from student interviews and pre-post surveys indicated that there were no significant differences in perceptions of the field trip purpose or sense of place between field trip sections, despite differences in instructor pedagogy and sense of place, as well as varied weather conditions. There were significant increases in student sense of place on all field trips, in contrast with previous work on a "roadside" (regional, multi-site) field trip where no significant change in sense of place occurred. In-field observations and instructor interviews identified key characteristics that supported similar sense of place and experiences on all trips: (1) consistent intended learning outcomes, (2) a carefully selected and immersive field area valued by instructors, and (3) an assessment connected to the landscape/field area with flexibility in its implementation, especially when faced with adverse weather conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mentoring is an important part of academic life, and is crucial in the relationship between advisor and advisee. This essay lays out what characteristics are most important to sustaining a solid mentoring relationship, based on the author's personal experiences. The characteristics highlighted include trust, candour, responsiveness, time, emotional labour, and pushiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of alternative teaching methods to lectures is one of the keys to develop a more participatory and effective education. In the teaching of Geography, greater interaction of students with elements of the landscape through the active use of photography could be one of the ways to achieve this efficiency. This article describes an experiment conducted in 2016 with students of the subject Physical Geography of the Iberian Peninsula. Two different teaching methodologies were applied to two groups of students. The first one was based on dividing the time of each class between participatory comments of landscape photographs and imparting theoretical knowledge through lectures. The second methodology consisted only of lectures, following a more traditional approach. Additionally, some students from the first group actively participated by uploading and tagging their own field pictures to a photographic repository of the University of Seville. The effectiveness of the different activities in each group was assessed through four tests, performed monthly. The results indicate that the use of landscape photographs as a participative teaching resource allows a more efficient learning of theoretical concepts. Therefore, the proposed methodology should be considered by those interested in improving the quality and effectiveness of their teaching of Geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]