ASSIGNMENT ON

NEED FOR RESEARCH IN TEACHING-LEARNING

PROCESS IN GEOGRAPHY

Submitted by

Syamkumar.S
B.Ed Geography
N. S. S Training College,
Pandalam

INTRODUCTION
The key role of a teacher is to teach, which can be understood as meaning to
facilitate learning of some target curriculum. Teaching is therefore intimately tied
to notions of learning, and there is a sense that if students do not learn, then
whatever the teacher is doing does not deserve the label of teaching. Students can
learn skills (such as swimming the back stroke, or safely using a lathe), or attitudes
(such as valuing learning, or desiring to make a productive and positive
contribution to society), but much formal learning in schools and colleges is linked
to conceptual development. So, for example, students will be asked to learn about
the periodic classification of the elements, the notion of all living things being Inter
linked through being part of an ecosystem, the role of the banking system in
supporting entrepreneurship, the factors influencing industrial, or indeed political,
revolutions and so forth. To the lay-person, and sadly sometimes even to the
teacher, teaching may be understood as the process by which a teachers
knowledge is somehow copied into learners minds. That is, there is a folk model
of teaching, sometimes call the transfer model, which leads to learning being
discussed in terms of something sent out by the teachers which may or may not
lodge in students minds (Taber, 2009). In English, common idioms for when
teaching goes wrong are that the teaching went over the students head
(suggesting poor communication by the teacher) or went in one ear and out the
other (implying lack of ability or attention from the learner).
Innovation of didactic and learning strategies is one of the basic demands in
teacher training at all levels of education. Education systems need to combine the
development of specific knowledge and skills with generic capacities linked to
creativity, such as curiosity, intuition, critical and lateral thinking, problem solving,
experimentation, risk taking and the ability to learn from failure, use of the

imagination and hypothetical reasoning, and a sense of entrepreneurship. It

stressed that teachers have a crucial role to play in nurturing and supporting each
child's creative potential, and can contribute to this by exemplifying creativity in
their own teaching; and that teacher education institutions also have a key
contribution to make in providing teaching staff with the knowledge and
competences required for change, such as the skills needed to promote learner
centered approaches, collaborative work methods and the use of modern learning
tools, particularly those based on ICT. Fostering creative abilities and attitudes
within schools also requires the support of an organizational culture open to
creativity and the creation of an innovation-friendly environment in general, as
well as committed and forward-looking leadership at all levels.

NEED FOR RESEARCH IN TEACHING LEARNING PROCESS IN

GEOGRAPHY
Geography, like history, is not defined by the uniqueness of its content; rather, both
gain their distinction by the way in which they organize and analyze the data they
collect regarding particular aspects of the human experience. History compares and
contrasts information within the framework of chronology, while geography
organizes its information within the context of the spatial environment. Today, the
focus of geographic inquiry is generally conceded to be on spatial interactions, that
is, the geographer seeks to understand the significance of human activity within a
spatial framework. Where historians report their findings primarily through written
narratives, geographers present their data primarily through the construction of
maps.
Until the advent of the Progressive movement in American life, beginning in the
decades following the Civil War, geography was taught as a separate subject.
Memorization of the names of important cities, physical features, and relational
facts dominated instruction. Recognition of the temporary shelf life of that kind of
information taught in rote fashion led Progressive educators to deemphasize the
acquisition of facts and to instead emphasize the role of reasoning and problem
solving in learning. Under this program, the traditional subjects of geography,
history, and civics were fused. In this context the teaching of geography began to
lose its identity as a unique area of study.
Effectiveness of Instruction
Whether taught as a separate subject or fused in some way with subject matter
drawn from other fields of the natural and social sciences, there is a long history of

ineffectiveness of instruction in the teaching of geography. From the first attempt

to assess the effectiveness of instruction in geography, in the 1840s in Boston's
public schools, to the most recent efforts, notably the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP), there is a continuing record of what most consider
to be substandard results. A much more sophisticated assessment tool than those of
past years, the NAEP results have shown, for example, that secondary students
learn more geographic information in history classes than in those classes devoted
exclusively to the study of geography. Although one can decry such a seeming
incongruity, the historical knowledge displayed by students on these tests was
equally dismal.
How is it that geographic instruction appears to be so ineffective? One reason may
be that teachers generally are not themselves geographically literate. One teaches
what one knows, and today's teachers are as much a product of their schooling as
anyone else. It might be hoped that professional geographers would be able to
communicate the nature of geographic literacy and would be effective in educating
teachers for the task of teaching geographic concepts. Unfortunately, the number of
professional geographers is limitedhardly a drop in the bucket when compared to
the number of professional historians, for exampleso it is to be expected their
ability to help teachers will also be limited. However, there are many geographers
who are devoted to the task of teacher education and are actively involved in
remediating this problem, which is coordinated to the extent possible through a
professional organization, the National Council for Geographic Education.
A second reason that geographic instruction is not as effective as it might be is
because not enough is known about how students acquire geographic concepts.
There is, however, a body of information that is suggestive of that process. Swiss
psychologist Jean Piaget (18961980) is the towering figure in the development of

research techniques and in broadening understandings about the fashion in which

spatial concepts develop. Rather than being interested in a child's ability to give a
correct response to direct questions, he sought to understand the reasoning process
that led children to give incorrect answers to the broader tasks he set before them
to solve. As well, instead of attempting to secure answers in a third-person setting
in which the correct answers were foretoldthe paper-and-pencil test so familiar in
American schoolshe asked youngsters to talk their way through the solution to a
particular spatial problem irrespective of "correctness."
Piaget's pioneering research, and that of many researchers who followed his lead in
exploring the emergence of spatial concepts, tells us that the intellectual
progression in the ability to comprehend spatial properties moves from perceived
space to conceived space, from experiencing space only in the most direct sense to
conceptions of space in which the child's thoughts, at first quite primitive,
gradually become abstract and based on Euclidean (mathematical) conceptions.
The development of a reasonably mature ability to comprehend spatial interactions
appears not to be available to the student until early adolescence. If this is so, then
the importance of providing direct environmental experience, especially in the
elementary school, would be required for the development of the kind of thinking
that is basic to the mature comprehending of spatial interactions. That school
environments largely preclude direct experiencing of the spatial environment
means that the development of geographic literacy faces some significant hurdles,
and it also explains why the focus on "where-is-it," "what-is-it" kinds of questions
persist in the school curriculum.

 Maps and Spatial Concepts

Since the map provides the basic tool for reporting spatial interactions, the ability
to read maps meaningfully is a primary objective of instruction. Map reading can
be viewed as a more complex form of print readingthe reading of books,
newspapers, and so forthin which the number of symbols and their positions in
relation to one another are both consistent and limited. Map reading, in contrast,
requires the reader to develop meanings for a wide variety of symbols, some
conventional print but others of varying degrees of abstraction, all arranged in a
relational two-dimensional environment. The reading process, regardless of the
symbol systems employed, requires the creation of meanings, which in turn are
dependent upon the reader's conceptual base, that is, what the reader understands
the symbols are intended to represent. There has long been controversy over how
the reading process, regardless of the complexity of the symbol system involved, is
initiated. Many believe that initial skills should be taught in a more or less arbitrary
fashion and that the development of meanings follows. Others, and that is the
argument here, believe that form follows function, that concepts, in this case of
spatial relationships, are basic to the process of creating meanings in response to
apprehending textual material.
As in learning to read conventional print, it is argued that the most constructive
route to fluent reading involves much writing based on one's own experience. If
map reading is, as it appears, similar to reading print in its more conventional form,
but complicated by the presence of a variety of symbols representing different sets
of meanings arranged in a two-dimensional plane (as well as an abstraction of the
world's three-dimensional reality), then learning to read maps with some degree of
sophistication must depend upon prior experiences in constructing maps out of

one's personal experience. Taking this view, an important activity throughout the
school curriculum for both elementary and secondary schools should entail an
emphasis on a developmental sequence that takes the student from first creating
maps directly out of one's own experience and going onward from there toward
learning how the mathematics of map making results in the kind of representations
seen in classrooms and the world at large.
Studies of children's conceptions of spatial interactions indicate the progression
toward some degree of intellectual maturity in this regard is much slower than
commonly perceived. For example, concepts of political entities (towns, states,
nations, etc.), notions of boundary lines, slope, and elevation seem to commence
their emergence latein early adolescence at best. The argument that television and
various forms of virtual reality, abstractions even at their best, have expanded
student's views such that they are much more aware of the world they live in begs
further examination. It is to be regretted in this regard that Piagetian research
protocols have not been updated and applied to furthering our knowledge. The
admittedly little evidence we do have suggests that we be cautious in coming to
any conclusions about the efficacy of media, including the Internet, in promoting
geographic understandings because the emergence of mature geographic
understanding appears to be so highly dependent upon prior firsthand experiencing
of the immediate environment.
Evaluating Geographic Learning
How, then, does one evaluate geographic learning? Geographers are not in
agreement regarding the approach instruction should take and, consequently, how
to judge whether significant learning has occurred. The major traditions of
geographic inquiry, which might be used as the basic framework for making such

judgments, have been defined as the spatial tradition, the areas studies tradition,
manland tradition, and the earth science tradition. These are the traditional
categories employed in developing college curricula. Geographers more interested
in defining geography appropriate to elementary and secondary schools have
argued for what they call the five themes of geography: location, place,
relationships within places, movement over the earth, and regions.
Whichever set of criteria one uses for developing test items, and despite the
popularity of paper-and-pencil multiple-choice questions, easily evaluated by
mechanical means, it is now widely accepted that evaluation procedures, to be
valid, must include questions requiring the student to demonstrate reasoning
abilities for reaching a particular conclusion about spatial interrelationships.
Evaluating responses that demonstrate reasoning powers along with knowledge of
specifics requires more time than current test practice provides and will, therefore,
not be widely used until there is a broader acceptance of in-depth analyses of
knowledge as the better indicator of students' progress toward geographic literacy.

Geography Teaching Methods and Strategies

Using the disciplines of geography and education, this is research that addresses
issues in the classroom to improve teaching, learning, and student performance.
An example may be a class activity at the middle school level on mental mapping
and teaching students the importance of the spatial perspective. Although the
activity is sound and insightful, this type of research usually does not include any
kind of measured effect on the processes of acquiring knowledge. In addition,
little detail is focused on the research methodology and collection of empirical
data.

 Geography Learning and Thinking

Going beyond methodology and strategy, learning and thinking research
demonstrate the processes of acquiring geography knowledge through systematic
and carefully analyzed data. An example of this may be a study that demonstrates
the increased abilities of students to understand changes to the environment and
physical landscape by using geospatial technologies to enhance learning. There is a
baseline understanding of student ability and tested and measured outcomes.
Institutional Geography Education Research
Focusing on geography as an overall institution, this type of research focuses on
policy development, programme description, androle of geography within the
education system. An example of this research may be analyzing the role of
textbooks within the Geography AP curriculum or looking at introductory
geography courses at the 100 level in universities.
General Interest Geography
This research is strictly about studies in geography and excludes the domain of
education. Topics may include anything in physical or human geography.
Examples may include impact of climate change or changing identities in America.
These articles include empirically-driven data.

THE STATUS OF RESEARCH IN GEOGRAPHIC EDUCATION

After categorizing the articles from the Journal of Geography between 1988-1997,
Bednarz found an increase in the percentage of articles involving Learning and
Thinking by 1994 (Bednarz 2000). Her findings also revealed that there was an
increase in articles related to Institutional Studies. As a result, the increase in
those two categoriessuggests a growing interest in geography education
research (138). Regardless of this upward trend, pessimistic. Looking at the time
period as a whole, she states that Downs original worry over the lack of research is
indeed accurate. After examining all of the articles published between 1988-1997,
in fact, only 10% of the studies during the decade involve Learning and Thinking.
The majority, 55% is dedicated to Teaching Methods and Strategies. In sum,
Bednarz writes, the record of addressing significant and fundamental research in
the Journal of Geography has been poor(2000, 138).

THE

STATUS

OF

RESEARCH

IN

GEOGRAPHY

EDUCATION

ACCORDING TO RUTHERFORD
Research Study
This category is similar to Bednarzs Geography Learning and Thinking. Again,
the focus is on empirically driven data to prove acquisition of knowledge.

Theoretical Synthesis

This category focuses on the development of geography theory.

Non-Research
This is a category created for everything that does not fit into either research or
theory. Rutherfords evaluation reveals that over half (53%) of the peer-reviewed
articlesreport studies that use empirically-based methods to develop theory.
Rutherford remained optimistic about the trend of research in geography education.
However, the studies discussed above are uneven and need to be updated in order
to better document and analyze the current status of research in the field. The
Rutherford study uses four geography journals and randomly selected articles.
Rutherford does not explain his methodology for selection nor does he explain or
specify how the research qualifies as empirically-based research. It is difficult to
determine if the articles that qualify under Rutherford are the type that Downs
would deem powerful enough to change minds and policy. Furthermore, the years
of analysis does not reach a full decade, as does Bednarzs study. As a result,
further analysis is necessary to see if true research is actually continuing into the
21st century.
FACTORS INFLUENCING GEOGRAPHIC EDUCATION RESEARCH
TODAY
There is no doubt that an emphasis on geography education has increased in public
education. The reason behind this is a change in federal policies and the
publication of national and state geography standards. One of the earliest changes
was the development and dissemination of Geography for Life: National
Geography Standards in 1994. Prior to the publication of this first edition of :
Geography for Life there was little focus on the importance of teaching

conceptually-based geography at the school level. However, the creation of the

national standards changed this by clearly identifying key concepts that should be
addressed in any geography curriculum. As a scaffold, the standards help the
individual teacher focus on creating lesson plans that deliver meaningful content
and strategies.
The other major change that occurred in education during the past decade was the
dawn of the digital age. The traditional classroom consisting of chalkboards and
notebooks is now inundated with LCD projectors, Smart Boards, Elmo vision
bundles, Google docs, and individual iPads. Both students and teachers are now
connected to the Internet like never before. Since students and classrooms have
changed dramatically in more recent years, instructional teaching has had to
change as well. Teachers are encouraged to try out the latest device. In fact, many
school districts mandate technology in the classroom. Educational research and
trends focus on teaching digital skills to increase the quality of education and to
prepare the student for the 21st century (Erstad 2012, 26). However, is the
saturation of technological techniques just a trend? Students, teachers, and
administrators have to evaluate and decide which technology is the best fit for the
classroom. With the addition of so much technology, the focus on true geography
learning may be overlooked due to a race to keep up with technology. Furthermore,
the use of one type of technology may not actually increase student learning, but a
teacher may continue to use the tool just because it fulfills a technology mandate.
Technology has many important uses, but, we need research that shows that a
certain program, tool, or website increases student knowledge especially when it
comes to geography education.

How can more research be accomplished that focuses on issues related to

Learning and Thinking?
Encouraging research to reflect Learning and Thinking begins in academia.
Research is a personal journey that begins with ones interests, but how are
programs encouraging research in the classroom? Are we encouraging research
that demonstrates Learning and Thinking or are we satisfied with a Strategies and
Methods approach? Perhaps we need to analyze research that reflects Learning and
Thinking and then model these techniques.
Where do we need to begin?
Despite the dearth of prior published research in geographic education, a good
place to begin is to analyze the research occurring in other disciplines such as
math, science, language arts, and history. How do scholars and educators in these
disciplines studied Learning and Thinking in their respective academic fields?
Instead of reinventing the wheel, building on the ideas that already exist from
fellow educators and researchers in other fields would provide geographers with an
excellent starting point for their work on geographic issues.

EAVALUATION
The geography teachers opinion and attitudes about self-evaluation process
(reflection) in their professional development activities- improving teacher
performance, teacher achievements and professional development growth, appear
to be the most important determinants to the implementation and decision of using
self-evaluation, regardless of personal background followed.

One of the most significant findings that emerge from this study is that the selfevaluation is a positive perceived action for the most geography teachers.
Important findings that also emerge from this study are that geography teachers
indicated self-evaluation process as a very useful tool that effects both their and
students motivation. Lack of time, lack of teachers motivation and lack of
seminars are considered as the most important obstacles for implementing.
Finally, as an exploratory study in a field that is under-researched, the
questionnaire did achieve its aim of presenting a broad picture of geography
teachers views about self-evaluation process. Implication of these data includes
the need to continue to provide effective support which helps teachers to identify
gaps in knowledge about reflection that can be addressed in future professionaldevelopment activity.

CONCLUSION
Within geography, a specific focus that may naturally transition to demonstrating
Learning and Thinking is in the area of technology. Interestingly, the year (2003)
with the most number of Learning and Thinking research articles also had a
relatively high number of technology articles. Research in technology and
geography education is a rather open field. There are many possibilities to
incorporate the Learning and Thinking model with technology. Also, technology
may more easily produce data since there are variables that are more easily
controlled than in an open classroom. One example is the 2011 study by Demirici
in which two different classrooms that used ESRIs ArcView 9.2 GIS software
were compared. One classroom used only a single computer modeled by the
teacher and the other classroom allowed all students to use their own individual
computers (Demirici2011). The students taught with one computer in which the

teacher modeled the program had a higher success rate than those students using
individual computers (2011). However, students that used individual computers
had more overall satisfaction with the lesson. From this information, districts could
push for more teacher training in GIS applications, make the case for interactive
whiteboards in the classroom, and encourage grants for personal computers or
electronic devices that enhance geography lessons.

Reference

1. Chauhan .S.S (1985), Innovation in teaching Learning Process, Delhi.

2. Teaching and Learning Geography By Daniella Tilbury; Michael Williams