Discover Geography

Jialing Wang
,
jialing.wang@sru.edu

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
a
Public four-year institution, primarily undergraduate
.

Summary

Discover Geography is an introductory course that surveys the field of geography and demonstrates the relevance of basic geographic concepts, topics, and methodologies. It is intended primarily for freshmen and sophomores who have had little or no previous work in geography at the college level.

Course URL:
Course Size:

71-150

Course Context:

This is an introductory course with no pre-requisites and does not serve as a prerequisite for other courses. Typically, 90% of the students take the course as liberal studies requirement. Many students have their majors other than geography and geology. Some others haven't decided their majors yet. A few students are our majors.

Course Goals:

--- Students should be able to analyze the spatial patterns and characteristics of physical and social phenomena on the Earth. Furthermore, students should be able to compare two or more places to identify the similarity and dissimilarity between them.
--- Students should be able to interpret current world issues and events (natural or social) by using perspectives and approaches from geography.


How course activities and course structure help students achieve these goals:

Course activities such as JiTT (Just in Time Teaching) and Jigsaw can really help students achieve the above course goals. JiTT encourages students to get prepared for the class by reading the textbook and studying the topics beforehand. Then in the class, students can have an effective discussion to better understand the content. My lecture can also be more focused on some common problems. Jigsaw can help students effectively collaborate with each other on a project in class.
I will use quizzes/exams, minute papers, cooperative exams, written project reports, and oral presentations to assess whether students have met the goals.

Skills Goals

--- Students should be able to develop some skills such as using maps and reading diagrams.
--- Students should be able to improve three aspects of their writing. First, I want students to know how to locate the information they need, such as, learning how to search library books, and how to search on the Internet. Second, I want students to cite references in their papers. Third, I would like students to further explore their subjects in the process of writing their papers.


How course activities and course structure help students achieve these goals:

--- To help students achieve the first skill goal, I may use some teaching strategies such as JiTT or Jigsaw to ask students to interpret maps/graphics and to make simple map draft in class. I may have some questions in exams to assess whether students have met the goal.
--- To help students achieve the second skill goal, I would ask students to write several reports or short papers during the semester. I will grade and comment on these writing assignments and provide timely feedback to students. I may also use some writing work as a case study or let students to evaluate each other's work.

Attitudinal Goals

I hope students will be able to develop an awareness of the important role geography plays in understanding the world.


How course activities and course structure help students achieve these goals:

I would like to use more examples from the real world in my course to demonstrate how the geographic approaches and perspectives are widely used to analyze and solve problems. To assess whether students have met the goals, I would like students to discuss and compare the perspectives of geographers from the perspectives that others have in studying a particular problems and to write a short report or answer some questions about it. I will grade it.

Assessment

I may use a variety of methods to assess student learning, such as quiz, exams, group project, oral presentation, and survey.

Syllabus: