GIS-Based Approach for the Analysis of Geographical Education Paths

This paper presents a new geospatial approach, and a proposal to study the geographic educational path of individuals or social groups identified by researchers using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and spatial statistics. A scheme of research proceedings has been proposed, including obtaining data from various sources (including surveys and other sources, e.g., from the university and OpenStreetMap), their proper preparation and categorisation into one geodatabase on the GIS system, followed by visualisation and the calculation of statistics. The whole research procedure was carried out in GIS. The results can be useful for detecting patterns of educational paths in different countries and social groups, and comparing them. Indirectly, they can be used to study mobility, and to indicate the spatial range of studied schools. The study was carried out among a group of students of geoinformation at the University of Lodz. Visualization and analysis of their geographical educational path showed that most of them attended schools close to where they lived, indicating low mobility during their education. The results obtained may be relevant to the “spatial turn” in education research.

Implications of Key Philosophical Assumptions and Paradigms in Geography Teaching and Research

Geography has had limited interchange with the implications of major philosophical assumptions and paradigms in geographical education and research methodology. This paper claims a closer engagement with the philosophical arguments on ontology, epistemology, and axiology as well as the research and teaching strategies or paradigms. It is adopted and has much to offer to geography, not least in providing a showground within which very different types of geographical inquiry i.e., qualitative and quantitative, may find some common ground for helpful discussion and debate in geographic research. Nevertheless, this will only be fully accomplished if geography enters on: (1) studies that develop and arrange clear positivist ideas and concepts within the particular geographic research; (2) studies that attempt to relate geographic research to the broader realm of the constructionism/ interpretivism tradition; and (3) examination of the link of the geographic research with the pragmatism. The contemporary revival of geographic paradigm is described, together with its impacts on research and teaching methodology in geography. The prevailing literature on geographical rendezvous with positivism is then examined, and it is claimed that there is a single reality, which can be measured and known. Therefore, they are more likely to use quantitative methods to measure the fact. Likewise, constructivist believe that there is no single reality or truth. Thus, existence need to be interoperated, and consequently they are more likely to use qualitative methods to get those multiple realities. Pragmatism has much broader relevance within both physical and human geography, not linked to particular research styles. It believes that truth or reality is constantly negotiated, debated, interpreted and therefore, the best method to use is to solve the problem or explores the truth or fact.

Environmental Threats and Geographical Education: Students’ Sustainability Awareness—Evaluation

Teaching geography creates an opportunity for the transfer of knowledge about environmental problems and ways of solving them. Teachers from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Turkey, and the United Kingdom indicated strengths and weaknesses of physical geography as well as the selected geographical concepts of: Maps/Cartography, Astronomy/The Earth in the Universe, Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Endogenic processes, Exogenic processes, and Soils and biosphere. There was a variety in how confident students were around these topic areas. The main types of difficulties identified by the study were: too little time for implementation, difficult terminology, and lack of tools for the proper transfer of knowledge. Moreover, the attractiveness of individual issues for students also varies. The research clearly shows that students lack an awareness of problems related to the environment. There are considerable differences between the level of students’ knowledge about climate change or air and water pollution (relatively high awareness of global warming) and issues related to soil and vegetation cover (low awareness of soil depletion, soil pollution, changing the boundaries of the occurrence of plant zones, etc.). To make people aware of the importance of environment, we should take care of education in relation to global challenge and sustainable development.

DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS' EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE GEOGRAPHY COMPETENCE LEARNING PROCESS

The article highlights the urgency of the problem of formation and development of emotional intelligence of teachers and students, which solution is related with present-day modernization of geographical education. The authors analyzed the concept of "emotional intelligence" and characterized the transformation of this concept. Based on the study of psychological and pedagogical literature, the authors identified the main elements of emotional intelligence – self-knowledge, self-regulation, empathy and motivation. They proved the need to develop emotional intelligence in geography teachers as a necessary condition under which teachers can form it in students. The paper points out the peculiarities of the formation of subject geographical competence of students "emotional and value attitude to the environment and human activity in it", which is closely related to the formation and development of their emotional intelligence in the process of learning geography. The article analyzes the conditions for the development of emotional intelligence in adolescence, highlights the characteristic of this age emotional properties. The authors substantiate the specific possibilities of developing the emotional intelligence of students in geography lessons through the use of teaching methods, which are a set of emotional and sensory influences on the student's personality in the process of organizing his educational and cognitive activities. Here the methodical methods of formation of emotional intelligence developed by authors are presented, their content and procedure of realization found out, conditions of their application in the course of training of geography are characterized.

Project “We Propose!” Territorial citizenship and curricular innovation in portuguese geographical education

This paper considers the strengths of the project methodology for the construction of a more innovative, active and problematizing geographical education among Portuguese secondary students, through the critical reflection on the applicability of the Project “We Propose! / Nós Propomos!”, in the last five years. The methodological approach is based on a review of the national and international literature, a simplified content analysis of the last three curricular reforms in Portugal since the beginning of this century, and recourse to the explanation and interpretation of descriptive memories of the project. The scholarly significance of this study resides in the demonstration of how students are placed in contact with real-life geographers from the municipalities and local associations beyond the institutional and economic fabric of their surroundings and learn to value geographic knowledge and how geography can help in solving land use problems.

Point-rating system of knowledge assessment in geographical education

The article is devoted to the description and analysis of pedagogical experience of professional competence formation in training and assessment of students in the point-rating system. The interdisciplinary nature of geographical education implies the need to develop special ways of thinking among students and to attract knowledge and skills from different subject areas. In such a situation, it is necessary to maximize the arrangement of the training process from the initial stage of learning to the stage of summative assessment. The work contains proposals to supplement the evaluation tools of expertise, knowledge and skills with innovative methods to better understand the success of students educational activities. A system of measures used by the teacher during the semester for formative and summative assessments to evaluate the level of competence development in students is described. Emphasis is placed on the possibility of using distance learning technologies in the point-rating system. A conclusion is made on the effectiveness of the score-rating assessment of the competence development level in geographical education and predictive capabilities of this method of control, particularly in Master's and postgraduate studies. The concept of the score-rating system proposed in the article was tested by the author while teaching a number of geographical subjects at Ural State Pedagogical University. This methodology has proven to be an effective method of increasing the organization and motivation of students.

Can GIS Foster Conscious and Critical Learning in Geography? An Application from Students to a Real Case Included in the National Strategy for Inner Areas: Monti Dauni, Apulia (Italy)

Digital technologies, the use of which has progressively increased over the last few years, could represent key tools in learning and active citizenship in development processes. In this sense, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have gradually become an integral part of various disciplines and sectors. Even if the relevance and diffusion of GIS in the educational and pedagogical fields are increasing, their potential is still under-explored in the development of empowerment for participatory planning. Regarding the combination of geographical education and information technologies applied to the territories, the contribution they offer to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is a question which remains little-investigated, and which represents both an innovative field of experimentation and significant opportunities, especially for marginal, inner areas. However, recent reforms, in particular in Italy, are considerably reducing the role of geography in the curricula, which is paradoxical for such complex contexts and the understanding of major global issues. The risk is that of producing a gap between the functional use of the tools and the capacity for their critical application. This paper aims to reflect on the integration of Geography and GIS through teaching experimentation, as applied to a real case study in the Apulia region (Monti Dauni Area) under the national strategy for inner areas, in order to understand how to use GIS as an active tool in education for sustainability, the awareness of the value of local resources, and active citizenship.

SOBRE A ESPACIALIDADE E OS PROPÓSITOS DA EDUCAÇÃO GEOGRÁFICA

A geografia é muitas vezes vista no senso comum como um conjunto de conhecimentos sobre as caraterísticas de lugares, regiões e/ou territórios. Ao mesmo tempo, no ambiente acadêmico ainda são recorrentes as reflexões acerca da natureza epistemológica desta ciência. Este artigo é fruto de uma pesquisa de doutorado em geografia em andamento e pretende contribuir com as reflexões sobre as relações entre saberes científicos e escolares. Quais devem ser os propósitos e objetivos da educação geográfica realizada em contextos escolares? O que a educação geográfica apresenta de singular do ponto de vista epistemológico e que a diferencia de outros campos do conhecimento, disciplinas e visões do senso comum? As reflexões presentes neste trabalho se somam a outras publicações recentes na geografia brasileira e britânica que apontam para a importância da espacialidade dos fenômenos como ponto de partida para um raciocínio realmente geográfico. Palavras-chave Educação geográfica, Geografia escolar, Raciocínio geográfico. SPATIALITY AND THE PURPOSES OF GEOGRAPHICAL EDUCATION Abstract Geography is often seen in common sense as a body of knowledge about the characteristics of places, regions and / or territories. At the same time, reflections on the epistemological nature of this science are still recurring in the academic environment. This article is the result of an ongoing PhD research in geography and aims to contribute to reflections on the relationship between scientific and school knowledge. What should be the purposes and objectives of geographic education carried out in school contexts? What is unique about geographic education from an epistemological point of view and what differentiates it from other fields of knowledge, disciplines and common sense views? The reflections present in this work are added to other recent publications in Brazilian and British geography that point to the importance of the spatiality of phenomena as a starting point for a truly geographic thinking. Keywords Geographic education, School geography, Geographic thinking.

Training of masters-geographers in the system of network interaction of pedagogical universities

The key goal of modern geographical education is the process of forming a holistic worldview based on the general picture of the world and, in particular, the formation of geographical thinking based on a systematic approach. This ensures the socialization of the individual, capable of independently building a trajectory of professional growth and personal development, subject to mastering both universal and professional competencies. The most effective form of education in the formation of a holistic picture of the world, from the point of view of the authors, is the network form, which is provided for by the law “On Education in the Russian Federation” (article 15). It is the network form of implementation of educational programs, including master′s, that provides an individual choice of educational trajectories of learning. The article outlines the problem of choosing an approach to assessing the effectiveness of master’s programs. The analysis of the experience in the formation of competencies for different levels of education, presented in scientific publications, confirmed the insufficient degree of knowledge of the process of the formation and development of the competencies of master geographers. The article describes the approaches to the content of the variable part of the network master′s program for the training of teachers of geography.