Geospatial Physicalization in Geography Education

A novel method to create a physicalization of Digital Earth resulted a new type of analogue and tactile geographic information system (GIS). The model was tested by students in Australia, who shared insights into how the model supported their learning about the concept of “overlay” while providing an interesting and engaging learning platform. Observations suggest the model promoted collaborative learning, and provided a bridge between paper maps and digital GIS. This study offers insight into preferences of school children for physicalization models in geography education and contributes to an understanding of children's spatial thinking and understanding of the overlay concept.

Sustainability Education in China: Lessons Learnt from the Teaching of Geography

Since its emergence, the concept of sustainability has been incorporated in geography education across the globe. China is no exception. As one of the pioneer countries in advocating environmental protection, the Chinese government has called for a paradigm shift in pedagogies in order to encourage students to effectively learn the concept and develop their ability to think in new ways, especially engaging themselves with contemporary worldviews. However, many teachers may feel that they are incapable of teaching sustainability. Therefore, it is important to examine whether subject teachers have the ability to implement sustainability education. To fill this research gap, the present research focused on a case study of an in-service Chinese geography teacher teaching sustainability in a junior middle school in China. In order to deeply understand his teaching, this research adopted the form of interviews, supplemented by the analysis of relevant teaching documents. The results indicated that the two themes taught in the seventh and eighth grades, respectively, involved mainly environmental sustainability with some connection to economic sustainability, but fell short of socio-cultural sustainability. This study calls for more sustainability elements in geography curriculums, particularly with the inclusion of socio-cultural sustainability. In this article, research and practical implications have been given.

Teachers' Perception of the Reality of Geography Education in Nepal

This paper analyzes the teachers' perceptions of the reality of geography education in Nepal. The term teachers' perceptions refer to a how teachers attach meaning to experience in the realities of geography education. It is based teachers involved in teaching geography at the campus university level in the Kathmandu Valley. It looks at the contribution that geography can make in the education of young people and the flourishing of the subject of geography in Nepal. For this purpose, a descriptive survey method was employed. The information used in this paper was obtained through questionnaires, focus group discussions, and observation. A purposive sampling technique was employed to select teachers. The results indicated that input is a dominant factor for the quality of geography education. Other factors like government policy, student interests, job markets, and perceptions of people, planners, policymakers, and administrators are also indicators that received the lowest rating of geography education in the study area. The findings show that the relationship between policies and practices of teaching-learning processes influenced the teachers’ perception of geography education.

Status of Job Availability for Postgraduates in Geography Education

This paper attempts to analyze the situation of job availability in the markets for postgraduates, especially masters in geography education (M.Ed.). It also covers the scope of jobs in the markets, status of job involvement, and level of satisfaction based on qualitative research design and secondary data sources. Primary data were collection from interviews and discussions with teachers and postgraduate students of geography education. Secondary data were collection from various sources including digital libraries. The findings of this paper indicate that the postgraduate in Geography education is involved in different jobs such as teaching, educational research, administration, and educational planning in government, public and private sector institutions. Most of those who are engaged in teaching professions seem satisfied with their job. Besides, some private-sector workers are not happy with their work. Recently, the geography curriculum has offered geographic information systems (GIS), a global positioning system (GPS), and remote sensing (RS) as well as other tools and techniques. This may open ample job opportunities for geography graduates. The Department of Geography Education should be committed to producing skilled and competent man powers to fulfill market needs, and the government should make a policy arrangement to give priority in teaching, research, administration, and planning in education for the manpower produced in this subject.

Paraxis on Geography Education in Nepal

This paper attempts to analyze the paradoxical view on geography education in Nepal. Praxis interplays the relationships between theory and practice-reflection in action in any academic discipline, like geography education. Geography education demonstrates the strategic linkages of content and pedagogy in teaching and research activities. Even now, geography occupies an important place not only in schools but also in university curricula. However, the easier it is to define geography, the harder it is to define geography education. Butt (2011) includes both parameters of geography (as a discipline) and education (as an activity) in the definition of geography education. This paper fulfills the objectives through systematic reviews of appropriate literature related to geography education. For this purpose, 50 documents were searched from different sources, such as Google, abstracts, keywords, and books. Only 15 papers and books were selected that gave pace to theories, methods, and pedagogical practices in geography education. The findings of this paper show that the definition of geography education is limited only to teaching geography in schools and colleges. In addition, teaching requires content knowledge (subject matters) related to geographic concepts, themes, traditions, tools and techniques, and contemporary issues related to climate change, environmental degradation, disasters, etc., in the curriculum. Pedagogical knowledge is also equally essential to deliver that content effectively to learners. Thus, geography provides the basis for choosing what content to teach at a particular level and, geography education helps to select teaching methods. It shows that the first is focused on the content and the second on pedagogy.