Joint feedback developed and submitted by:
- Sinead Earley, Lecturer in UNBC Geography & PhD candidate in Geography (Queen’s University), Prince George
- Dr. Greg Halseth, Professor, UNBC Geography, Community Development Institute, CRC Chair, Prince George
- Dr. Neil Hanlon, Professor, UNBC Health Sciences, Prince George
- Chris Jackson, Senior Lab Instructor, UNBC Geography, Prince George
- Dr. Peter Jackson, Professor, UNBC Environmental Science, Atmospheric Science and Engineering, Prince George
- Alex Koiter, lecturer, UNBC Geography, Prince George
- Mark Lafleur, secondary teacher, Duchess Park Secondary, SD57 Prince George
- Dr. Zoë Meletis, Associate Professor, UNBC Geography, Prince George
- Dr. Catherine Nolin, Associate Professor and Chair, UNBC Geography, Prince George
- Steve Porter, secondary teacher, Kelly Road Secondary, SD57 Prince George
- Stephanie Powell-Hellyer, Sessional Instructor, UNBC Global and International Studies, Prince George
- Cliff Raphael, Instructor, Geography and Leadership, College of New Caledonia, Prince George
- Glen Thielmann, secondary teacher, D.P. Todd Secondary, SD57 Prince George
- Dr. Roger Wheate, Associate Professor, GIS Coordinator, UNBC Geography, Prince George
Held at University of Northern British Columbia, November 30th, 2015, 4-6pm, Admin Bldg 1069
Meeting agenda:
- Orientation to curriculum change in BC K-12 Education system
- Overview of the new curriculum framework and role of geography in Social Studies courses
- Defining and contextualizing big ideas, competencies, and content
- Feedback groups and sharing out (see five questions below)
- Wrap-up discussion on geography education and opportunities to connect K-12 teachers with post-secondary faculty and the UNBC Geography Program
“Social Studies: Proposal for Grades 10-12 Curriculum,” BC Ministry of Education, retrieved Nov 20/2015 from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/10-12
Group activity questions:
- What is the point in studying Geography? Put another way, what are some of the “Big Ideas” in Geography?
- What are some competencies (skills/processes/ways of thinking and expression) in the study of Geography?
- What areas of study, key concepts, and topics are important for students to learn about in a well-rounded and interesting introductory course in Human Geography?
- What areas of study, key concepts, and topics are important for students to learn about in a well-rounded and interesting introductory course in Physical Geography?
- Anything else to add?
General comments:
- Why two courses (plus environmental studies, plus earth science)? Wouldn’t a general, interdisciplinary geography course with flexible content have more appeal to both students and teachers?
- Content and competencies should use the heading/bullet approach used in the draft Earth Science course - allows differentiation between main ideas and lesser ideas within each category
- One course: human-environment interaction and process
- The draft competencies are for the most part about history education and not geography education
- How about a holistic geography course with options for students to get credit for human vs physical based on the projects the complete?
1. What is the point in studying Geography? Put another way, what are some of the “Big Ideas” in Geography? (this section also includes general statements about the draft curriculum)
More about Human Geography:
- environment
- spatial learning
- place
- inter-relationships (local to global)
- based on data (observations | measurements
- human-environment interactions (also expressed as the human-environment dynamic)
- geography is about the study of space, place, and identity (these are core concepts, prompts for inquiry)
- why do people live where they do and how do they interact with the environment
- 3rd and 4th Human Geog “Big Ideas” are too similar
- measurement of space
- earth’s surface as a place of interactions
- systems
- understanding our world
- location, maps,
- patterns, trends
- purpose of (physical) geography includes understanding of basic composition and structure of the earth, forces that share the surface of the earth, and biomes
- patterns
- understanding humans on Earth
- data-based measurements, observations, pattern recognition
- Geography is applicable to all fields - emphasize where geography takes you, e.g. experience-based learning
- systems thinking; scales - local to global
- cycles and interactions
- location, location, location
- make the relationship between humans and environment more interactive, less deterministic
- integration: knowledge of physical and social dynamics shared across both courses
- if they were one course, they should focus on human/environment interaction/process
- geography is an integrated science, interdisciplinary
- focus on underlying processes
- local-global interdependencies (a key-component in geographic thinking
- climate change
- linking human and physical processes
- globally connected world
- understanding connections/reciprocal relations between land and life
- how/why people live where they do
- basic geographic literacy (various definitions)
* “competencies” is the term used in BC Curriculum documents to describe skills, capacities, practical abilities, and habits of mind. Some are discipline-specific, some are interdisciplinary, while others are meant to apply generally to “critical thinking” and “inquiry.”
More about Human Geography:
- critical thinking
- isolating what we’re thinking about (metacognition)
- levels of “Why?”
- ability to express in a variety of means (e.g. photo essays)
- reasoning
- recognize patterns in the world that relate to people
- experiential learning (mentioned multiple times)
- clear expression from qualitative through to quantitative
- basic geographic literacy
- ability to spatially represent and interpret data
- basic mapping skills
- inquiry
- analytical tools to use/interpret geographically referenced data
- integration of different geographic understandings
- chain of explanations: be able to explain things that are interconnected
- transfer and translation of geographic knowledge
- capacity for interdisciplinary research, thought, and expression
- refer to http://pics.uvic.ca for competency ideas
- problem-solving
- ability to discuss and make chains of explanation (e.g. Syrian Migration)
- concept maps/mind-mapping
- writing/expressing thoughts clearly (qualitative and quantitative thinking)
- integrative; interrelated thinkers - knowledge transfer - discussion - linkages (mind maps)
- explain “so what”
- visual representations of space; patterns, meaning
- see the “Big Picture” when presented with geographic data and phenomenon
- identify key factors as explanation
- ability to trace interconnections
- knowledge translation - from science to policy and back (bridging)
- data management
- spatially integrated data - interpretation of multiple data sets
- make predictions and apply conclusions to geographic evidence
- find and assess geographic data
- math skills
- recognize patterns in the world that relate to physical characteristics
- ability to work with case studies
One group summarized their work as such:
- Settlement - urban/rural/mega-city/migration
- Culture - conflict/change
- Environment - climate change/environ. degradation
- Economy - globalization/eneven development
- Geopolitics
- Colonial Legacies
- class, race, space, place, identity, gender, diversity, patterns, trends, locations, processes
- identification of…, applicability of…, interrelationships…
- dynamic relations between humans and the environment and human-human relationships
- scale - interdependence of scale from local to global (e.g. commodity chains)
- nominative values
- case study learning
- inquiry and project-based learning
- spatial literacy
- how applicable geography is to all disciplines - interrelationships
- different kinds of spatial analysis
- representing the world visually (e.g. animations, maps, art, writing, photography)
One group summarized their work as such:
- Atmosphere
- Lithoshpere
- Biosphere
- Hydrosphere
... interaction and spatial distribution
- Earth’s systems - and thinking about these systems:
- Atmosphere
- Hydroshere - Cryosphere
- Lithosphere
- Biosphere - Anthroposphere
... for all: processes and flows of energy and matter in each and between each system. Details within - refer to competencies and concepts
- The Four Spheres (atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere)
- processes: glaciation, water erosion
- structure/framework: tectonics, rocks, volcanics
- systems: equilibrium, open/closed (e.g. watersheds), emergent properties
- history - past events and conditions, current processes and landforms
- multiple layers in landscapes
- significance of physical features (e.g. as resources)
- earth systems
- linkages (e.g. between biosphere and lithosphere)
- organization of phenomena
- use more inquiry-based learning and media-based learning: offer examples and cases for investigating concepts and themes in geography
- sources to be included: census data, maps, photos, images, government docs, northern BC archives
- integration of knowledge
- local physical geography (integration and experiential learning)
- local interaction of the spheres
- Suggestion: replace language in competencies — replace “assess the significance of…” with “appreciate the diverse nature of our world and patterns within it”
- The Physical Geography draft does not mention the biosphere — exploring the spheres without the biosphere or ecology does not make sense
- The responses to both Question 1 and Questions 3 and 4 contain many items that the Curriculum Team will recognize as potential competencies in addition to thoughts about big ideas and content.
- The list of suggested competencies related to Question 2 have great integration of human and physical — it seems likely that a single set of competencies could emerge for both geography courses
- Most of the feedback group agreed that having a single integrated geography course would have more appeal to students — high schools in northern BC already have a hard time getting a single course of geography going, and might have a harder time trying to sell two courses, or one at the expense of the other
No comments:
Post a Comment