Geography Commons^™

Environment And Affect: Toward An Emotional Geography Of Student Persistence, Jamison R. Miller, Michael Donlan

The William & Mary Educational Review

Student persistence is a perennial problem for higher education. From lost revenue for colleges and universities to lost opportunity and development for students, educational scholars have had much incentive to examine the problem. In this paper, we review some of the prominent assessments of student persistence in research from various theoretical perspectives. Further, we explore how scholars have studied environmental factors in persistence and to a lesser extent student affect, yet we find the relationship between these two to be only lightly engaged in the literature. The emerging discipline of emotional geography offers to draw out new insights at the …

Geography News, V37n2, Fall 2014, Geographic Alliance Of Iowa.

Geography News

Inside This Issue:
--Coordinator's corner
--Changes at National Geographic
--Resources for Elementary Education
--2015 Workshops
--New Resources

Hsisp Annotated Bibliography: Attitudes Toward Wildlife And The Environment (1998-2013), Erich Yahner

Erich Yahner

No abstract provided.

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Three Poems From "The Elder Project," Vernon School District 22, Brian Antoine, Yetko Brooke Bearshirt-Robins, John (Wilke) Louis, Lindsy Oppenheimer, Vicky Raphael, Lenaya Sampson

The Goose

Poetry by Vernon School District secondary students and their elders, in collaboration with The Elder Project organized by Wendy Morton and Sandra Lynxleg.

An Interpretive Plan Guide For Wilderness Park In Lincoln, Nebraska, Rachel J. Ward

Community and Regional Planning Program: Professional Projects

Wilderness Park, located in Lancaster County, Nebraska, is a public park of unique ecological and historical value to the city of Lincoln and to the surrounding region. The natural and historical features of the park present an opportunity to communicate environmental and historical topics that are relevant on local, national, and global levels, as well as inspire a lively sense of pride in the community. The problem is that many topics relevant to Wilderness Park are not currently being interpreted at the park, and that there are relatively few interpretive resources available to park visitors.

The purpose of this project …

Overcoming Roadblocks In Introducing Virtual World Technology To High Schools, Casey Dylan Bailey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The EAST (Environmental And Spatial Technology) Initiative is a non-profit educational organization that provides students in over two hundred schools in eight states with access to advanced computing technologies for the purpose of enabling students to develop technical skills early and to produce solutions to local community problems. Although many high-end technologies are available through EAST, they are desktop solutions that individual students use and there are none that enable students within a school or between schools to collaborate.

This thesis is a saga that documents the identification and removal of many roadblocks to introducing a 3D multi-user virtual simulation …

Assessing Students' Attitudes Towards Geography In A Problem-Based Learning Environment, Andrew Jasper Quain

Theses and Dissertations

Problem-based learning is an instructional strategy that is a growing trend in geographic education at all levels. The benefits of problem-based learning and how it improves students' content knowledge are well established in the literature. However, a gap in the literature exists in regards to the impact problem-based learning has on students' attitudes towards geography. This study focused on determining if high school students' attitudes towards geography improved after enrollment in a course taught with problem-based learning instruction. The study assessed other factors, such as preference for group work and problem-solving efficacy, which are associated with problem-based learning instruction. The …

What Is Disaster Resilience Education?, Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

Community disaster education, communication and engagement (ECE) is an integral component of emergency management in Australia and around the world. Its main goal is to promote public safety and, to a lesser extent, reduce damages. However, many governments around the world, including Australia, aim to also build community disaster resilience, with learning viewed as a critical mechanism. There is therefore a need to examine current community disaster ECE practices with a view to aligning them to the broader goal of disaster resilience. To attempt this, an exploratory research methodology was utilised to examine possible education content and processes that could …

Wheels On The Bus: School Transportation As A Reflection Of Sprawl, Autumn C.E. Arthur, Natasha M. Eulberg, Kevin C. O'Malley

Student Publications

The second half of the twentieth century constituted a change in land use ideology and development practice brought about by the rise of the automobile, increasing economic upward mobility, and privatization of the family home. During this time, the districting and building of public schools similarly changed, turning schools from local community centers to regional and de-contextualized places of education. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which these development practices have caused children to rely on car and bus transportation to get to and from school. Using the variable of distance within a GIS analysis …

The Relationship Of Goal Focus To Physical Distance, Job Title And Years Served Within The University Of Arkansas Division Of Agriculture, Christina Miller

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between physical distance from the headquarters, number of years working within the Division of Agriculture, and job title compared to mission statement and goal focus. The Division of Agriculture as part of the University of Arkansas System is a unique organization because many of its employees are not physically located at the headquarter locations of Little Rock and Fayetteville. The Cooperative Extension Service, part of the Division of Agriculture, has at least one office in each of Arkansas's 75 counties as well as faculty and staff members located at five …

Blogging: An Exercise In Communicating Science To The Public, Beth J. Hundey

Technology in Education Symposium (TIES)

No abstract provided.

A Case Study In Collaborative Mind-Mapping With Lucidchart, Beth J. Hundey

Technology in Education Symposium (TIES)

This two-day event on March 27 & March 28 featured:

• research paper presentations,
• lightning rounds,
• hands-on workshops,
• posters and demonstrations, and
• a student panel on the uses of instructional technology.

TIES 2.0 is open to faculty, librarians, staff, postgrads, and graduate students from across all disciplines at Western and its affiliates.

Participants heard and saw how instructors and others employ technology to engage students and enrich learning, and to connect with others from across the campus who are exploring the potential of instructional technology and online education.

The Role Of Interdisciplinary Gis And Data Curation Librarians In Enhancing Authentic Scientific Research In The Classroom, Benjamin D. Branch, Michael Fosmire

Michael Fosmire

Data science is a recently evolved area of scientific inquiry, where data, often collected by others, is analyzed by independent investigators to draw new conclusions. As such, data literacy needs to be incorporated into authentic research activities. The earth sciences in particular have a trove of data that resides in national data centers as well as individual investigators’ labs, which can be repurposed to provide the inputs for students to make their own inquiries into the data. With the amount of data available, students can make more substantive conclusions than if relying just on data they’ve collected themselves.

Geography News, V37n1, Spring 2014, Geographic Alliance Of Iowa.

Geography News

Inside This Issue:
--Coordinator's Corner
--GAI Updates--Nat Geo's "Big Cats Initiative"
--Summer 2014 Workshops

Montgomery County, Md Public Schools: Student Performance And Achievement Of Low-Income And Minority Students, Richard Joseph

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

The student demographics of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland have changed dramatically since 1970 resulting in a majority-minority de facto segregated school system. A major concern of MCPS is the student performance and achievement gap between students of different racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds.

Using data available from MCSP the performance and achievement of MCPS high school students will be examined for differences between students attending high, medium or low poverty schools. Six high schools will be selected for examination, two for each of the three poverty categories. Primary focus will be to compare the performance and achievement …

A Review Of Progress In The Integration Of Disaster Risk Reduction Into Australian School Curricula Programs And Materials, Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

No abstract provided.

Model Lessons About Geography And Outdoor School, Tammy Bryant, Lauren Smolensky, Sarah Cochran, Brenda Mahler, April Logsdon, Shanna Davis, Jalia Campbell, Kimberly Nichols, Sean Stewart, Lauren Collins, Beth Chitwood, Joan Swafford, Lauriel Amoroso, Shaphan Thomas, Beth Oehler, Jen Dimaggio

Instructional Materials

Model lessons about geography and Outdoor School to use with The Student Atlas of Oregon.

West Virginia's Low Percentage Of Population With At Least A Four-Year College Education, Britt Arcadipane

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This report analyzes key factors concerning West Virginia’s rank as last in the nation with residents that have obtained a four-year bachelor’s degree or higher. This quantitative study will examine political, economic, and sociological components at the state and county level using data collected primarily from various government and state institutions. An emphasis is placed on three main factors: poverty, parental education levels, and low socio-economic status (SES) high schools. Other variables analyzed will be high school graduation and dropout rates, free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL) eligibility, college retention rates, first-generation student population, and the influence of resource-extractive industries. Poverty …

Geog 140: Human Geography—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Katherine Nashleanas

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Large lecture classes, often of 100 students or more, present unique challenges to both teaching and learning. The common method of “delivery” by instructors is lecture, often augmented by a set of Power Point slides while the research literature shows that this more traditional way of teaching does not reach students in the way we hope and often assume. At the same time, most of the current students populating these classes are born of the Digital Age and have different expectations for learning, requiring new approaches in the classroom. Faculty are exhorted to incorporate more critical thinking in their classes …

Kingswood Lake Management Plan, Sarah Martina Tierney

Honors Theses and Capstones

High water quality and natural buffers exist on Kingswood Lake located in Brookfield, New Hampshire. A comprehensive lakes inventory (CSI) was recorded and health of the land, wildlife, and waterways were observed. Educational outreach was taken to inform the local community and to instruct them on proper stewardship of the land. A completed watershed management plan was constructed including key recommendation of limiting nitrogen loading in the area, checking septic systems for leaching, stabilizing shoreline from erosion, and establishing man-made rain gardens to help preserve water quality. The Kingswood watershed management plan acts as a guide for the town of …

Geography Newsletter, 2013-2014, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Geography.

Geography Newsletter

Inside this issue:

-- Faculty and Graduate Student Travel to the Canadian Arctic for Research Project
-- Geography Continues Success with NSF REU Program
-- In Memory of Irina Childinova (1984-2013)
-- Welcome Bing Liang
-- UNI to Become a National Focus Center for Research on Sustainable Development in the Arctic
-- Congratulations to Dr. Owusu on His Promotion
-- Recognition to Outstanding Individuals
-- Lu Lecture in Biblical Geography
-- New Director
-- 2013 Awards Banquet

Opportunities For Disaster Resilience Learning In The Australian Curriculum, Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

Schools are an important avenue for youth to learn about disaster resilience. A critical success factor for the uptake of disaster resilience learning in schools is the ability to embed learning activities in school programs that are linked to relevant curriculums. With the introduction of the Australian Curriculum, it is timely to identify new opportunities for student disaster resilience learning and related curriculum development by emergency services organisations. Using a technique called ‘curriculum mapping’, a research project has identified disaster resilience learning opportunities and gaps across the Australian Curriculum.