Journal of Geographical Sciences >
Fresh thing for freshman: Exploring a blended method on teaching the history of geographic thought
Author: Ye Chao (1978-), PhD and Professor, specialized in geographical thought, urbanization and cultural geography. E-mail: yeover@163.com
Received date: 2017-10-26
Accepted date: 2018-01-10
Online published: 2018-12-20
Supported by
Peak Discipline Construction Project of Education at East China Normal University; National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41571138, No.41471135, No.41871143
Copyright
It is necessary for undergraduates majoring in geography to learn the history of geographic thought. Although there are different cultural and educational backgrounds between China and the West, teaching methods such as text teaching, students’ presentations and group learning are suitable for most of teachers and students even from different countries and regions. The blended method is helpful to popularize history of geographic thought and improve the level of teaching and learning. Owing to lack of the class on the history of geographic thought in countries like China, the authors try to explore a blended method for the first-year geography undergraduates and to assess the effects of this teaching based on some questionnaires. The students have different benefits and responses to this class. A special group consisting of one teacher and several undergraduates does the research and coauthors the paper through making questionnaire, interviewing and analyzing materials from 67 freshmen majoring in human geography and geography science (teacher-training) in China. For the undergraduates especially from the countries like China, it is well worth making the history of geographic thought become a necessary and interesting class.
YE Chao , HUANG Xinrong , PAN Yuxin , YANG Shan . Fresh thing for freshman: Exploring a blended method on teaching the history of geographic thought[J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2018 , 28(12) : 2007 -2015 . DOI: 10.1007/s11442-018-1577-7
Table 1 Comparisons on the different teaching methods |
Lecturing | Students’ presentation | Ask-answer | Group learning | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Subject | Teacher | Student | Teacher and student | Student |
Style | Teacher show | Students show | Students to teacher | Group collaboration |
Atmosphere | Regular | Vivid and lively | Exciting | Relaxed and free |
Type | Traditional | New | Traditional | New |
Aim | Knowledge | Share | Induction | Collaboration |
Means | Courseware | Multi-media | Debate | Internet |
Advantage | Planning | Easy communication | Divergent thinking | Extending class |
Disadvantage | Interaction | Collaboration | Participation | Multilevel students |
Figure 1 PowerPoint presentations made by students |
Figure 2 Challenges in English text learning |
Figure 3 Attitudes to translating homework |
Figure 4 Benefits from English text teaching |
Figure 5 Improvements from teaching methods |
Benefits | Yes | No |
---|---|---|
Know the development of geography | ||
Broaden horizon and accumulate knowledge | ||
Attain geographical scientific literacy and literature quality | ||
Understand modern geographic thought | ||
Promote the development of geography |
Degree Methods | Necessary | Very important | Important | Not important | Not at all |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teacher’s lecture | |||||
Student’s presentation | |||||
Group learning | |||||
Text teaching | |||||
Ask-answer |
Degree procedures | Necessary | Very important | Important | Not important | Not at all |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teach in class | |||||
Ask teacher after class | |||||
Work in the group | |||||
Read related books | |||||
Finish the assignment |
Problems | Yes | No |
---|---|---|
English | ||
Shortage of geographical knowledge | ||
Searching for information | ||
Division and cooperation | ||
Group learning | ||
Others |
Benefits | Yes | No |
---|---|---|
Understand the history of geographic thought | ||
English knowledge | ||
Promote the level of cooperation | ||
Get accustomed to the learning lifestyle of university |
Differences | agree | disagree |
---|---|---|
More things related | ||
More difficult | ||
More systematic and refining | ||
More professional | ||
More comprehensive | ||
More chances to practice outside | ||
More time to reflect ourselves |
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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