New Approaches in Introductory College Geography Courses, Publication No
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 109 009 SO 008 432 AUTHOR Calef, Wesley; And Others TITLE New Approaches in Introductory College Geography Courses, Publication No. 4. INSTITUTION AssqciatiOn of American Geographers, Washington, D.C. Commission on College Geography. SPONS AGENCY National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 67 NOTE 181p. EDRS PitICE /MF-$0.76 HC-$9.51 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS *Course Descriptions; Curriculum Development; Curriculum Guides; Geographic Concepts; *Geography; *Geography Instruction; Higher Education; man Geography; Physical Geography; Problem Solvin *SociaJt Sciendes; World Geography ABSTRACT As part of a program to improve college and university training geography, this book contains four course outlines developed by members of, the Commission on College Geography of the Association of American Geographers. "A Proposal for a New Geography Course for Liberal Education: Introduction to Geographic Behavior" is an introductory course to basic geographic concepts that emphasizes active student problem solving rather than lectures. "The World Regional Geography Course: Alternative Approaches" is a two-semester course focusing on global geogtaphical processes that uses the lecture-discussion teaching approach. "Introduction to Geography -- A Spatial Approach, A One-Semester Course Outline" studies the locations, distributions and spatial associations of natural and cultural phenomena through a student problem-solving approach. "Introduction to the Study of Geography" is a lecture-oriented course designed for non-majors. Each of the course outlines contains suggested student readings. (Author/DE) ********************************************************************** Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished * materials not available from other sources. ERIC makes every effort * * to obtain the best copy available. nevertheless, items of marginal * * reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality * * of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC makes available * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not * respor.,ible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original. *********************************************************************** New Approaches CYN cD in Int-roductory Coll U S DEPARTAAENT OF HEALTH EDUCATION d WELFARE CIGeography Courses NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF F DuCATiON .1!f r. COMMISSION ON COLLEGE GEOGRAPHY PUBLICATION No 4 ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS Washington, C 200i6 1967 Supported1)1 a grant from the National Science.Foundation 00002 / New Approaches In Introductory College Geography Courses .., Copyright 1967 by the ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS Commission 'on College Geography Washington, ID: C. 20036 1 PUBLICATION No. 4 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 67-26421 Supported by a grant from the National '.rence Foundation 00004 i FOREWORD In January of 1965, the Association of A mericanGeographers established the Commission on College Geography. Supported by a succession of grants from the National Science Foundation, the Commission has pursued its aim of improving the level and quality of college and university, training in Geog- raphy via a variety of undertakings.Central to all of these efforts is the question, "What kind of Geography should be taught in America's institutions of higher education?". The supporting materials, the instructional strategies, the sequence and objectives of training programs are relevant only within ther context of a specific philosophy of Geography. From its inception, the Commission has taken the position that there is no single kind of Geography that can and should be taught at the college level. The richness of traditions that range from man-land relationships, to areal variation, to spatial distributionsthe variety of approaches, from empiric- inductive to theoretical-deductive, from "cartophilic" to quantitative, from field inquiry to primary documents analysisthe breadth of interest in the physical and human processes that shape the man-natural environment sys- tem, these are all Geography's strength. A central purpose of the Commis- sion is to enlist individuals of differing viewpoints in the task of defining and articulating modern Geography as a university field.Intellectual challenge and defensible methodology are the tests of the "kind of Geography" that should be taught, not conformance to one particular point of view. Because the Commission holds this philosophy, it rejects "the model course notion" as a modus operandi.In its concern with introductory Col- lege Geography, it is pursuing the strategyof encouraging numbers of talented individuals to develop course outline syllabi. The first such four are included in this publication.Others are in progress. These outlines are purely ex- perimental; they are in the process of being tested by their authors in the classroom.More importantly, they are being distributed widely within and witnout the geographical profession in the hope that they will stimulate in- quiry, reaction and emulation. The Commission is indebted to Wesley Calef, Ann Larimore Kolars, Robert B. McNee and Kennard W. Rumage Tor their valued contributions. They have shared their ideas freely wtth members of the Commission and have been unstinting in their application of time and intellectual energies in the process of improving introductory College Geography. Saul 13. Cohen, Chairman Commission on College Geography WOOS A PROPOSAL FOR A NEW GEOGRAPHY COURSE FOR LIBERAL EDUCATION: INTRODUCTION TO GEOGRAPHIC BEHAVIOR Robert B. Mc Nee University of Cincinnati Page Preface vii Introduction 1 Part I.Lecture-demonstration vs. Problem-solving 2 Part 11.The Structure of Geography 4 Central Research Questions 5 The Geographic Value System 8 Methods and Techniques 11 Geographic Vocabulary and Organizirg Concepts 11 The Structure of Geography: A Summary 13 Part Ill.Relating the Structure of Geography to Liberal Education and Teaching Strategy 13 The Relation of the Geographic Value System to General Social Values 13 Methods and Techniques 14 Geograp is Vocabulary and Organizing Concepts 14 The Fou Clusters of Research Questions 15 Relatinthe Structure of Geography to the Aims of Liberal Edu ation and Teaching Strategy: Conclusions 17 Part 1V. Th Institutional Setting for the Course 18 Part V. Course Design 19 A. Introduction: The City Region 20 B. The Geography of Production 23 C. Spatial Production Systems in Historical-Cultural Context 26 D. Spatial Production Systems in the Context of Political Territorialism 28 E. The Earth as Modified and Modifiable by Human Action 29 F. Some Unanswered Questions about Human Geographic Beha.,ior , , --,_____,ao G. Selected References for Implementing the Course Design 31 General References 31 Part I.The City Region 32 Part II. The Geography of Production 33 Part III.Spatial Production Systems in Historical Cultural Context 35 Part IV, Spatial Production Systems in the Context of Political Territorialism 36 Part V. The Earth as Modified and Modifiable by Human Action 37 v 0000G PREFACE Many experiences in the last few years have influenced my thinking and hence this report.I have gained from study of the report of the Geography and Liberal Education 'Committee' and from participation in meetings of the committee. The Commission on COLLEGE Ceography was a direct outgrowth of that committee and it is the funding agency for this report. The activities and publications of the High School Geography Project were very helpful, too. As a consultant for that project during 1962-63, and as a member of the Steer- ing Committee for the Project thereafter (1963-67), I absorbed many ideas about both geography and liberal education of benefit at any educational level. During the summer of 1964, I attempted to set down preliminary thoughts about what innovations might be possible at the college level,..sharpening my views through conversations with Laurence G. Wolf. This 'attempt I used as raw material in the development of a tentative outline for the High School Geography Project during 1964-65.That ouVine, after extensive revisions through suggestions from various geographers associated withthe High School Geography Projdct, will soon be published along with other outlines developed by the project. Itisbeing used to guide the development of the first full course to be produced by the project. Currently, this course is called "Geog- raphy in an Urban Age."Feedback, as I have observed the course taking shape, has been invaluable in thinking about possibilities at the college level. The effort to understand the other outlines being published by the project, and the thinking which lies behind them, has sharpened my thinking about geography and the purposes of liberal education. Likewise,I gained immeasurably from participation in a conference of curriculum specialists of many disciplines held at Purdue University in January, 1966, as a representative of the High School Geography Project.2Further opportunity to develop my ideas and to subject them to the criticism of my peers came in the summer of 1966, at the Institute on Cc liege Geography held at the Ohio State University, sponsored by the Commission on College Geography and funded by the National Science Foundation. Sharing ideas with other geographers while serving as a consultant to the U.S: Office of Education in recent years has been a help as well. Both faculty and students at the University ofCincinnati