Between progress and competence – Enhancing students’ learning progressions of geographical key concepts
Topics: Geography Education
, Qualitative Research
,
Keywords: learning progressions, space and place theory, geographical key concepts
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 50
Authors:
Lena Breit, University of Hildesheim
Janis Fögele, University of Hildesheim
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
Abstract
Comparable to mastering a language, thinking geographically not only requires knowledge of its vocabulary (names, phenomena, and places) but even more being competent in its grammar i.e., the concepts and theories immanent to the discipline (Jackson 2006, Fögele 2016). Together space and place constitute such key concepts within both English-speaking and German geography education (Gersmehl 2014). However, whereas English-speaking geography distinguishes between place and space, German geography education works with a fourfold conceptualisation (cf. Wardenga 2002), a distinction between two physical and two mental concepts, each posing specific questions to spatial entities following their paradigmatic understanding (Fögele & Mehren 2017).
While the English-speaking world has long understood the value of learning progressions for students’ understandings concerning such geographical key concepts (Larsen & Harrington 2018), German geography education predominantly focuses on competence-oriented approaches (Bagoly-Simó & Uhlenwinkel 2017). If thinking geographically necessitates the development of a geographical perspective (Bagoly-Simó & Uhlenwinkel 2017), it seems inevitable to consider augmenting the competence-oriented approach by including the students' perspectives via respective learning progressions. Therefore, this study presents an approach to investigate the development of students' conceptual understanding of the German equivalent of the space and place concept and its use, outlines the proposed qualitative methodological access to developing and revising a respective learning progression and discusses inherent chances and limitations in connection to English-speaking findings on spatial learning progressions as well as in the light of competence-orientation.
Between progress and competence – Enhancing students’ learning progressions of geographical key concepts
Category
Virtual Paper Abstract
Description
This abstract is part of a session. Click here to view the session.
| Slides