Exploring Teachers’ Use of Resources to Integrate Geography and History

Abstract

This article describes the findings of a study involving a professional development program that prepared middle school teachers to integrate content on the earliest eras of world history and world geography. In particular, this study focused on participants’ (n = 37) use of geographic resources to integrate geography and history and to encourage spatial thinking. Teachers were enthusiastic about all of the resources and used them to integrate geography and history content. Thus, this study found that teachers will adopt relevant and accessible materials if they are trained to use them. The Atlas of World History was the most widely adopted resource; the mapping software StrataLogica was more effective at promoting spatial thinking, but the teachers found it to be less accessible and therefore did not use it as often.

Keywords:

• geography
• curriculum integration
• spatial thinking
• professional development
• world history

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lauren McArthur Harris

Lauren McArthur Harris is an assistant professor at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA, with joint appointments in the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies and Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Her work focuses on issues in social studies education, teacher education, and students’ historical reasoning.

Jennifer Palacios Wirz

Jennifer Palacios Wirz is an associate professor in the College of Education and Human Services’ Department of Counseling and Special Education at Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, USA. She specializes in co-teaching and inclusive practices, professional development for in-service teachers, assessment in education, and special education policy and law.

Elizabeth R. Hinde

Elizabeth R. Hinde is founding dean and professor of the School of Education at Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA. She is also professor emeritus of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA, and specializes in social studies education.

Michael Libbee

Michael Libbee is a professor of geography at Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, USA, and co-coordinator of the Michigan Geographic Alliance.