JGHE Biennial Award for Promoting Excellence in Teaching and Learning: Call for Nominations 2009

Once again the search is on for papers that everyone involved in learning and teaching geography should read—papers that inspire, inform and stimulate new ideas or approaches to geography at higher education level. Every two years, the Journal of Geography in Higher Education (JGHE) invites nominations for the academic paper that should be required reading for aspiring and established faculty, heads of department and even those higher up in relevant institutions.

Over the past six years, winning papers have discussed the benefits of research and teaching to student learning (Healey, 2005); the factors influencing the performance and attitudes of early career academics (Solem & Foote, 2004); fieldwork and disabled students (Hall et al., 2002); and new approaches to group-based learning (Livingstone & Lynch, 2000). Each of these is a significant paper that should be widely read. Indeed, these papers have been widely cited, not only in the niche of geography education, but across the broader geography and educational research disciplines including engineering education, educational psychology, education technology, physical education and health studies. As part of the award, the journal works to increase awareness of these contributions to higher education both through press releases and an award ceremony, and by seeking to republish the papers in JGHE if that was not their original outlet (subject to copyright permissions) and by inviting the winning author(s) to make reflective comments.

The JGHE biennial award 2009 will be awarded to the author(s) of that peer-reviewed article considered to represent the most outstanding contribution to teaching and learning in geography (or closely allied subjects) in higher education and published in the past two years. The following criteria will govern eligibility:

• Nominated papers must have been published between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2008.

• Papers must have been peer-reviewed prior to publication.

• Papers from any appropriate journal may be nominated.

• The subject of the paper should promote excellence in teaching and learning geography or closely allied subjects.

• Papers should focus on teaching and learning at higher education level.

• Nominations and papers must be received by 15 June 2009.

The paper should be relevant to an international audience of professors of geography in higher education and be sensitive, where appropriate, to improving access to, and promoting equal opportunities in, geography higher education to all people, irrespective of their race, gender, age, culture, religion or country of residence. In addition, the paper should demonstrate relevance, at the higher education level, to one or more of the following:

• enhancing student learning (as demonstrated through student evaluations where appropriate);

• innovation in teaching geography;

• enhancing the excellence of teaching in geography;

• improving the practice of teaching in geography.

The continuing success of the award depends on the competition achieving a good field of nominees. To that end, the journal encourages the submission of nominations from any appropriate journal, including international sources and relevant papers published in peer-reviewed journals that lie outside the traditional core journals of geography and higher education and/or that were published in languages other than English.

Nominated papers are evaluated by members of the JGHE's international Editorial Advisory Panel on the basis of scholarship, rigour of approach, potential influence on practitioners and overall contribution to teaching and learning in geography at higher education level. Both papers reporting the results of original research and papers reviewing a body of existing material to gain new insight or suggest improved practice or policy are welcomed.

Nominations must be made in writing to Dr Sarah Witham Bednarz ([email protected]), College of Geosciences, Texas A&M University, MS 3148, College Station, Texas 77843-3148, USA. Each nomination should be accompanied by a short statement that highlights the major merits and significance of the nominated paper for learning and teaching in geography. Any nominations for papers published in a language other than English should include with their submission an English-language copy or translation, in paper or electronic format. Authors may not nominate their own work. More details about the award, previous winning articles and comments from the winning authors can be found in previous issues of the Journal of Geography in Higher Education.