Preservice Geography Teachers’ Exposure to Problem Solving and Different Teaching Styles

Figures & data

Table 1. Problem-solving skills in geography.

Skill	Specification in geography education
Asking geographic questions	Identifying not only where/why/how questions, but also the problems that might be solved by using geographical “tools” (maps, models, data, etc.). Willingness to ask key geographic questions such as “Where is it?” and “Why is it there?” Seeking responses that provide better spatial understanding.
Acquiring geographic information	Identifying and gathering relevant geographical information in various ways from various sources that will, in the end, lead toward the given problem solution. (Any information related to location including data about human and physical characteristics or phenomena at any place on the planet can be considered as geographical information.) For example, locating and collecting data from fieldwork, digital resources and others, or reading and interpreting maps.
Organizing geographic information	Systematically organizing and classifying information collected from previous steps and creating own representations or visualizations (such as maps, climographs, cartograms, schemes, graphs, tables, etc.) in a manner that will lead toward solving the given problem.
Analyzing geographic information	Identifying relevant information and data analysis methods and strategies. Seeking and interpreting patterns, connections and relationships from gathered information. Synthesizing and generalizing these observations into logical explanations, but also noting similarities and associations in the results. All this leads toward constructing predictions and explanations of the given problem.
Answering geographic questions	Constructing a valid answer to the given question or a solution to the given problem based on previous steps. Presenting and communicating gathered results to others. The answers can be organized in graphic form (for example maps and other geovisualisations) as well as written or oral narratives. Answering geographical questions is not necessarily the last step as it can lead to asking new questions.

Note: Based on NGS (2012); Bednarz, Heffron, and Huynh (2013); Řezníčková (2013).

Table 2. Overview of the sample (n = 256).

Characteristics
Age	20.6 (M) 1.5 (SD) 19–26 (range)
Gender (%)	49.6 (male), 50.4 (female)
Maturita exam from geography (%)	71 (yes), 29 (no)
Number of geography lessons per week during upper-secondary education	1.5 (M) 0.5 (SD) 0.3–2.5 (range)
Liking of geography: scale 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest)	4.4 (M) 0.6 (SD)
A hobby relevant to geography discipline (%)	48 (yes), 52 (no)
Respondents’ teacher second approbation (%)	42 (PE), 13 (Biology), 12 (no other subject), 11 (Math), 9 (Languages), 7 (History), 6 (Other subjects)

Note: M = mean, SD = standard deviation, PE = Physical Education.

Table 3. An example of statements comprising specific problem-solving skill.

Problem-solving skill	Statement related to passive development	Statement related to active development	Scale
Organizing information	During upper-secondary geography lessons, the teacher was showing us how to classify and organize new data through maps, graphs, tables, various schemes, etc.	During upper-secondary geography lessons, we worked in groups or on our own on tasks that required classifying and organizing new data through maps, graphs, tables, various schemes, etc.	Strongly disagree (1) Disagree (2) Slightly disagree (3) Slightly agree (4) Agree (5) Strongly agree (6)

Figure 1. An example of one item comprising “content of learning.” Note: The names of the styles were not incorporated in the questionnaire.

Figure 3. Perception of preservice geography teachers’ problem-solving skills development.

Figure 2. Difference between passive and active development of problem-solving skills from the perspective of preservice geography teachers.

Figure 4. Different teaching styles according to selected aspects of teaching.

Table 4. Problem-solving skills development in the identified clusters.

	Negotiated cluster	Framed cluster	Closed cluster
Overall passive development (M / SD)	4.1 / 0.8	3.1 / 1.0	3.2 / 0.9
Overall active development (M / SD)	4.1 / 0.7	3.1 / 0.8	2.8 / 0.8

Note: M = mean, SD = standard deviation.

NGS. 2012. National geography standards: Geography for life. Washington: National Council for Geographic Education.

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Bednarz, S. W., S. Heffron, and N. T. Huynh. 2013. A road map for 21st-century geography education: Geography education research. Washington DC: Association of American Geographers.

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Řezníčková, D. 2013. Dovednosti žáků ve výuce biologie, geografie a chemie. Praha: Nakladatelství P3K.

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