Fifteen Year Follow-Up Geography Skills Test Administered in Indiana, 1987 and 2002

Abstract

After fifteen years of geographic education efforts, a baseline geography skills test was repeated in Indiana. In 2002, 2,278 students in college freshman geography courses were tested with a revision of the National Council for Geographic Education Competency-Based Geography Test, Secondary Level Form II. The test measured geographic ability in map skills, place name location, physical geography, and human geography. As in 1987, the 2002 test gathered personal information from each student on age, gender, travel experience, and prior geographic education. Test scores were lower by two percent in 2002. Travel and lifetime experience are again the best teachers of geography as opposed to high school geography course work. Significant performance differences persist between gender and ethnic groups. Arts and science students perform significantly higher than students from education, business, and other schools. Test results underscore the need to emphasize more intentional classroom focus on state standards and preparation of classroom teachers.

Key Words:

• geographic ability
• NCGE competency test
• social variables
• travel experience

F. L. (Rick) Bein is a professor at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. He is active in Geography Educators Network of Indiana, the National Council for Geographic Education and currently researches traditional agriculture in the tropics.

James J. Hayes is a Ph.D. candidate in geography at Indiana University, Bloomington. His research interest is in biogeography, landscape ecology, and human-environment interaction.

Thomas G. Jones, Dean of Arts and Sciences at Taylor University, Upland, Indiana, teaches diplomatic history and serves as coordinator of the Social Studies Education Program.

Notes

∗Unequal variances among groups – Welch F-test used.

∗Unequal variances among groups – Welch F-test used.

∗Unequal variances among groups – Welch F-test used.

∗Unequal variances among groups – Welch F-test used.

∗Unequal variances among groups – Welch F-test used.

∗Unequal variances among groups – Welch F-test used.

1. The Geographic Education National Implementation Project (GENIP) is a consortium of geographic associations committed to improving the status and quality of geography education in the United States. It was organized in 1985 by the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the American Geographical Society (AGS), the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE), and the National Geographic Society (NGS).

2. The Geography Educators Network of Indiana has been a National Geographic Society Alliance since 1989.

3. Indiana's Core 40 is the academic foundation all students need to succeed in college, apprenticeship programs, military training, and the workforce.