Encouraging reflexivity in urban geography fieldwork: study abroad experiences in Singapore and Malaysia

Abstract

Fieldwork in urban geography courses can encourage reflexivity among students regarding the cities they encounter. This article outlines how student reflexivity was encouraged within a new international field research course in Singapore and Malaysia. Drawing on examples from students' field exercises written during an intensive and occasionally emotional field experience and from interviews held after the students' return, I argue that student research journals and reflective field exercises are especially useful in international field courses. Combining modes of writing provides a venue for negotiating and contextualizing unexpected and uncomfortable encounters in the field, and encourages self-reflection for both students and instructors.

Keywords::

• fieldwork
• geographic pedagogy
• reflexivity
• research diaries
• student voice
• study abroad

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the five students for their enthusiastic participation in the field course and for their willingness to be interviewed for this paper. The students reviewed the article prior to its final submission and consented to their course material being excerpted for this article. I am also grateful for Tim Bunnell's advice and support in developing the 2012 Singapore field course, and to Jim Coffman and the Malaysia–America Committee on Educational Exchange (MACEE), who provided material support during the Malaysian component of the course. Funding for course preparation was provided by the University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center, Urban Studies Program, and Global Studies Program. I also acknowledge the valuable advice of Jeff Whitehead, Director of the University of Pittsburgh's Study Abroad Office, and the very helpful comments on an earlier version of this article by David Fyfe, the four reviewers, and the editor.

Notes

^1. This was a three-credit course, requiring 42 contact hours with faculty. Students on short-term programs are expected to do a considerable amount of research for the course deliverables on their own – which is similar to the tutorial approach in the Commonwealth system. The curriculum is set for the students (a very U.S. phenomenon) in that all of the lectures and course materials are planned in advance.

^2. Student comments are referred to throughout this article by the codes FS and MS.

^3. The students gave consent to my use of their course materials for the purposes of this article. All five students were interviewed and reviewed the interview transcripts for accuracy. The students also reviewed the final version of this article prior to publication.

^4. Retrieved from http://www.pitturbanstudiesinsingapore.wordpress.com (November, 2012).