“Drawing in the sand” as a tool for teaching coastal geography

Abstract

Field trips are recognized as an essential component of the study of geography. They are popular with learners and teachers, but their value as learning experiences is largely assumed. What is needed are interactive and relevant learning activities like “drawing in the sand,” a participatory learning activity that has been introduced into an undergraduate geography field trip at The University of Auckland. It allows students of the course to engage actively and reflectively with the very environment that they are studying.

Keywords:

• field trips
• student learning
• active learning
• drawing
• diagrams

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Cate Macinnis-Ng for facilitating the survey and Willie Smith for his observations. A big thanks to all the students who have participated in GEOG101 field trips.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.