![Sample our Geography journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5937/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Geography.jpg"})
Abstract
How to improve geography education via teacher preparation programs has been a concern for nearly three decades, but few examples of a single, comprehensive university-level course exist. The purpose of this article is to share the model of a pre-service geography education methods course. Within the course, geography content (physical and social) is paired with different pedagogic strategies (visual, kinesthetic, technology) and other content areas (reading, history) to refine pre-service teacher conceptualizations of geography as a subject and to see geography’s potential inclusion across various grade levels. End of course student evaluations demonstrate student satisfaction and learning, while post-course interviews similarly indicate that the class was (1) more useful and practical than other education program coursework for beginning ones teaching career, and (2) stimulated the continued use of geographic concepts and materials.
Acknowledgments
The author thanks the editors and the eight anonymous reviewers for their comments that both refined and strengthened this manuscript. Considerable gratitude is extended to the over three hundred students, especially those that participated in post-course interviews, who worked with the author to create more prepared geography teachers in South Carolina.
Notes
1. There are other literacies (numeracy, map literacy, technology), but the focus here was specific to reading and written text.