Geographic Education

Observation Skills in K-12 Geographic Fieldwork

Educational reform literature has hailed the importance of geographic field work in the K-12 curriculum. Field work reinforces previous class-based learning, presents students with an opportunity to encounter new ideas and practice new skills, and enables students to engage in problem-solving and to experience first-hand how geographic approaches to problem-solving apply to real world situations. However, the connections with the curriculum are often tangential and field work becomes an add-on to what is learned in class rather than being an extension of the classroom. The purpose of this project is to bridge this rhetoric-reality gap by designing, field-testing, and implementing model K-12 geography field work. With principal funding from the National Geographic Society, the participation of K-2 teachers in Oregon and Massachusetts, and technical and staff support of the National Council for Geographic Education, the project will make available materials and training programs for K-12 teachers nation-wide. Dr. Teresa Bulman (Portland State University) and Dr. Gwenda Rice (Western Oregon University) are the principal investigators for this project.

Research Main

Field Work and Geography Curriculum

Non-Refereed Publications

Oregon Geographic Alliance

Field Work and Geography Curriculum

Bulman, T. L. 1999. “Covering Geography in Your Newspaper.” National Geographic Society Update. 42 (Spring): 3-4.

Brower, B., Bulman, T. L., and Rice, G. 1998. "Experiencing and Teaching the Geography of Nepal". Education about Asia, 3(3): 46-51.

Non-Refereed Publications

2001: (editor) “Geography: A Matter of Scale”. Special educational insert to The Oregonian, November , 24 pp.

2000: (editor) “Geography and Conservation”. Special educational insert to The Oregonian, November 12-18, 24pp.

2000: Report from the Oregon Geographic Alliance. Newsletter of the Association of American Geographers (Nov.) 35 (11): 13-14.

1999: (editor) “Geography and Technology”. Special educational insert to The Oregonian, November 14-20, 24pp.

1998: (editor) "Geography: People and Places". Special educational insert to The Oregonian, November 15-21, 24pp.