CCreating wingsreating wings How to design and implement How to design and implement

exciting learning experiences in the exciting learning experiences in the

classroom?classroom? Herculano Cachinho

Department of Geography, University of Lisbon

Changing Horizons in Geography Education, HERODOT Conference

Torun, Poland, 2-5 September 2005

Creating wings …Creating wings …

Exciting geography! What does this mean?

How to design innovative and exciting

geographical learning experiences?

Theory into practice: a Portuguese experience

Exciting geography! What does this mean?

Turn geography into an open window for knowledge of the world around us, and the learning experience into an adventure

We need geography classes to “give us wings not cages”

We need classrooms to become effective learning places

Interaction/causality

Historic time

What to do?

What for?

Why?

How?

Where?

What?Perception

Space, place, territory

Scale

Location

Distribution

Distance

SchoolGeography

Tal

k an

d th

inki

ng g

eogr

aphi

cally

It seems that the best

way to involve students

in the learning process

is to turn them into

explorers

Georg

e F

. M

ob

ley

An open window for knowledge of the An open window for knowledge of the worldworld... ...

Classes to give wings Classes to give wings ... ...

Geography classes that

create wings offer to

students:

tools and toys

food and entertainment

they are places were

“learning is fun”

Classrooms as effective learning Classrooms as effective learning places ... places ...

In ours schools, classrooms are more teaching

spaces than learning places

In teaching spaces, teacher is the actor, he

plays the main role

Learning places are centred in students, in

their ideas, their potential and their limitations

Re-imagining classroomsRe-imagining classrooms

Teacher: from reproducers to creators of geographical knowledge

students: from spectators to the actors

From the subjects to the experiences

From classrooms organized

to highlight the role of

teacher-actor and the

student-spectator, to

classrooms focused on

learning: investigation,

discovering and exploration

Re-imagining classroomsRe-imagining classrooms

How to create How to create exciting learning exciting learning

experiences?experiences?

Presentation of research results

Problem identification

Perception analysis

Research questions

Research problem formulation

Development of guiding hypotheses

Discussion of processes and learning outcomes

Collection and analysis of students preconceived ideas

Identification of meaningful learning problems

Perceived and experienced space

Rational and

elaborated

space:

Developed through

data analysis and

research

Integrated space and action place

Development of the explanation

Comparing the results obtained with those expected

Confrontation with other cases

Conceptualization

of social and environmental

problems

Key-ideas

Structuring concepts

Key-questions

Conceptual networks

Design of educational learning experiences representatives of linguistic codes of geography

VerbalIconicStatisticalCartographical

Collection and analysis of data to validate the hypothesis

Our

met

hodo

logy

The collection and analysis of preconceived ideas

of students about social and environmental

problems The conceptualization of social and environmental

problems

Design of educational learning experiences

representatives of the linguistic codes of geography

Three main stepsThree main steps

Three kinds of spaceThree kinds of space

The collection of

preconceived ideas

The conceptualization of social and environmental problems

Discussion of processes

and learning outcomes

The perceived and

experienced space

Rational and elaborated space

Integrated space and

action place

TTheory into practiceheory into practice

A Portuguese experienceA Portuguese experience

A Portuguese experienceA Portuguese experience

An experience developed by 20 trainee teachers with students in Key-Stage 3 (12-14 years old) – about 1000 students were involved

In the first term we collected students preconceived ideas and explored the subject in a scientific way

In the second period we turned the scientific problem into an educational issue and we designed the learning experiences

Finally, we implemented the learning experiences in classroom

Some projects …Some projects …

The role of Tagus river in the organization of economic activities in the axe of Vila Franca de Xira

The location of a regional shopping centre in an area of extreme ecological vulnerability of the metropolitan area of Lisbon

Sustainable development of National Park of Aires and Candeeiros

Impacts of tourism in Castelo de Bode Dam

All projects…All projects…

bring together the traditional learning activities developed in the classroom with fieldwork (real and virtual)

start and end up the project with fieldwork activities

offer students tools and toys

are a space of edutainment: joining together educational activities and the entertainment world

Sustainable development of National Park of Aires and Candeeiros

National Park of Aires and Candeeiros – exploitation of limestone quarries – –

Sustainable development of National Park of Aires and Candeeiros

Activities developed in classroom:

- gathering, recording and presentation of evidences

- quantitative analysis

- drawing and inter-pretation of maps

- role playing- …

Sustainable development of National Park of Aires and Candeeiros

Fieldwork activities:

- collect information

- first had investigation of places

-landscape observation

- testing hypotheses

-Assessing competences and skills

Sustainable development of National Park of Aires and Candeeiros – Fieldwork activities

The involvement of students parents in the fieldwork activities