Active Learning and Student Engagement

International Perspectives and Practices in Geography in Higher Education

Mick Healey,Eric Pawson,Michael Solem

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781317999508
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Educación general

This book examines significant issues in geography teaching and learning from the perspectives of an international network of academic geographers and postgraduate students. Drawing on classroom experiences and research in a wide variety of educational settings, the authors describe conceptually interesting and practical applications for enhancing student learning through inquiry, problem-based learning, field study, online collaboration, and other highly engaging forms of pedagogy. Other articles focus on approaches for improving the experiences of distance learners, strategies for enhancing the employability of geography students, and preparing students to engage ethical issues in the discipline.

An international audience of educators will find much of value through the use of comparative examples, literature reviews encompassing research in multiple national contexts, and an underlying awareness of the diversity of practices in higher education internationally.

This book is a collection of articles previously published in two special issues of the Journal of Geography in Higher Education.

Section C: New Spaces of Learning

The third section of this volume highlights pioneering practices that are reshaping how, when, and where geography learning occurs in higher education. In chapter 7, Higgitt et al. contend that, despite the apparent seductiveness of international collaborative activities, discipline-specific evaluations of pedagogical benefit and learner outcomes require more attention than they usually receive. Some of the international collaborative projects they refer to are based on e-learning, the topic of chapter 8 by Lynch et al., in which the authors explore the breadth of e-learning approaches, such as virtual communities of learners, mobile learning, and podcasting. They also argue that geographical teaching needs to be versatile to reflect the evolution of learning contexts. Increasing diversity in higher education is one of those evolving contexts, a topic considered in chapter 9 by McEwen et al. in the realm of taught master’s courses. They discuss the meanings of “postgraduateness” and “diversity” as departments find themselves with greater numbers of postgraduates from non-traditional and international backgrounds. The final chapter in this section by Wellens et al. (chapter 10) argues that geographers have “a duty to teach both about and for the kinds of changes that can help to create a world which is more equal and more sustainable”. Teaching for social transformation, the authors assert, can be achieved via the active learning practices of the types illustrated throughout this book.

Developing and Enhancing International Collaborative Learning

David Higgitt*, Karl Donert**, Mick Healey†, Phil Klein‡, Michael Solem^ & Susan Vajoczki§

*Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore,**Deanery of Education, Liverpool Hope University, UK,†Department of Natural and Social Sciences, University of Gloucestershire, UK,‡Department of Geography, University of Northern Colorado, USA,^Association of American Geographers, Washington, DC, USA,§School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Canada

ABSTRACT This paper is concerned with the role of international collaboration in the learning and teaching of geography in higher education. The dual aims are to provide a brief and selective review of the nature and range of international collaboration and to contextualize such observations within the internationalization project. It is argued that despite the growing interest and literature concerned with the internationalization of higher education, discipline-specific illustrations of pedagogy and practice require further attention. Several forms of collaboration in the geography arena are introduced and the factors influencing the establishment, maintenance and enhancement of international collaboration are discussed.

Introduction: The Many Faces of Collaboration

There is no doubt that ‘collaboration’ has become a buzzword among senior administrators in higher education institutions throughout the world. Operating within international networks, developing strategic alliances and memoranda of understanding with other institutions is crucial to projecting an image of a well-connected university. As advances in information technology open up possibilities for enhanced communication with students within and beyond the campus, the opportunities for innovative and pedagogically informed collaboration increase, but so too do the risks.

This discussion paper has two principal aims. First, it seeks to explore the nature and range of international collaboration in geography in higher education. Though it is not possible to attempt a comprehensive review, examples of collaborative activities provide some indication of the how the discipline is delivering innovation to learning and teaching. Second, the paper attempts a critical gaze at collaboration within the context of the internationalization project.¹ Despite a burgeoning literature on the internationalization of higher education, there are many aspects of pedagogy and practice that deserve further attention and questioning. Ninnes & Hellstén (2005, p. 4) call for critique to “address the ambiguities, tensions, unevenness and contradictions in internationalization”. A semantic contradiction that is immediately apparent is the double-edged meaning of the term ‘collaboration’. In its positive sense, collaboration refers to cooperation with other people in a creative venture, but it also has a more sinister meaning that refers to acting traitorously with an enemy. While all manner of collaborative agreements between higher education institutions are presumably founded on the positive meaning of the term, there is an inherent conflict between pursuing goals of academic leadership and entertaining collaboration (Keohane, 2006). Competition and prestige may therefore strongly influence the nature of collaboration and access to networks. It is pertinent to ask whether the multiple agendas addressed in developing collaborative arrangements in higher education pay enough attention to enhancing the experience of the learner.

In examining the many faces of collaboration, the discussion paper raises a number of questions about the nature and usefulness of collaboration. What do we understand by the term collaboration and how is this exemplified in the context of geography in higher education? Does geography make a difference: is its subject matter particularly suited to collaboration and does the location of collaborators influence its likely success? How do the content and process of any particular collaboration interact in terms of the outcomes experienced by learners? How can collaborative ventures be initiated, championed and enhanced? Who are the stakeholders involved in collaborative activity and how do they benefit? And how do we know they benefit? To what extent is collaboration driven by pedagogic considerations?

Given that collaborative ventures are an increasing feature of the higher education landscape, what can geographers bring to the table? Does collaboration offer a key skill/competence that is central to professional development? If so, how should collaboration be incorporated into the curriculum? Should students be taught, by participation or observation, specifically how to collaborate or are collaborative alliances simply another means of enhancing student learning? In turn these questions raise issues about how the skills necessary for collaboration can be imparted and about the necessary arrangements for the assessment, evaluation and auditing of collaboration. Fundamentally identifying and measuring the benefits to the learner remains a key pedagogic and research challenge.

At the outset it is necessary to make an operational definition of the types of collaboration considered in the paper. There are, of course, multiple ways in which students and academics experience collaboration and exchange of ideas. This paper focuses on interaction with international partners at both the institutional/departmental and at the module-specific (i.e. course) scale which is centred on collaborative learning. Thus, transnational enrolment (and markets) is not a concern. Student exchanges placing individuals into a classroom setting in another country are not dealt with here because the collaboration on such exchanges is often quite peripheral. However, it is noted that many institutional exchange agreements have been formulated on alliances that offer a far broader scope for collaborative learning. Transnational projects, such as those promoted by the EU under SOCRATES, offer potential for network development that goes beyond student placements.² Similarly, we will not focus on local consortia arrangements that are designed to provide economies of scale because the focus of the paper is on international collaboration. National networks such as higher education groups in national geography societies or subject centres are excluded for the same reason. Nevertheless, the experience of institutions dealing with overseas students, the operation of student exchanges, development of consortia and national networks of collaboration provide a rich experience (and literature) that can inform attempts to establish and deliver international networks of collaborative learning (Reeve et al., 2000). International initiatives that hinge more centrally on collaborative learning include the establishment of networks with a focus on teaching and learning where faculty are encouraged to share ideas and best practice; programmes that develop modules jointly that are shared between multiple university partners; module logistics that enable students from more than one country to communicate with each other in pursuit for at least part of the module requirements; national organizations established to disseminate best practice (centres of excellence); joint degree programmes; and strategic alliances that seek to link a set of universities through teaching and learning initiatives.

Some examples of such forms of international collaboration are developed in the next section, followed by an identification of key issues and concerns. These are grouped around the topics of establishing, managing and sustaining collaborations.

Forms and Context of International Collaboration

Internationalization in universities has a long history. As Altbach (1998) notes, medieval universities were truly international institutions, drawing students and faculty from a wide range of countries. While increased nationalism in the nineteenth century generated a stronger national outlook, there has always been a significant migration of students and scholarly talent, not confined to the contemporary period. However, the nature of collaboration between universities has traditionally been focused around research initiatives. Collaboration is becoming more prevalent in undergraduate education and many institutions are devising (or having imposed) targets for creating international exposure for their students. Internationalization in geography in higher education has also attracted attention in the literature (Shepherd et al., 2000; Haigh, 2002).

As noted above, collaboration has many faces and serves a variety of purposes. The principal drivers for collaborative activity may be institutional networking, benchmarking (for comparison among groups of similar institutions) and the prestige of strategic alliances. The desired outcomes may be increased market share and income generation. For the faculty member seduced by the glamour of international travel and adventure, engagement in emergent collaborative networks may be a sufficient outcome in its own right. However, the purpose of the paper is to focus on the learner outcomes: the contribution of collaborative learning to cognitive, affective and inter-personal skills. It is our contention that, in establishing collaborative initiatives, the learner outcomes receive less attention than they merit. In the context of online distance education, for example, Paloff & Pratt (2001) warn that the focus on technology has often left the learner out of the equation. A central problem is the limited evidence available for evaluating the success or otherwise of collaborative learning ventures. There are a number of examples from geography that illustrate the advantages and shortcomings of attempts to collaborate between two or more departments online (e.g. Hurley et al., 1999; Warf et al., 1999; Brooks & Kent, 2001; Reed & Mitchell, 2001; Mendler et al., 2002; Chang, 2004), which provide practical guidance for others embarking on similar programmes. Yet, aspects of community building and assessing the effectiveness of the collaborative programme have not been explored as fully.

The notion that outcomes are mediated by local contexts can be represented figuratively as a lens through which the forms of collaborative activity are projected. The distortion of project aims by local contexts requires some adjustment to render the outcomes in sharp focus. Many of the points raised in the discussion are generic across higher education, but our main focus is to examine the implications of collaboration for geography in higher education. Fortunately, there are many examples of geographers engaging in international collaboration. A few selected examples are provided here before considering some of the critical issues that arise.

Networks of Practitioners

The International Network for Learning and Teaching Geography in Higher Education (INLT) was established in March 1999 with the goal of improving the quality and status of learning and teaching of geography in higher education internationally (Hay et al., 2000).³ Its three purposes (Healey, 2006) are:

• to promote innovative, creative and collaborative research as well as critical reflection on learning and teaching of geography;
• to facilitate the exchange of materials, ideas and experiences about learning and teaching of geography and to stimulate international dialogue;
• to create an inclusive international community in higher education aimed at raising the profile and status of learning and teaching of geography.

Two previous sets of articles based on collaboration between members of INLT have been published (Healey et al., 2000; Healey, 2006).

HERODOT is a Thematic Network for geography teachers and lecturers in higher education.⁴ It reports on the impacts of curriculum change and developments on geography and geographical education at national level, across Europe and beyond. It aims (Donert, 2005) to:

• promote excellence in the teaching of geography and the training of geography teachers through the development and implementation of collaborative inter-university activities;
• perform a coordinating role, disseminating information and good practice, facilitating dialogue between HE institutions in Europe and stimulating the exchange of students and teachers;
• raise awareness of the need for pedagogical c...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Section A: Re-imagining ourselves as learners
• Section B: Engaging students in inquiry
• Section C: New spaces of learning
• Section D: Beyond the classroom
• Conclusion
• Index