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In South Africa, paper-based geographic information system (PBGIS) was introduced as a strategy to resolve the hindrances in schools without computers in implementing GIS. This study explores the geography teachers’ perceptions of implementing PBGIS in a rural learning ecology. In this context, PBGIS is defined as teaching and learning of GIS utilising topographic and orthographic maps, while rural learning ecology refers to a school in a rural environment consistent with how learners learn in a particular context. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) constituted the theoretical framework used to understand the geography teachers’ perceptions in this inquiry. Qualitative research methods, and semi-structured interviews were used to generate data to answer the research question. Two geography teachers from a rural learning ecology were purposively selected to participate in this study. The data generated from the field was then analysed thematically utilising a deductive and inductive approach. The findings showed the following: inadequate teacher training; teachers are unsure about the resources required for PBGIS; lack of teaching time; and the complexity of PBGIS concepts, and improper PBGIS examination setting. This study proposes that the Department of Basic Education (DBE), in association with universities, train teachers and provide resources; support teachers by reviewing the time allocated in the Annual Teaching Plan (ATP) for teaching PBGIS; engage teachers about ways to simplify PBGIS concepts when teaching; and guide teachers on the approaches that must be used when teaching PBGIS.

This study investigates whether spatial learning outcomes differ with respect to different instructional media. Spatial thinking skills were tested pre- and postlesson implementation via the spatial thinking ability test as eighth grade students participated in either paper-based or digital map-based instruction. Students' attitudes toward geography, past travel experience, and demographic variables such as gender, were also examined to search for differences in spatial thinking skill development. Results of the study reveal that both paper and digital media aid in developing and improving spatial thinking skill acquisition among students.

Understanding intraspecific geographic variation in animal signals poses a challenging evolutionary problem. Studies addressing geographic variation typically focus on signals used in mate-choice, however, geographic variation in intrasexual signals involved in competition is also known to occur. In Polistes dominulus paper wasps, females have black facial spots that signal dominance: individuals wasps with more complex 'broken' facial patterns are better fighters and are avoided by rivals. Recent work suggests there is dramatic geographic variation in these visual signals of quality, though this variation has not been explicitly described or quantified. Here, we analyze variation in P. dominulus signals across six populations and explore how environmental conditions may account for this variation. Overall, we found substantial variation in facial pattern brokenness across populations and castes. Workers have less broken facial patterns than gynes and queens, which have similar facial patterns. Strepsipteran parasitism, body size and temperature are all correlated with the facial pattern variation, suggesting that developmental plasticity likely plays a key role in this variation. First, the extent of parasitism varies across populations and parasitized individuals have lower facial pattern brokenness than unparasitized individuals. Second, there is substantial variation in body size across populations and a weak but significant relationship between facial pattern brokenness and body size. Wasps from populations with smaller body size (e.g. Italy) tend to have less broken facial patterns than wasps from populations with larger body size (e.g. New York, USA). Third, there is an apparent association between facial patterns and climate, with wasp from cooler locations tending to have higher facial pattern brokenness than wasps from warmer locations. Additional experimental work testing the causes and consequences of facial pattern variation will be important, as geographic variation in signals has important consequences for the evolution of communication systems and social behavior.

In our increasingly complex world, independent information collection is very important and with the help of modern technology this is becoming easier each day. However, it is very difficult if knowledge and training about how to structure information in a domain specific geographical way is missing. By "domain specific," we mean the coherence between declarative and procedural knowledge which is specific to the way of thinking in geography. This paper presents the results of a study in which Dutch geography teachers reflect on students' research papers in the upper divisions of secondary education. The present study shows that teachers have different opinions about the necessity of a more explicit way of coaching students in geographical thinking in order to improve the geographical structure of research papers. Nevertheless, it seems worthwhile to investigate the possibility of designing a framework for geographical thinking on the quality of geography research papers. (Contains 5 tables and 6 figures.)

THE TOM MCKNIGHT AND JOAN CLEMONS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING STUDENT PAPER Daniel Grafton, San Diego State University and University of California, Santa Barbara 'Sustainable Tourism and Global Climate Change in [...]

This is the last of three studies designed to assess the interchange between the geography education community, the larger geography field, and other disciplines. Our previous studies have examined citation patterns between geography education journals and quantified whether a paradigm shift was occurring from a focus on strategies and methods towards understanding the learning and teaching process. Further, we wanted to know "who are we listening to?" The answer is that while we were listening to ourselves (geography education), our scholars were incorporating knowledge, ideas, and perspectives from the larger geography community and importantly from academicians and professionals trained in pedagogy and education theories. This study asks the question, "who is listening to us?" Our results indicate that education scholars are actually reading our publications. There were distinct lines of communication between those from geography education and the disciplines of education that permeate journals, books, conference proceedings, theses and dissertations, and other outlets (i.e. reports, blogs, wikis).

After receiving a mini-grant for developing integrated information literacy programs, a Geography/Geology Department faculty member worked with the Science Librarian to embed information literacy in a cross-listed geology and geography course, Geog/Geol 455, Introduction to Remote Sensing. Planning for the revisions to the class started with identification of five key literacy standards for the discipline of remote sensing. Each standard was addressed through a combination of teaching, assignments and measurements. From this planning exercise, two lectures and two laboratory exercises on information literacy were developed. Student response to the information literacy material, as measured through pre- and post-course surveys, was overwhelmingly positive. The project also provided an important opportunity for collaboration between the scientist and librarian. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.)

In this article, the author discusses how children's book character Flat Stanley has linked students around the world and describes how teachers used the appealing character as a tool to bring reading, writing, geography, and other subjects to life through a classroom exercise. Often folded or laminated for protection and accompanied by photographs, the cutout boy is part of the international mini-phenomenon known as Flat Stanley. Conceived as a bedtime story and immortalized by Jeff Brown's 1964 book of the same name, Stanley has caught the attention of teachers in classrooms that they craft their own Flat Stanley paper dolls and exchange them with other classes.

Contains student papers and abstracts of panel discussions on the following topics: (1) social impact of networked communications; (2) text authenticity issues; (3) geographic information systems; (4) the dilemma of open networks versus information accuracy and personal rights; and (5) empowering medical applications via the network. (KRN)

"Decolonizing Geography: An Introduction" by Sarah A. Radcliffe explores the decolonization of Anglophone geographical curricula. The book emphasizes the importance of approaching fieldwork with humility, respecting local knowledge, and avoiding the imposition of Western paradigms. It calls for action to avoid blinders, respect counternarratives, question official histories, acknowledge privilege, employ collaborative research, and entertain alternative epistemologies. The book also highlights the significance of indigenous environmental knowledge in physical geography and addresses the lack of diversity in the discipline. Overall, "Decolonizing Geography" offers a comprehensive exploration of decolonial approaches in geography and provides practical examples and suggestions for further research. [Extracted from the article]

Predation by exotic species has caused the extinction of many native animal species on islands, whereas competition from exotic plants has caused few native plant extinctions. Exotic plant addition to islands is highly nonrandom, with an almost perfect 1 to 1 match between the number of naturalized and native plant species on oceanic islands. Here, we evaluate several alternative implications of these findings. Does the consistency of increase in plant richness across islands imply that a saturation point in species richness has been reached? If not, should we expect total plant richness to continue to increase as new species are added? Finally, is the rarity of native plant extinctions to date a misleading measure of the impact of past invasions, one that hides an extinction debt that will be paid in the future? By analyzing historical records, we show that the number of naturalized plant species has increased linearly over time on many individual islands. Further, the mean ratio of naturalized to native plant species across islands has changed steadily for nearly two centuries. These patterns suggest that many more species will become naturalized on islands in the future. We also discuss how dynamics of invasion bear upon alternative saturation scenarios and the implications these scenarios have for the future retention or extinction of native plant species. Finally, we identify invasion-motivated research gaps (propagule pressure, time-lags to extinction, abundance shifts, and loss of area) that can aid in forecasting extinction and in developing a more comprehensive theory of species extinctions.

This paper engages with digital urban futures prospectively, departing from most existing geographical work that has tended to explore the future retrospectively. I do so by first discussing a methodology that is sensitive to the meanings and significations of the future as well as future‐making as an active process, or as 'practised'. I argue that such an orientation is necessary to challenge the established view of the future as an endpoint or as a priori in social and cultural geography and, correspondingly, invite a more processual and emergent understanding of the future as multiple, never complete and always becoming. Using the example of Singapore's Smart Nation initiative, I then show how this methodological approach can be employed to study the way urban dwellers encounter, engage and evaluate possible futures in their everyday spaces and lives. Focusing on futures prospectively is significant insofar as it directs attention to their relationality and open‐endedness, which, in turn, provides the latitude to consider and construct different forms of futures. Beyond the methodological contribution, this paper offers an epistemological intervention that not only unpicks how knowledge about the future is currently produced in the literature but also multiplies our ways of studying futurity and future‐making. This paper engages with digital urban futures prospectively, departing from most existing work that has tended to explore the future retrospectively. Using the example of the E‐Payments programme in Singapore, I show how a prospective methodological approach can be employed to study the way urban dwellers encounter, engage and evaluate possible futures in their everyday spaces and lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]