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Field-based education is interactive, hands-on, and based on real world experience and methodology, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has faced special challenges. As many institutions may struggle to maintain this vital component of geographic education, this resource paper aims to illustrate the impacts of the pandemic and provide some strategies to overcome the challenges from the experience of teaching a field methods course at a university in Texas. While many studies have focused on evaluating field instruction amidst the pandemic, our commentary focuses on both a ground-based perception from instructors and students and a comparison before and after the outbreak of the pandemic. We found that virtual attendance is disadvantageous to teaching and learning, and transferable skills like teamwork and communication are compromised due to a reduction in social interaction. However, intrapersonal skills such as observation, note-taking, and organization were better received in students' learning. Students expressed minimal safety concerns about the on-campus fieldwork given the conformity to the safety and health protocols. Based on the existing literature and our experience, we conclude with four generalized recommendations to share with colleagues in a similar situation, hoping to help retain the critical role of field-based education even under disruption.

This study examined the successes and struggles that teachers experience while incorporating geospatial technologies (GST) into their lessons. Fourteen teachers' GST-integrated classroom lessons developed at the final stage of a semester-long graduate course were evaluated, using a TPACK-based GST-integrated lesson assessment rubric. The TPACK-related strengths and weaknesses of the lessons illuminate the challenges the participants faced while trying to incorporate GST into practice. Overall, participants were proficient in aligning the selected GST with the curriculum goals or instructional strategies targeted. However, some participants struggled with fitting all three TPACK components--geography content, pedagogy, and GST--together.

Discussions are one of the activity types that help students build their content-related background knowledge, understanding, and concepts through various communication approaches. Students express and share their perspectives and ideas with other students through a small- or large-group discussion. The formats of discussions may vary; they may be synchronous or asynchronous and structured or unstructured. Because geography is a field of study addressing real-world issues, discussions are a particularly important pedagogy to understand geographical concepts and to come up with solutions for those issues. Through classroom discussions, students become active learners, improve their critical thinking skills, embrace diverse perspectives, and develop higher-order thinking skills. These are essential skill sets not only for geography learning but also for other courses and can be built upon throughout the high school curriculum. Discussions also help teachers determine the level of students' understanding of concepts. In this paper, we share an effective way of utilizing traditional face-to-face discussions with some suggestions for video discussions in the Advanced Placement Human Geography (APHG) classroom and helpful hints for successful discussions.

The Advanced Placement Human Geography (APHG) exam consists of two sections: sixty multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and three free-response questions (FRQs); both sections have equal percentages in the exam weighting (College Board 2020). Because the main motivation of the students taking this course is to earn college credit by scoring a three or higher on a scale of five, being successful in the APHG exam is particularly significant. Among any other activity types, taking a quiz or test may be the most direct way to help students prepare for the APHG exam. Taking a quiz or test belongs to convergent knowledge expression activities, where students demonstrate their prior knowledge building on structured forms, and is frequently used to review and examine students' understanding and expressions of knowledge. This paper introduces two useful approaches for the MCQ and FRQ sections--AP Classroom's Personal Progress Checks (PPCs) and Google Forms--to evaluate students' level of understanding, help them prepare for the APHG exam, and ultimately improve their learning. Using these two technology-based approaches has been particularly beneficial during the COVID-19 pandemic because the instructions should be flexible to meet the need (in-classroom, hybrid, or virtual), and the College Board has offered online testing options.

In this paper, the authors introduce a student project that can help students stay engaged in Advanced Placement Human Geography (APHG) classrooms through the end of the year, through a project that can be implemented after the APHG exam is given. The tight curriculum schedule of APHG leaves little room for implementing student-centered learning activities in the middle of the school year. Once the exam is completed in early May, however, the challenge pivots to holding student interest and engagement through the end of the school year. This culminating project requires students to synthesize topics and concepts in APHG that they have learned throughout the year in a fun, engaging, and active learning environment. The project also supports student lifetime skills including conducting research, creating visual representations and models, collaborating with peers, and presenting research findings and products. Teachers can use it as a final semester project to ensure that the rigor of the course is consistent for the whole semester.

The purpose of this article is to introduce two easy-to-use analytical tools--OPTIC (Overview; Parts; Title; Interrelationships; and Conclusion) and SCRAP (Spatial-Temporal; Conditions, Connections, or Comparisons; Region; Aura, Association, or Analog; Pattern or Exceptions)--that can help teachers guide student learning with maps and photos. OPTIC and SCRAP support students' higher-order thinking as they process and analyze photos and maps, rather than just look at them. Both are perfect tools for daily warm-up activities in Advanced Placement Human Geography (APHG) classrooms to facilitate student learning of geography while they practice the four F's. In using these tools for a systematic analysis of maps and photos, students can determine their own approaches to understanding the content and intersections between themes in geography. The acronyms help students remember the structure and steps and go through the strategies in a proper order. They are effective and help students avoid becoming overwhelmed in writing from geographical or spatial perspectives.

This paper introduces four local field studies designed and conducted by two Advanced Placement Human Geography (APHG) teachers. All of these activities were designed for ninth-graders taking APHG courses. Both teachers implement multiple instances of field study in different units of the APHG curriculum throughout the academic year (e.g., two times in each semester). The four activities were selected to introduce a variety of local field studies across different APHG topics and spatial scales. The aim of the field studies was to encourage students to experience the real world and apply APHG knowledge in their daily lives. The students are natural geographers, and field study can show the real connection and application of what they learn with the real world. The local field studies help students develop geographical and critical perspectives and understanding how the world works. The four field study examples will show how local field study can be conducted and intertwined with the APHG curriculum.

This study examined the successes and struggles that teachers experience while incorporating geospatial technologies (GST) into their lessons. Fourteen teachers' GST-integrated classroom lessons developed at the final stage of a semester-long graduate course were evaluated, using a TPACK-based GST-integrated lesson assessment rubric. The TPACK-related strengths and weaknesses of the lessons illuminate the challenges the participants faced while trying to incorporate GST into practice. Overall, participants were proficient in aligning the selected GST with the curriculum goals or instructional strategies targeted. However, some participants struggled with fitting all three TPACK components–geography content, pedagogy, and GST–together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field-based education is interactive, hands-on, and based on real world experience and methodology, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has faced special challenges. As many institutions may struggle to maintain this vital component of geographic education, this resource paper aims to illustrate the impacts of the pandemic and provide some strategies to overcome the challenges from the experience of teaching a field methods course at a university in Texas. While many studies have focused on evaluating field instruction amidst the pandemic, our commentary focuses on both a ground-based perception from instructors and students and a comparison before and after the outbreak of the pandemic. We found that virtual attendance is disadvantageous to teaching and learning, and transferable skills like teamwork and communication are compromised due to a reduction in social interaction. However, intrapersonal skills such as observation, note-taking, and organization were better received in students' learning. Students expressed minimal safety concerns about the on-campus fieldwork given the conformity to the safety and health protocols. Based on the existing literature and our experience, we conclude with four generalized recommendations to share with colleagues in a similar situation, hoping to help retain the critical role of field-based education even under disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]