New perspective: Second Semester as a Geography Professor
One of the underlying themes that jumped out at me while I was reading my student evaluations from my first-semester of teaching was animosity toward the nature of the course itself. Those projected feelings were explicitly targeted at the circumference of the course, which for World Regional Geography is the entire world. As an instructor, handed a text book covering the physical, historical, political, environmental, social, economic, and cultural geography of the world’s dominate regions and expected to cover it within one semester is boggling, making it easy to sympathize with students. I, too, felt the walls closing in on me when I realized the pressure of teaching THE WORLD.
Starting last semester (my first teaching this course), I had a sympathetic approach that gave an air of apologies for the enormity of information I would give my students and, consequently, testing them over. However, this did not create reciprocal sympathy from my students towards my endeavor of providing them with the best representation of a region to my abilities in only three days. Like I said previously, it instead created animosity towards the course, “covering way too much,” “requiring way too many notes,” and resulting in comments such as, “the whole world shouldn’t be covered, maybe half the regions.” I teach 9 of the 10-12 regions in your typical geography textbook (everyone is different).
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One of the underlying themes that jumped out at me while I was reading my student evaluations from my first-semester of teaching was animosity toward the nature of the course itself. Those projected feelings were explicitly targeted at the circumference of the course, which for World Regional Geography is the entire world. As an instructor, handed a text book covering the physical, historical, political, environmental, social, economic, and cultural geography of the world’s dominate regions and expected to cover it within one semester is boggling, making it easy to sympathize with students. I, too, felt the walls closing in on me when I realized the pressure of teaching THE WORLD.
Starting last semester (my first teaching this course), I had a sympathetic approach that gave an air of apologies for the enormity of information I would give my students and, consequently, testing them over. However, this did not create reciprocal sympathy from my students towards my endeavor of providing them with the best representation of a region to my abilities in only three days. Like I said previously, it instead created animosity towards the course, “covering way too much,” “requiring way too many notes,” and resulting in comments such as, “the whole world shouldn’t be covered, maybe half the regions.” I teach 9 of the 10-12 regions in your typical geography textbook (everyone is different).
This is a topic among geographers at national and global conferences every year. “How do we approach World Regional Geography?” This is the course that introduces and pulls in “new recruits” to our discipline around the world. For most students pursuing an education in other fields, World Regional Geography is the key to giving them a window into the world and how it relates to their lives. These responsibilities traditionally handed to World Regional Geography professors are understandably substantial. As a geography professor, the real difficulty is deciding what needs to be covered and what, resisting your own personal interests and desire to teach it ALL, can be overlooked.
However, back to the issue of animosity towards the responsibility we put on non-geography majors to absorb the immense amount of knowledge presented during a World Regional Geography course. To combat reading the same comments at the end of this semester, I took a new attitude into the first day of class: “if that does not spark your interest, then this is not the course for you.”
Yes, I spent the second half of the first day with my students going through the tell-tell signs they should look for other classes that match their interests in substitute for mine. This may seem harsh, but by the early vital signs, I think both of my classes will be incredible learning experiences for every student. So what exactly did I say?
While there are other things I will detail in later articles, these were the three “kickers,” or most important reasons to either stay and “have one of the most influential and grand classes of your college career, or find another class to suit your “check out, and copy the board” approach of going to class, because that is not what I am offering.”
Firstly, I did not hide the large amount of work necessary to succeed in World Regional Geography. There were no blinders to hide the average 30-40 pages of notes (which I will explain in a later article) required to study for each exam, not to mention the complexity of those notes (covering several themes of geography). Instead, I pointed out the name of the course and made it clear I would do my best to give them an eye-opening experience in each of the world regions but to do that, there would be a world of information to give them and subsequently to study. This was presented as a responsibility for every student, not as a consequence of the class.
My expectations are very high and include embracing the knowledge they willingly signed up to absorb. This was the first step in moving away from apologizing for the enormity of the class and giving the students the choice to commit themselves to be participant learners out of interest, even in the face of a huge task. This is a worldly class for knowledge-seeking students, not those only seeking a GE credit (general education). Now that this was made clear, I do not expect any more “maybe only cover half the world” comments, because it was a distinctive choice to take on the world, not half.
My expectations are very high and include embracing the knowledge they willingly signed up to absorb. This was the first step in moving away from apologizing for the enormity of the class and giving the students the choice to commit themselves to be participant learners out of interest, even in the face of a huge task. This is a worldly class for knowledge-seeking students, not those only seeking a GE credit (general education). Now that this was made clear, I do not expect any more “maybe only cover half the world” comments, because it was a distinctive choice to take on the world, not half.
Secondly, I was honest about my perspective. Geography is a dynamic discipline; each geographer has a different specialty and most importantly a facet of geography that stirs their heart. Mine is cultural and historical geography. So, instead of apologizing for a historical-geographic viewpoint leading the classroom, I explained my background and why I believe that view best explains the territories grouped together we call “world regions” today. Then I simply said, “if the examples I just provided do not give you an “aw ha” moment and/or the thought of hearing about how the physical and cultural geography influenced the history of a region/country, while at the same time learning how history influenced the cultural geography we see today, then this is not the class for you.”
We all have different interests and backgrounds. College, therefore, should not be a place to check off your core classes but to apply the knowledge you gain from the diverse mix you pick to those interests and specialties. This makes students more marketable and well-rounded and prepares them for a lifetime of new information, continually enhancing or questioning their perceived knowledge. There are so many “electives” to choose from on a college campus and all have their own unique way of improving a student’s overall education, however every “elective” is not for every student. Now, I do not dread comments regarding “too much history.” That is my training and perspective; plenty of courses and even World Regional Geography classes from a different perspective are available. The four students who did not come back the next day will be much more engaged in other classes, and I am glad they are seeking the type of course that interests them most.
We all have different interests and backgrounds. College, therefore, should not be a place to check off your core classes but to apply the knowledge you gain from the diverse mix you pick to those interests and specialties. This makes students more marketable and well-rounded and prepares them for a lifetime of new information, continually enhancing or questioning their perceived knowledge. There are so many “electives” to choose from on a college campus and all have their own unique way of improving a student’s overall education, however every “elective” is not for every student. Now, I do not dread comments regarding “too much history.” That is my training and perspective; plenty of courses and even World Regional Geography classes from a different perspective are available. The four students who did not come back the next day will be much more engaged in other classes, and I am glad they are seeking the type of course that interests them most.
The third “kicker” I divulged was the most intriguing to most students, I presume, from their reactions. Teaching for me is centered on facilitating, a part of my training at CSULB that I will discuss in a later article. Specifically, this means, “I do not want to talk for an hour and a half and spoon-feed you information to store in your brains and then spit out on a test.” Instead, my goal is to “get the information from you. I want to facilitate conversation and discussions that ultimately lead the entire class to the main point.” For this type of classroom environment to happen and be as much encouraged by students as I am, students have to make a commitment to participate. Not only a commitment to me but also to each other. To my delight, that is exactly what I witnessed.
After explaining this type of atmosphere and why it was necessary for the class's success, I asked them to stand up and raise their hand if they intended to stay and commit to being a vital part of a learning community. Everyone stood up and reacted excitedly to being expected to talk back to their professor. We covered some key concepts necessary for the rest of the course and used them to show how I would conduct the class. Almost every other sentence is a question posed to the class to interpret, give examples, opinions, objections, or explain.
After explaining this type of atmosphere and why it was necessary for the class's success, I asked them to stand up and raise their hand if they intended to stay and commit to being a vital part of a learning community. Everyone stood up and reacted excitedly to being expected to talk back to their professor. We covered some key concepts necessary for the rest of the course and used them to show how I would conduct the class. Almost every other sentence is a question posed to the class to interpret, give examples, opinions, objections, or explain.
Most students in both classes kept their commitments, and the first two days were full of insightful hypotheses, ideas, and examples they used to make the topics personal and understandable for them and others. Therefore, I hope to put to bed the comments of “too many questions,” “expects us to know more already,” and “too high of expectations.” These students made a visible commitment to their classmates, and the initial results have been very promising.
In all, this semester I chose to be clear about what I expected from my students and what they should be prepared to undertake in my class before they fully committed. It is now in their hands to make this class what they want it to be, instead of being subject to an impossibly large body of information, imposed by a sympathetic professor. Now, they are engaged, active learners willingly taking on the responsibilities of the class.
I cannot wait for week two!
I cannot wait for week two!
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