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Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

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projects are runn<strong>in</strong>g and <strong>in</strong> the best cases, they are a natural part of school life(Niemi, 2003).The curriculum for upper secondary school geographyIn the F<strong>in</strong>nish national curriculum for upper secondary school geography, the ma<strong>in</strong>goal is that a student becomes aware of the relationship between the human be<strong>in</strong>g andnature, and understands the earth to be a chang<strong>in</strong>g and diverse liv<strong>in</strong>g environment.The students should acquire a read<strong>in</strong>ess to analyse regional environmental questions,and to f<strong>in</strong>d solutions <strong>in</strong> accordance with susta<strong>in</strong>able development. Geographicaleducation <strong>in</strong>tegrates topics from both natural and social sciences. There are twoobligatory courses to be studied: The Blue Planet and The Common World. TheBlue Planet course consists of Physical <strong>Geography</strong>. The content <strong>in</strong>cludes topics suchas Geographical Th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g, Position of the Earth <strong>in</strong> the Solar System, Atmosphere,Hydrosphere, Weather and Climate, <strong>Chang<strong>in</strong>g</strong> Topography of the Earth, VegetationZones, Landscapes through Maps and Figures. The Common World course consistsof cultural geography. Its ma<strong>in</strong> topics are The Nature of Cultural <strong>Geography</strong>, Population,Natural Resources, Primary Production and Environment, Industry and Energy,Traffic and Interaction, Landscapes and Land Use, and Globalisation and Susta<strong>in</strong>abledevelopment. In addition, there are two optional courses named The World ofHazards and Regional Research. The first course <strong>in</strong>cludes threats and risks, both fromnatural phenomena and the action of human be<strong>in</strong>gs. The second one <strong>in</strong>cludes Cartography,GIS (Geographic Information Systems), and regional geographical researchby the students. In upper secondary level geography, the areas to be evaluated arethe development of geographical th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g skills, mastery of geographical concepts,stat<strong>in</strong>g arguments for conceptions, and skills to observe regional dependences. Theskill to <strong>in</strong>terpret, evaluate and use geographical <strong>in</strong>formation, and presentation andco-operational skills are also to be evaluated (Opetushallitus 2003).Distance education <strong>in</strong> Oulun Lyseon Lukio School.The geographical courses studied <strong>in</strong> Oulun Lyseon Lukio School are Natural<strong>Geography</strong>, Human <strong>Geography</strong>, <strong>Geography</strong> of Hazards, and Regional <strong>Geography</strong>.One course consists of about 30 hours of teach<strong>in</strong>g dur<strong>in</strong>g the six week period. Thelessons are each usually 75 m<strong>in</strong>utes long. There are two 75-m<strong>in</strong>ute lessons and onelesson of 45 plus 75 m<strong>in</strong>utes dur<strong>in</strong>g each course week. Therefore, the student hasthree geography lessons <strong>in</strong> a week. This is the situation <strong>in</strong> normal contact teach<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong> Oulun Lyseon Lukio School.In distance education, there are two possible teach<strong>in</strong>g approaches. The first iscalled multiform teach<strong>in</strong>g, which is used at Tyrnävä and Ylikiim<strong>in</strong>ki satellite schools.The teach<strong>in</strong>g can be distance teach<strong>in</strong>g all the time, it can partially take place <strong>in</strong> anormal contact situation – mean<strong>in</strong>g that the teacher and the students are <strong>in</strong> a sameclassroom at the same time. Usually this happens only once dur<strong>in</strong>g the course whenthe students commute from Tyrnävä and Ylikiim<strong>in</strong>ki to Oulu. The teacher, however,has the possibility to drive either to Tyrnävä or to Ylikiim<strong>in</strong>ki to give the class andmeet the students <strong>in</strong> one of the satellite schools and have the videoconferenc<strong>in</strong>g go<strong>in</strong>g147

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