Although no “extra-credit” work will be given in class, any interested student may do a review of an article (see the format below). If well done, the student whose grade is on a borderline, will be given the higher grade.
How to proceed:
- On a sheet of paper, submit information, as shown below, of three articles from three different journals. The journals are listed below.
- The citation should be in the following format:
KORY, William B. (author)
"Ethnic Churches and Ethnicity"
The Pennsylvania Geographer
Volume XVI, #3, September 1978, p. 21-30
- After the instructor selects one of the articles, type or print the same information on a 3x5 card with your name printed at the bottom of the card. Return the card to the instructor by the due date, or before. THE DATE IS SHOWN ON THE COURSE OUTLINE PAGE !
- A two to three page summary of the article (typed) should be handed in by due date, or before.
Journals from which to select your article:
ANNALS OF THE AAG; ANTIPODE; CANADIAN SURVEYOR; EAST LAKES GEOGRAPHER; ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY; GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL; GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW; JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHY; POST-SOVIET GEOGRAPHY; PENNSYLVANIA GEOGRAPHER; PROFESSIONAL GEOGRAPHER; AMERICAN CARTOGRAPHER, or any other journal approved by the instructor.
******** SEE AN ARTICLE EXAMPLE ON THE NEXT COLUMN ********
ARTICLE EXAMPLE
Your name (underlined!) should be at the top of the paper, along with class time and class term. See next line.
(Johns Smith, 9:30, EARTH AND PEOPLE, Fall 2012)
Fellman, Jerome D.,"Rise and Fall of High School Economic Geography",
The Geographical Review, Volume 76, #4, October 1986, p. 424-437.
It has been said that Americans are the least knowledgeable people in the field of geography. Although the nation has over 200 years of dealing in foreign relations, its citizens are somewhat ignorant about the field.
To help alleviate this lack of understanding, professional geographers have tried various approaches. One of the ways was to launch innovative programs of geographical nature in high schools and elementary schools. One major attempt was begun in the 1890's and placed major emphasis on the physiographical approach to the discipline. The second, still in use today, was to diversify geographical studies at both the elementary and secondary levels.
In the 19th century, geography was equated to physical geography, and many high schools offered the course as an elective. Most colleges also endorsed the idea that geography at the high school level should be strictly physical.
By the early 1900's, commercial geography became an important topic in the high school curriculum. About 90% of the public high schools in the United States offered commercial geography for students enrolled in business courses. Commercial geography "...was the most widely taught subject among the group of required and elective courses including economics, commercial law, and business English". Physical geography was still the leading representative of the field of geography but commercial geography was a close second.
Despite these offerings, professional geographers and the National Education Association (NEA) were concerned about the general lack of geographical knowledge by American students. The two groups were also worried about the lack of preparation in geography which the teachers received. Richard E. Dodge stated in his presidential address to the Association of American Geographers that a trained teacher of geography is rare and that "...the spatially trained teacher of geography is even rarer...The usual teacher of geography is a teacher of science or commercial subjects".
Formal instruction for teachers in geography began early in the 20th century. They were usually offered in the summers, and in 1903 formal classes for teachers in commercial geography were offered at Cornell, Chicago, Minnesota, and Wisconsin universities. Enrollments increased rapidly over the years and exceeded the enrollments of students in physical geography. This situation, however, did not last. The interest in commercial or economic geography as it was later labeled, began to fade and some of its content was questioned. Portion of its subject matter was absorbed into social studies and soon economic geography was replaced in the curriculum by humanistic, cultural, and regional courses.
The effort to establish better geography courses in the American schools continues. Some observers feel that this effort "...may be seen as an attempt to recapture former position of importance for geography that has been lost because of the profession's failure to be aggressive in the preservation of its identity"
