The Geography Department at Macalester College will host its third geography teachers' institute from July 6 to July 24, 1987. The institute will host 30-35 teachers of geography and social studies (grades K-12) in an intensive three-week workshop. Preference in admission will be given to teams of teachers--one elementary and one secondary--from the same district. Participants will earn eight semester-hour graduate-level credits. The teachers will receive instruction in a wide array of geographical themes and concepts aimed at enhancing geography education in Minnesota. Instruction will be provided by two Macalester geographers and augmented by a staff of classroom master teachers and invited professional geographers and applications specialists. All teachers will produce six modules of instruction designed for classroom use and including salient aspects of the materials introduced in the institute. In addition, they will be required to give two in-service workshops in their home districts on the new materials during the 1987-88 school year. The first week of the summer institute will emphasize local geography, map and graphic skills, use of air photos, and computer application. The second week will deal with the concept of the region. In the third week, attention is drawn to global patterns and processes. Both concept and skill development will be emphasized. A number of local field trips will be taken to introduce teachers to ways of using local resources in their own areas and to teach effective observational and questioning techniques. In addition, a number of visits to museums and libraries are scheduled. The teachers are required to attend four full-day follow-up sessions scheduled for September, November, February and April of the following academic year. During these sessions, new materials is reviewed and the teachers share information about their classroom experiences using the modules developed as part of the institute.
