This project is designed to build capacity for conducting research on learning progressions in geography. Learning progressions offer a means for educators to determine how students learn geographic facts, concepts, and skills, and whether they are on track toward attainment of a particular curriculum standard or set of standards. The available research base in geography education is primarily focused on students' understanding (or learning) of individual ideas or skills, but not on the relationships between different areas of content or types of skills learned progressively across grade levels.
Through this project, geographers and education researchers will receive training to develop and validate learning progressions and assessments based on Standard 1 of Geography for Life: National Geography Standards (2nd Edition): How to use maps and other geographic representations, geospatial technologies, and spatial thinking to understand and communicate information. The capacity building will involve four activities: 1) a planning meeting with geographers and learning progressions experts, 2) an inventory and prospect study for the research, 3) a research training workshop with graduate students, early career scholars and faculty mentors, and 4) preparations for the coordination and implementation of the research plans produced by the workshop.
This project is the first to develop a methodology for designing learning progressions referenced to national geography standards. The goal is to stimulate interest, and provide training and mentoring support for graduate students and early career scholars interested in carrying out this type of research. The long-term vision is to educate a cadre of future researchers with strong research and analysis skills who can participate in the creation and testing of learning progressions for all 18 national geography standards. The outcomes of this project will include co-authored research manuscripts and an online American Association of Geographers (AAG ) clearinghouse of research results.
