Page 9 [Geology field trip] - Nordplus course report

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Þingvellir

Þingvellir (The Parliamentary Plains) is a historic site in Iceland. The first parliament in the world was founded there in the year 930.

The place is located in the rift between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.

Nowadays the area is a national park.

We walked around for a bit. The scenery was interesting especially on this path that led onto the North American side of the rift. The rock in the walls was similar to that at the waterfall where we had stopped for lunch.

On the landing further up, there was an information center for visitors, which covered the history of the area.

On our way back to Laugarvatn, we made one final stop at a cave that had served as a dwelling in the prehistoric times.

As someone commented, the hairdryer still worked — even in the evening, the wind was still going strong.

Calm Lands from Final Fantasy X?

Actually, this is a view onto the plains from the hill where the cave was located.

Back in the classroom

We arrived at Laugarvatn at about seven in the evening.

After the dinner, the course day was concluded by some more student presentations.

In this picture, Jonas and Anna are holding a presentation on teacher education in Sweden.

Next, Johanne and Dan introduced us to the teacher education system in Greenland.

Finally, Birna and Mirjam told us about teacher education in the Faro Islands.

Fieldwork and teaching geography

The role of fieldwork

Fieldwork serves three different purposes in teaching geography:

Fieldwork about the environment aims to develop knowledge and understanding.

Fieldwork through the environment develops practical skills and provides activity-based learning experiences.

Fieldwork for the environment contains an agenda for social change; it aims to promote more sustainable lifestyles.

Teaching styles

In fieldwork, a number of different teaching styles may be applied.

Closed. The problem to investigate and fieldwork methods are chosen by the teacher.

In this approach, the areas where the work of the pupils may differ in are outcome, accuracy of data presentation, and depth of analysis of the results.

The pupils learn how to carry out an enquiry: how to collect data and how to analyse and present the results.
Framed. This approach is somewhere between the other two presented here. For details, see below.
Negotiated. This is a completely student-centered approach.

The teaching focuses on questions made by the students. The student formulates the problem, chooses data sources and analysis methods, and interprets the data.

The teacher acts as a consultant, advising and supporting the student; especially in selecting questions and enquiry methods, and when evaluating outcomes.

The framed teaching style

The framed teaching style combines elements from the closed and negotiated styles listed above.

The pupils learn to establish priorities, interpret data, consider viewpoints on the problem and apply their understanding of geographical ideas relating to the issue at hand.

In the framed teaching style, a decision-making exercise provides the structure for a fieldwork investigation. The teacher creates 'a need to know' among the pupils, and suggests questions to investigate. This in turn encourages the pupils to present further questions.

The pupils then choose the data sources — that is, what information to collect — and what fieldwork methods to use. This may be done in groups.

When the information has been collected, the pupils are encouraged to use different techniques to present their findings. Finally, in a follow-up lesson each group makes a presentation describing their problem, methods and findings.

Reference:

Balderstone, D. & Lambert, D. 2000. Learning to Teach Geography in the Secondary School: A Companion to School Experience. London: RoutledgeFalmer. pp. 240-246.

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