Notwithstanding its iconic status within geography, the debate continues about how fieldwork should be taught to undergraduate students. The authors engage with this debate and argue that field studies should follow the teaching of research methodology. In this paper they review relevant literature on the place of fieldwork in geography training,…

This paper reports on development of a Dark Peak website and its use to prepare first-year geography students for a one-day physical geography field course in the south Pennines. The Virtual Tour (VT) component of the website is the main focus of this paper. Pre- and post-fieldwork evaluations of the first version of the VT by 195 students are…

Fieldwork continues to underpin undergraduate geography in the UK and elsewhere. In recent years fieldwork destinations in UK geography programmes have grown more global in scope. This paper examines the pressures and processes that underpin the increased reach of fieldwork in undergraduate geography. Based on a recently implemented research…

This paper first describes problem-based learning; second describes how a research methods course in geography is taught using a problem-based learning approach; and finally relates student and staff experiences of this approach. The course is run through regular group meetings, two residential field trips and optional skills-based workshops.…

Many fieldtrips are designed so that students might have direct experience of "the landscape" and/or "the people". But as Scott (1992) warns, experience of "the real world" is never transparent and unmediated. It is with this central idea in mind that the author (re)examines the epistemology of two human geography fieldtrips that concerned recent…

Linking research and teaching is a topic of international interest. The links may take many different forms and may be found in all types of higher education institution. The main aim of the paper is to explore the complexity and contested nature of the research-teaching nexus in different national and institutional contexts, with particular…

Formal research training is integral to research degrees in human geography completed in UK higher education institutions today. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has been the driving force behind the formalization of research training. Arguably less well known among the ESRC research training recommendations is the stipulation that…

Concept mapping activities were trialed over a 2 year period as part of an undergraduate microbiology course. This paper describes this developmental process and offers insight into the most beneficial ways of employing this tool in a higher education setting. The aim was to investigate the use of mapping activities to improve students'…

The article reports on case study research carried out in two education institutions introducing information learning technology (ILT) as an enhancement to the learning experience. The approaches to change in each institution, described as structural and pedagogic, represent different strategies emanating from what might be polar opposites in the…

In recent years the language and practice of management has pervaded academic life in higher education. Whether this provides management educators with opportunities to exploit or poses threats to their credibility is a moot point. On the one hand, it can be said to enhance the status of management as an area of study, thereby endowing its…

This study investigated the effectiveness of providing tutorial support for education students in core modules. An intervention designed to promote critical thinking skills was developed and delivered in week 11 of a 15 week module. Repeated measures analysis of variance indicated that the improvement in grades in Level 2 was significantly better…

This study reports on a 4 year project conducted to detect any alteration to students' experience and self-confidence in key skills resulting from the introduction of Curriculum 2000. The project involved 460 first year medical students who left school before the introduction of Curriculum 2000 and 478 who had experienced the new curriculum.…

The present paper discusses the decontextualization of learning in a case of compulsory Swedish language studies for university degrees. In this case learning Swedish is mostly disconnected, not only from the everyday lives of the students in a way typical of formal learning in general, but also from the study activities and contexts that students…

One of the key professional concerns for staff working in higher and, to some extent, further education is to be involved in scholarly publishing. Within that concern, as a direct result of recent research assessment exercises, is the question of "what counts as a high status journal"? The question is a vitally important one for lecturers and…

This paper considers the significance of the term 'skills' in recent policy documents concerning the future developments of post-16 education. This paper argues that the skills debate, as outlined in "Success For All" and "21st Century Skills", comprises two dominant discourses: it is considered necessary for youngsters to gain skills for their…