The book relates rational curriculum planning to the field of geography. Intended as an aid to geography teachers and teachers in training as they reconstruct geography syllabi, the book emphasizes the need to evaluate what goes into as well as what comes out of the geography curriculum. Section I identifies aims and objectives of geographic education, such as personal autonomy, social utility, development of intellectual skills, and selected objectives from Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Section II describes the role of geography in the school curriculum and in the spectrum of knowledge, presents an historical overview of the changing nature of academic geography, and summarizes guidelines for teacher behavior which encourage pupil learning. In section III, the purposes and techniques of assessment are defined and an historical perspective on examinations is presented. Assessment instruments include essays, multiple-choice tests, and structured questions. Objectives, advantages, disadvantages, and characteristics are elaborated for each type. Examples are given. The final section translates regional, systematic, concept, and topic based geographic theories into methods of structuring geography syllabi. Examples of course units and strategies for long-term curriculum planning are given. (Author/DB)