The objective of this research was to determine if and to what extent students' learning of geographic concepts can be improved through incorporation of hands-on play with Play-Doh® and LEGO® and geospatial technologies, specifically drones. The project team conducted six months of biweekly, collaborative instruction at Comstock Middle School in…

The recent round of curriculum reform in China has proposed the educational goal of developing key competencies. This study examined how key competencies are integrated into geography textbooks for middle schools through pre-designed activities. The results showed that the textbooks emphasized the regional awareness competency. The activities in…

A novel method to create a physicalization of Digital Earth resulted a new type of analogue and tactile geographic information system (GIS). The model was tested by students in Australia, who shared insights into how the model supported their learning about the concept of "overlay" while providing an interesting and engaging learning…

A rich pool of geographic and environmental ideas are embedded children's literature. This paper illuminates the geographic and environmental education themes present in second to eighth grade Common Core fiction, especially for leveraging this content for geographic and environmental education and in support of topically integrated learning…

Computers and geospatial technologies such as Geographic Information Systems, Google Earth, and the Global Positioning System (GPS) are increasingly common tools for geography instruction in schools. The NAEP Data Explorer was used to conduct an analysis of geography achievement in the eighth grade based on differences in students' access to and…

Using the 2018 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) datasets for geography, we explore relationships between geography achievement in the eighth grade and contextual variables related to the content and organization of the geography/social studies curriculum. Differences in student achievement are associated with grade-level…

This paper examines national gaps and trends in geography achievement in eighth grade from 1994 to 2018. Statistical models comprising student- and school-level variables were developed to predict achievement using data provided by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Although there were statistically significant relationships…

Student and teacher attitudes toward school subjects are associated with varying levels of achievement in those subjects. This study analyzed data from the 2018 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to explore relationships between geography achievement in 8th grade, student attitudes toward geography, and teacher attitudes about…

The relationship between teacher quality and student achievement is often at the heart of educational debates about student success. In this study, we leverage data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to explore relationships between geography achievement in the 8th grade and various indicators of teacher quality. We found…