Viewpoint: Order and Reinforcement in Human Geography: Do They Matter?
Abstract
Over a ten-year period students in a two quarter introductory sequence in Human Geography showed contrasting performance on examinations. In the first quarter students were tested after five weeks of work and then again at the end of the quarter on the materials taught during the sixth through tenth weeks of the course. Compared with the first exam, students' grades on the second exam improved an average of 8.43 points. Although the same exam time format was used in the second quarter course, the grades declined from the first to second exam by an average of 9.21 points. Since these patterns were consistent over a wide range of instructional circumstances, the differences in performance were sought in the order in which subjects were taught and the manner in which concepts were reinforced. It appears that reinforcement is more important than the order subjects are taught in helping students score well on examinations. Geographers are urged, therefore, to explore the possibility of using the insights of the writing across the curriculum movement when designing their introductory human geography courses. In addition, this and other pedagogical issues are recommended for formal inclusion in graduate programs training scholar teachers so that future generations of University level geography teachers will be better prepared for actual classroom conditions.References
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