Enhancing Departments and Graduate Education in Geography

This paper describes the development, implementation, and preliminary outcomes of Enhancing Departments and Graduate Education (EDGE) in Geography, a multi-year project begun in 2005 to study the process of professional development in graduate geography in the U.S and sponsored by the National Science Foundation. As a research and action project responding to the needs of graduate geography programs, EDGE seeks to provide academic geographers with an empirical perspective of disciplinary as well as interdisciplinary and generic skills that M.A./M.S. and Ph.D. students develop as a result of graduate education. Related objectives are to understand how disciplinary skills are applied by geography graduates once they enter the professional workforce in both academic and non-academic professional settings, and to gauge the extent graduate programs are sufficiently preparing geography graduates for those careers. We begin by summarizing the research goals and design of EDGE, highlighting the roles and contributions of geographers and educational researchers, and noting the interplay and synergy between disciplinary and interdisciplinary methodologies and practices. To date, research has focused on: 1) assessing contemporary workforce competencies in professional geography and 2) examining the role of department climate and culture on student experience and faculty development within masters and doctoral programs. Although the EDGE research efforts are still underway, we present some preliminary research findings and discuss the implications of those outcomes for professional development in geography and related social and environmental sciences. Also discussed is the complementary nature of discipline-based and interdisciplinary professional development efforts

Internationalizing Geography in Higher Education: Initiatives of the Association of American Geographers

L'ensenyament global implica uns aprenentatges sobre problemes i temes que creuen les fronteres nacionals així com interconnecten diversos sistemes ?culturals, ecològics, econòmics, polítics i tecnològics. L'ensenyament global també suposa aprendre a entendre i apreciar als nostres veïns que tenen un rerefons cultural diferent al nostre; a veure el món utilitzant els ulls i els pensaments dels altres; i entendre que les altres persones del món necessiten i volen el mateix que nosaltres.La enseñanza global implica unos aprendizajes sobre problemas y temas que cruzan las fronteras nacionales así como interconectan diversos sistemas ?culturales, ecológicos, económicos, políticos y tecnológicos. La enseñanza global también suponr aprender a entender y apreciar a nuestros vecinos que tienen un trasfondo cultural diferente al nuestro; a ver el mundo utilizando los ojos y los pensamientos de los otros; y entender que las otras personas del mundo necesitan y quieren lo mismo que nosotros.Global education involves learning about those problems and issues which cut across national boundaries and about the inter-connectedness of systems ? cultural, ecological, economic, political, and technological. Global education also involves learning to understand and appreciate our neighbors who have different cultural backgrounds from ours; to see the world through the eyes and minds of others; and to realize that other people of the world need and want much the same things

Geography Education, Primary and Secondary : International perspectives

This entry highlights and compares international patterns in geography education at primary and secondary levels, focusing especially on the United States, Europe, and Asia. The authors consider regional similarities and differences in the structure, content, and aims of geography in schools and teacher education systems. The entry concludes with a discussion of research issues and emerging frameworks for international collaboration and dialogue aimed at advancing the status and quality of geography in primary and secondary education.Peer reviewe

Student- and school-level predictors of geography achievement in the United States, 1994–2018

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 between achievement and school-level attributes such as geographic region and school sector, the magnitudes of the coefficients were relatively minor and inconsistent over time compared with student-level characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, and parental education. The results inform current policy directions and efforts to foster educational equity in K-12 geography

A capabilities approach to higher education: geocapabilities and implications for geography curricula

A geographical education offers more than skills, subject knowledge and generic attributes. It also develops a set of discipline-specific capabilities that contribute to a graduate’s future learning and experience, granting them special ways of thinking for lifelong development and for contributing to the welfare of themselves, their community and their world. This paper considers the broader purposes and values of disciplinary teaching in contributing to individual human development. Set in the context of recent debates concerning the role of the university and the neo-liberalisation of higher education this paper explores approaches to developing the geography curriculum in ways that re-assert the educational value of geographical thinking for students. Using international examples of teaching and learning practice in geography, we recognise five geocapabilities: use of the geographical imagination; ethical subject-hood with respect to the impacts of geographical processes; integrative thinking about society–environment relationships; spatial thinking; and the structured exploration of places. A capabilities approach offers a productive and resilient response to the threats of pedagogic frailty and increasingly generic learning in higher education. Finally, a framework to stimulate dialogue about curriculum development and the role of geocapabilities in the higher education curriculum is suggested

Professional development in teaching and learning for early career academic geographers: Contexts, practices and tensions

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Geography in Higher Education on 16th May 2011, available online: doi: 10.1080/03098265.2011.563380This paper provides a review of the practices and tensions informing approaches to professional development for early career academic geographers who are teaching in higher education. We offer examples from Britain, Canada, Nigeria and the USA. The tensions include: institutional and departmental cultures; models that offer generic and discipline-specific approaches; the credibility of alternative settings for professional development in teaching and learning; the valuing of professional development and of teaching in academic systems of reward and recognition; and the challenges of balancing professional and personal life. We summarize concepts of good practice and suggest opportunities for future research

Computed tomographic enterography adds information to clinical management in small bowel Crohn's disease

Background: CT enterography yields striking findings in the bowel wall in Crohn's disease. These images may help to evaluate whether small bowel narrowing results from active disease requiring anti-inflammatory therapy. However, the clinical relevance of these images is unknown. It is also not known if these radiologic findings correlate with objective biomarkers of inflammation. Methods: In a blinded and independent evaluation, IBD subspecialty gastroenterologists reviewed clinical data, and CT radiologists reviewed CT enterography scans of 67 consecutive patients with Crohn's disease and suspicion of either small bowel inflammation or stricture. Comparisons were made between (1) clinical and radiologic assessments of inflammation and stricture, (2) clinical assessments before and after computed tomographic enterography (CTE) reports were revealed, and (3) radiologic findings and objective biomarkers of inflammation. Results: (1) Individual CTE findings correlated poorly (Spearman's rho < 0.30) with clinical assessment; (2) clinicians did not suspect 16% of radiologic strictures, and more than half the cases of clinically suspected strictures did not have them on CTE; (3) CTE data changed clinicians' perceptions of the likelihood of steroid benefit in 41 of 67 cases; (4) specific CTE findings correlated with CRP, and a distinct set of CTE findings correlated with ESR in the subset of patients who had these biomarkers measured. Conclusions: CTE seems to add unique information to clinical assessment, both in detecting additional strictures and in changing clinicians' perceptions of the likelihood of steroids benefiting patients. The biomarker correlations suggest that CTE is measuring real biologic phenomena that correlate with inflammation, providing information distinct from that in a standard clinical assessment. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2006)Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/55965/1/20013_ftp.pd

Inflammatory bowel disease, such as Ulcerative colitis, is a risk factor for recurrent thromboembolic events: a case report

Ulcerative colitis (UC), a member of the family of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), occurs worldwide. It has an incidence which in recent years has been rising in areas such as Southern Europe and Asia, while remaining relatively constant in Northern Europe and North America

Behind the screen: drug discovery using the big data of phenotypic analysis

Technological advances in drug discovery are exciting to students, but it is challenging for faculty to maintain the pace with these developments, particularly within undergraduate courses. In recent years, a High-throughput Discovery Science and Inquiry-based Case Studies for Today’s Students (HITS) Research Coordination Network has been assembled to address the mechanism of how faculty can, on-pace, introduce these advancements. As a part of HITS, our team has developed “Behind the Screen: Drug Discovery using the Big Data of Phenotypic Analysis” to introduce students and faculty to phenotypic screening as a tool to identify inhibitors of diseases that do not have known cellular targets. This case guides faculty and students though current screening methods using statistics and can be applied at undergraduate and graduate levels. Tested across 70 students at three universities and a variety of courses, our case utilizes datasets modeled on a real phenotypic screening method as an accessible way to teach students about current methods in drug discovery. Students will learn how to identify hit compounds from a dataset they have analyzed and understand the biological significance of the results they generate. They are guided through practical statistical procedures, like those of researchers engaging in a novel drug discovery strategy. Student survey data demonstrated that the case was successful in improving student attitudes in their ability to discuss key topics, with both undergraduate and graduate students having a significant increase in confidence. Together, we present a case that uses big data to examine the utility of a novel phenotypic screening strategy, a pedagogical tool that can be customized for a wide variety of courses

Optimization of in vivo activity of a bifunctional homing endonuclease and maturase reverses evolutionary degradation

The LAGLIDADG homing endonuclease (LHE) I-AniI has adopted an extremely efficient secondary RNA splicing activity that is beneficial to its host, balanced against inefficient DNA cleavage. A selection experiment identified point mutations in the enzyme that act synergistically to improve endonuclease activity. The amino-acid substitutions increase target affinity, alter the thermal cleavage profile and significantly increase targeted recombination in transfected cells. The RNA splicing activity is not affected by these mutations. The improvement in DNA cleavage activity is largely focused on one of the enzyme's two active sites, corresponding to a rearrangement of a lysine residue hypothesized to act as a general base. Most of the constructs isolated in the screen contain one or more mutations that revert an amino-acid identity to a residue found in one or more close homologues of I-AniI. This implies that mutations that have previously reduced the endonuclease activity of I-AniI are identified and reversed, sometimes in combination with additional ‘artificial’ mutations, to optimize its in vivo activity