Developing an Online Center for Global Geography Education (Phase 2)

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Geography (88)This project is expanding the undergraduate activities and resources of the Center for Global Geography Education (CGGE), which has been creating an online collection of geography resources for international collaborative learning at the Association of American Geographers (AAG). An earlier CCLI Phase 1 grant from the National Science Foundation supported the developing and testing of three Web-based course modules: Nationalism, Global Economy, and Population. These modules were used by undergraduates in different countries to investigate geographic issues and share perspectives in a collaborative, online learning environment. The impacts of the modules on student learning were evaluated in classroom trials with over 500 undergraduates in 10 countries. Overall, students demonstrated significant gains in their knowledge of geographic concepts, and the vast majority of those who participated in the trials displayed a very positive attitude both before and after the project. However, the evaluation also indicated that moderate revisions to the modules would enhance their effectiveness in promoting undergraduate awareness of international perspectives. The evaluation also suggested that the modules be redesigned to increase their flexibility, positioning them to better serve a wider variety of undergraduate courses and geographical contexts. Finally, the Phase 1 project yielded useful signposts to guide a targeted analysis in this Phase 2 project. The Phase 2 project is modifying and updating the existing modules and developing three new modules focused on Migration, Natural Hazards, and Global Climate Change. It is measuring the impact of international collaboration on the knowledge and perspectives of geography undergraduates in multiple settings, and is expanding and diversifying significantly the student and faculty networks involved in CGGE collaborations. Intellectual Merit: As the world's peoples, places, and environments grow increasingly connected, more efforts are needed to enhance students' awareness of global processes and issues while nurturing abilities in foreign languages and comparative thinking. The guiding theory of CGGE is that these dimensions of learning can be simultaneously supported by engaging undergraduates in international collaboration. A related key objective of this project is the development of a database for assessing the influence of international collaboration on student learning of geography content and student attitudes toward contemporary world issues. When completed, this CGGE Phase 2 project will have created a critical mass of resources to provide faculty with a "one-stop" online resource for planning and implementing an international teaching collaboration. Broader Impacts: This project supports the AAG's programs to foster international collaborations in research and education. It is providing models of collaboration for new initiatives across Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Geography undergraduates are benefiting from opportunities to interact with students in countries that are engaged, perhaps contentiously, with the United States over issues related to immigration, nationalism, environmental pollution, and economic globalization. CGGE modules also support a diverse range of learning outcomes of value to faculty in neighboring social and environmental disciplines. To support dissemination and diffusion of collaborative education methods, this project is engaged in an extensive outreach and dissemination plan through partnerships with the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Centre for Active Learning at the University of Gloucestershire, the Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education, the HERODOT Network, the International Geographical Union - Commission on Geographical Education, the International Network for Learning and Teaching, the National Council for Geographic Education, and the Pan American Institute for Geography and History. Through these mechanisms it is providing faculty with many options for engaging in professional development in preparation for teaching internationally.