One just better understands.....when standing out there’: Fieldwork as a Learning Methodology in University Education of Danish Geographers

Thomas S. Grındsted; Lene M. Madsen; Thomas Nıelsen

One just better understands.....when standing out there’: Fieldwork as a Learning Methodology in University Education of Danish Geographers

Year 2013, Volume: 3 Issue: 1, 8 - 25, 01.02.2013

Thomas S. Grındsted Lene M. Madsen Thomas Nıelsen

Abstract

The process of becoming a geographer is by no means simple and incorporates huge amounts of disciplinary embodiment. This paper provides an example of how this is enacted by exploring the perceptions of fieldwork within the education of Danish geographers. Firstly, the history of education of Danish geographers is unfolded. Secondly, it is shown that despite quite different organisational structures, in terms of the way that fieldwork is introduced and the educational structure in general; only little variations in learning objectives can be identified between the three Danish universities that educate geographers. Thirdly, based on an empirical study of Danish university geographers, we find three different perceptions of fieldwork as a learning methodology: fieldwork as an outdoor laboratory, fieldwork as sensuous realisation and fieldwork as a meta-theoretical practice. The results show that these three perceptions are not allocated to different academics or traditions, meaning that the individual researcher often encompasses more than one view of fieldwork either in relation to his or her own research or in relation to the education of future geographers. The categories of fieldwork presented, therefore, do not support the often claimed dichotomy between physical and human geography. Instead, the openness of geography as a synthesis discipline is found.

Keywords

Perceptions of fieldwork, learning methodology, university level, Denmark

References

Adriansen, H. K. & Madsen, L. M. (2009). Studying the making of geographical knowledge: The implications of doing insider interviews. Norwegian Journal of Geography, 63(3), 145-1
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77-101.
Bredal, B. (2011). Manden der ville vise verden: Malthe Conrad Bruun & Malte-Brun. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
Buciek, K. (1999). Ernst Lİfler (1835-1911): Mellem kunst og natur – en forskerbiografi. In S. Illeris (Ed.), Danske Geografiske Forskere (pp. 40-49). Frederiksberg: Roskilde University Press.
Christiansen, S. (2005). Det Kongelige Danske Geografiske Selskab: De fİrste 125 år 187620 Copenhagen: The Royal Danish Geographical Society.
Christiansen, S., Kingo Jacobsen, N. & Nielsen, N. (1979). Geografi. In T. Wolff (Ed.), Kİbenhavns Universitet 1479-1979, vol. 13. Copenhagen: Gad.
Dolin, J. (2007). Geografiens natur, Geografisk Orientering, (1), 18-23.
DeLyser, D. & Karolczyk, P. (2010). Fieldwork and the geographical review: retrospect and possible prospects. Geographical Review, 100(4), 465-475.
Fuller, I., Edmondson, S., France, D., Higgitt, D. & Ratinen, I. (2006). International perspectives on the effectiveness of geography fieldwork for learning. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 30(1), 89-101.
Giorda, C. & Di Palma, M.T. (2011). The Italian geographers’ document on the university education of future primary school teachers. Review of International Geographical Education online, 1(2), 183-196.
Gould, P. (1999). Becoming a geographer, Syracuse University Press, New York.
Hill, J. & Woodland, W. (2002). An evaluation of foreign fieldwork in promoting deep learning: a preliminary investigation. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 27(6), 5395
HMI Report (1992). A Survey of Geography Fieldwork in Degree Courses, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate, UK Department of Education and Science.
Hope, M. (2009). The importance of direct experience: A philosophical defense of fieldwork in human geography. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 33(2), 169-182.
Hovorka, A. J. & Wolf, P.A. (2009). Activating the classroom: Geographical fieldwork as pedagogical practice, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 33(1), 89-102.
Illeris, S. (1999). En oversigt over institutionernes historie. In S. Illeris (Ed.), Danske Geografiske Forskere (pp. 11-18). Frederiksberg: Roskilde University Press.
Illeris, K. (2012). 49 tekster om læring. Frederiksberg, Samfundslitteratur.
Kent, M., Gilbertson, D.D. & Hunt, C.O. (1997). Fieldwork in geography teaching: a critical review of the literature and approaches. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 21(3), 313-332.
Kvale, S. (1996). InterView: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks California.
Larsen, H. G. (2009). Gudmund Hatt 1884-1960. In H. Lorimer & C. W. J. Withers (Eds.), Geographers: Biobibliographical Studies, 28, 17-37. London: Continuum.
Livingstone, D. N. (1992). The Geographical Tradition: Episodes in the History of a Contested Enterprise. Oxford: Blackwell.
Mackinder, H. J. (1887). On the scope and methods of geography. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, 9(3), 141-174.
Madsen, L.M. & Adriansen, H. K. (2006). Knowledge constructions in research communities: The example of agri-rural researchers in Denmark. Journal of Rural Studies, 22(4), 4564
Madsen, L.M. & Winslİw, C. (2009). Relations between teaching and research in physical geography and mathematics at research-intensive universities. International Journal of Science and mathematics Education, 7 (4): 741-763.
Nairn, K. (2007). Embodied Fieldwork. Journal of Geography, 98(6), 272-282.
Oldrup, H. H. & Carstensen, T. A. (2012). Producing geographical knowledge through visual methods. Geografiska Annaler, Series B, Human Geography, 94(3), 223–237.
Resnik Planinc, T. (2011). Future prospects for geographical Education in Slovenia. Review of International Geographical Education online, 1(1), 41-59.
Scott, I., Fuller, I. & Gaskin, S. (2006). Life without fieldwork: Some lecturers' perceptions of geography and environmental science fieldwork. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 30(1), 161-171.
Segeren, A. (2012). Mapping geographical education in Canada: Geography in the elementary and secondary curriculum across Canada. Review of International Geographical Education online, 2(1): 119-137.
Sidaway, J. D. & Johnston, R. J. (2007). Geography in higher education in the UK. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 31(1), 57-80.
Simandan, D. (2002). On what it takes to be a good geographer. Area, 34(3), 284-293.
Stokes, A. Magnier, K. & Weaver, R. (2011). What is the use of fieldwork? Conceptions of students and staff in geography and geology. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 35(1), 121-141.
Sæther, E. (2007). Fieldwork as a becoming, NIAS Nytt; Nordic Institute of Asian Studies; 1, 23Vahl, M. (1924). Studiet af Geografi ved Kİbenhavns Universitet. Geografisk Tidsskrift, 27, 122-1
Vahl, M. & Hatt, G. (1922). Jorden og Menneskelivet, Vol. 1. Copenhagen: Schultz.
Volkers, G. (2007). Faget naturgeografi/geografis fremtid i gymnasiet og hf, Geografisk Orientering (1), 14-17.
Wall, G. P. & Speake, J. (2012). European geography higher education fieldwork and the skills agenda. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 36(3), 421-435.
Zelinsky, W. (2001). The geographer as voyeur. Geographical Review, 91(1-2), 1-8.
Additional list of references Study regulation for geography at Roskilde University (2006), Bachelor and Master, Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change.
Study regulation for geography at Copenhagen University (2009a), Bachelor, Department of Geography and Geology.
Study regulation for geography at Copenhagen University (2009b), Master, Department of Geography and Geology.
Study regulation for geography at Aalborg University (2010b), Master, Department of Development and Planning.
Study regulation for geography at Aalborg University (2011), Bachelor, Department of Development and Planning.
Study regulation for geography with specialization in physical geography at Aalborg University (2010c), Master, Department of Development and Planning.
Study regulation for integrative geography at Aalborg University (2010a), Master, Department of Development and Planning. Interview with 31 professors and associate professors allocated to geography education at Aalborg, Copenhagen and Roskilde universities, Denmark.
Biographical statements Thomas GRINDSTED is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change, Roskilde University, Denmark. His area of expertise is the production of nature in educational policy, curricula and campus management in relation to climate change. Dr. Lene Mİller MADSEN is Associate Professor in the Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her research is within science education in relation to students’ experiences with higher education science programs, with a special focus on GIS and fieldwork. Dr. Thomas Theis NIELSEN is Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change, Roskilde University, Denmark. His research focusses on critical cartography and the production of knowledge through maps and GIS.