Who is CHAD and does he know GEORGIA? Using geographical literacy to improve learning outcomes
Wednesday, September 26
Tony Lott, Political Science and 2007-08 CILA Associate
(co-sponsor: International and Off-Campus Studies)
A recent National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs study (2006) of 18-24 year olds found that only 37% of this age group can find Iraq on a map of the Middle East, even though U.S. troops have been there since 2003, and only half can identify the state of New York on a map of the U.S. When asked in which of four countries a majority of the population is Muslim, 48% believed it was India (whose majority population is Hindu - at approximately 80%), while only 25% correctly identified Indonesia. Only 31% can put the U.S. population in the correct range of 150-350 million, and only 39% know that China’s population is more than four times that of the U.S. And while 73% know that the U.S. is the world’s largest consumer of oil, only 29% correctly identify it as the largest exporter (by dollar value) of goods and services.
While St. Olaf students may have a more sophisticated understanding of geography than those surveyed, they may still know much less than we assume. We do know that for effective teaching, we need to know what our students know (and don’t know) and to build on that knowledge. In this Conversation, Tony Lott will help us explore the use of geographical lessons across the disciplines to improve teaching and learning. He will discuss some of the methods he has used to enhance learning opportunities in the classroom, and will invite participants to share their approaches to using geography in the classroom.
If you are interested in learning more about the “Survey of Geographic Literacy,” here is the link: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/roper2006/
