Table Of ContentJonathan E. Wessell Editor
Experiential
Learning in
Geography
Experience, Evaluation and Encounters
Experiential Learning in Geography
Jonathan E. Wessell
Editor
Experiential Learning
in Geography
Experience, Evaluation and Encounters
Editor
Jonathan E. Wessell
Geography Faculty
Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MI, USA
ISBN 978-3-030-82086-2 ISBN 978-3-030-82087-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82087-9
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland
AG 2021
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Preface
It was at a young age that I found a passion for geography. I have always reflected
on my life growing up in west Michigan, on the lake, in the Manistee National
Forest, in a small town as a stimulus for that passion for geography. Through the
years, that passion has grown, and as an educator, I have had the opportunity to
share my passion for geography, and prepare field studies for students, so they too
could have experiences that they may not otherwise have.
Along with my passion for geography, I find the processes of our formal educa-
tion systems interesting. John Dewey, thought to be the father of experiential
thought, wrote in the early 1900s and encouraged the early formal educational sys-
tem to not forget that we all learn from experiences in our lives. The formal class-
room is just one place to learn then. Over the years, different areas of experiential
learning have been introduced. Field studies, project learning, study abroad, and
service learning are several ways that students are offered opportunity to learn from
experiences in the real world, rather than sitting in the classroom. Since Dewey,
experts like Maxine Green, who examined how the arts impact our learning, and
David Kolb, who focused on and developed further the importance of reflection in
our experiential learning, have developed the modern views on how experiences
shape how we learn. There are two important aspects that one can take away from
experiential learning: firstly, that the experience itself, no matter how short the time,
will always add to our learning process, and secondly, the reflection on these experi-
ences can sometimes radically impact the learning taking place and even the lives of
our students.
v
vi Preface
Kolb Experiential Learning Model (1984)
The authors of this book also have that passion for sharing experiences with their
students and encouraging the learning process through experiential learning. The
authors, in their own ways, share the three subcategories of the book: Experience –
What was done? Evaluation – What were students’ expected to learn? Encounters –
What were the reflections of students and faculty alike? The chapters to follow will
allow the reader to understand what it takes to provide quality learning experiences
in the field, how those experiences relate to experiential learning theory, and finally
what the reflections of some of the students that participated in the experiences took
away from it. The chapters are divided into domestic and international field studies
as there are inherent differences in the planning and running of more local experi-
ences rather than those in a foreign country.
No matter if you are a student, a teacher, or just intrigued about the topic, this
book should bring you to a better understanding of experiential learning and how
different experiences are being used to allow students to learn. Enjoy what you read
here, but remember that experiences outside the classroom can have an amazing
transformative effect on our students. Take your students into the field today!
Allendale, Michigan, USA Jonathan E. Wessell
Contents
Part I International Experiences
Learning Geography in the Andes: Reflections on Teaching
an Undergraduate Field Course in Peru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Erika N. Trigoso Rubio
For Peat’s Sake: An Experiential Environmental Study
Abroad Trip to Scotland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Adrienne Cassel and Jacqueline Housel
Experiential Learning in Nairobi, Kenya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Ellen R. Hansen
Study Abroad in an Embedded Online Geography Class
for Adult Working Professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Beth King and Fritz Kessler
Encountering Emotions During International Fieldwork:
Using Innovative Pedagogies to Develop Emotional
Intelligence and Resilience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Alan Marvell and David Simm
Experiencing Iceland: Immersive Professional
Development to Build Geography Teaching Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Ellen J. Foster, Dawna Cerney, Lynn Moorman,
Niccole Villa Cerveny, and Dianna Gielstra
Part II D omestic Experiences
Experiential Learning in Geography Teacher Education:
Encountering Geography in the Immediate Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Susan Pike
vii
viii Contents
The Isle of Rum, Scotland: A Physical Geography Fieldtrip
for Second Year Undergraduates Studying Outdoor
Environment, Education and/or Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
L. Mansfield
Service-Learning and Geospatial Skills:
What Do the Students Think? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Lisa Tabor
Intercultural Experiential Learning: Integrated Geography
Field Courses for Undergraduates in Arts
and Humanities in Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Andrea Menendez Arboleya and Benjamín González-Díaz
Encounters in Geography Field-Based Learning: Wales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Eifiona Thomas Lane, Rebecca Jones, and Will Andrews
Learning at Disney: Myth or Magic? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Lorri K. Krebs
Digital Storytelling as Community-Based Intercultural
Learning in Cultural/Historical Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
David J. Marshall
Part I
International Experiences
Learning Geography in the Andes:
Reflections on Teaching an Undergraduate
Field Course in Peru
Erika N. Trigoso Rubio
The University of Denver (DU) possesses a strong international study abroad pro-
gram that is consistently ranked in the top five in the U.S. This fact attracts a large
number of students, with the expectation that international learning will be an inte-
gral part of their formative experience. Due to the quarter academic system, DU
enjoys a 6-week winter break from late November until early January. This extended
winter break provides an opportunity to offer a wide variety of 7–14 day field
courses. The relatively low season period between Thanksgiving and Christmas
provides travel options at reasonable prices. DU currently offers eight international
and two domestic travel courses in any given winter interterm session. As most of
these classes are interdisciplinary and opened to all majors, students have the oppor-
tunity to choose a meaningful class.
Peru has a diverse geography that encompasses large areas of coastal land,
mountain regions, and rain forest. These aspects offer opportunities to learn and
absorb both physical and human components of geographic knowledge. In cultural
terms, the Andes stand out from other mountain ranges because this region, unlike
their counterparts around the world, has millions of people actually living in the
Andes. This fact is most obvious in large cities such as Bogota, Quito, Cusco,
Arequipa, La Paz, as well as thousands of smaller localities. Consequently, Andean
culture has been quite active for centuries, shaping the cultural character of numer-
ous countries in South America. A testament to this is the Quechua indigenous lan-
guage, which has over seven million speakers in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia,
Ecuador, and Peru (Howard, 2011). Quechua is also the only indigenous language
in the Americas that has gained speakers since the region declared independence.
The Peruvian Andes in particular, has been the epicenter of the Inca Empire,
arguably the only empire that ever existed in the Southern hemisphere. Besides the
E. N. Trigoso Rubio (*)
University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 3
J. E. Wessell (ed.), Experiential Learning in Geography,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82087-9_1
