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   To avoid misunderstandings, since every semester there are students misunderstanding what I am trying to do, this page is primarily directed to students who think geography is not important -- which, unfortunately, is most students. It was originally written to the spring 2006 Environmental Biology students. However, even if you are a student with the right attitude towards geography, if you aspire to have a career in education you might still want to read this page. Have a cup of coffee while you read the page.Clarification: When a cartoon artist makes a cartoon about something -- that something has become a serious problem in society. Just like the artist drawing a cartoon is usually not doing it to be mean or disrespectful, the educational cartoons on this page, and other pages on Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice, are not included to be mean or disrespectful to students. Flag burning is not required, because they are included as tools for critical and reflective thinking. They are included to challenge the students to take their college education seriously, and to hopefully make students understand that diminishing academic standards, and increasing problems with grade inflation are major problems in the United States today. Poor academic standards have global implications as to the role of the United States in a world with a global economy. Please read the cartoons and think (and smile if you think they are funny).  The cartoon is used for educational purposes by Dr. Nilsson, South Texas College, scanned, from The Monitor, McAllen.
 At the beginning of the semester I tell students that to really understand Environmental Biology they need to have at least some geography knowledge. It is needed for the understanding of most environmental issues discussed in the course textbook. This is why students are given a geography test in this class. Unfortunately, many students today, not just in my classes, are "geography illiterate". Many students don't know anything about the world outside a very narrow area they inhabit every day! This is, of course, unacceptable for this level of education.  Geographic illiteracy is a problem in Environmental Biology classes, but it has much more serious consequences for society as a whole, as stated by De Blij, the author of the book "Why Geography Matters".(The article is no longer available. For a fee you can buy it online. The first few lines -- don't cost anything, are as follows: "De Blij to discuss global concerns Chris Kenning ckenning@courier-journal.com The Courier-Journal Fewer than one in five young Americans can find Iraq or Afghanistan on a blank map of the world, surveys show. Eleven percent can't even locate their own country. Such geographical illiteracy is a growing problem in an era of globalization - yet geography still isn't taught in many U.S. schools, according to a Michigan State University professor and author...") A certain minimum amount of geography knowledge SHOULD have been gained through high school education, but apparently this has not happened for many of the students enrolled at STC, or in most schools in the U.S., as can be read in the CBS News article on-line, Where's Iraq? Young Adults Don't Know, or the Monitor, Mcallen article, Young Americans flunk geography, survey says. This is, unfortunately, an "excellent" example where high school education has failed the students. (This instructor's opinion.)   to read what high school student Eduardo Lopez, Jr. thinks about this. I realize that some students may not understand important textbook material, or some of the things said in class discussions, because it is hard to understand the real world if you are geography illiterate. If you don't know basic geography, something you should have learned in high school -- or even earlier in elementary school, you are geography illiterate. But it is not my job to be a high school or an elementary teacher and teach basics just because you received an inferior education before college. It is my job to teach this course at a college level, to adults. If you don't know where e.g., Japan is -- if you think it is a country located in the Caribbean -- sometimes students name Cuba as Japan, then you have some hard times in front of you to finish this course.  Can you name the continents on the map? Some of you may not even have recognized it as a map of the planet... Mars? Geographic illiteracy is a serious problem. It does not help that the U.S. is the "only nation where you can go from kindergarten to graduate school without any contact with geography" (http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050413/NEWS01/504130434/1008/NEWS01). Hopefully to instill some knowledge about the world before the semester is over geography questions are also included on the Take-Home Exams. Here are some related quotes I found on-line:  " Fewer than one in five young Americans can find Iraq or Afghanistan on a blank map of the world, surveys show. Eleven percent can't even locate their own country. Such geographical illiteracy is a growing problem in an era of globalization -- yet geography still isn't taught in many U.S. schools". (http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050413/NEWS01/504130434/1008/NEWS01)Chris Kennin "A 2002 National Geographic survey, which found poor knowledge of geography among Americans ages 18 to 24, also found that only 55 percent had taken geography in school. That was an improvement from 30 percent in 1988 but still is disturbing".
Harm de Blij, Michigan State University, in The Courier-Journal (http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050413/NEWS01/504130434/1008/NEWS01) Geography knowledge of American students is known to be poor (as stated in the articles linked to above) -- but I (this instructor) didn't realize how poor until I observed the results of geography quizzes in some of my classes. Something is wrong when students, after several weeks of "studying", cannot identify North America on a world map, cannot identify Texas on a map of the United States, or cannot name and place the continents of the world. Anyone can learn at least that! But it requires -- if you don't already have the knowledge, that you actually TRY! It is much harder to learn "stuff" it your ATTITUDE is that the "stuff" is not important and/or that you should not have to learn this "stuff". The latter a very common excuse given by students who have the ATTITUDE that a college education should be easy and not challenging. Fortunately students are not in charge of the classroom! The professor is in charge of providing higher education to students and has the duty to resist compromising academic standards to student consumerism -- an expression, which to some students mean "getting our money's worth", but to other students mean an "easy A professor", unfortunately. Teachers, not just college professors, are like gatekeepers or filters, responsible for deciding what passes as knowledge in a certain discipline, what counts as quality work by students.Clarification: When a cartoon artist makes a cartoon about something -- that something has become a serious problem in society. Just like the artist drawing a cartoon is usually not doing it to be mean or disrespectful, the educational cartoons on this page, and other pages on Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice, are not included to be mean or disrespectful to students. Flag burning is not required, because they are included as tools for critical and reflective thinking. They are included to challenge the students to take their college education seriously, and to hopefully make students understand that diminishing academic standards, and increasing problems with grade inflation are major problems in the United States today. Poor academic standards have global implications as to the role of the United States in a world with a global economy. Please read the cartoons and think (and smile if you think they are funny).  The cartoon is used for educational purposes by Dr. Nilsson, South Texas College, scanned, from The Monitor, McAllen.
The worst of all this: Students who cannot identify Texas on a map of the United States -- and some even think they shouldn't have to, apparently wants to be teachers! It is not just the instructor who thinks something is seriously wrong here. The statement below is from a student (who will remain anonymous) in one of the spring 2006 environmental biology classes.
This is a serious problem! It is both a lack-of-knowledge problem and an ATTITUDE problem. A person trusted to be in charge of the education of young kids must at least be required to have some geographic knowledge about the world we live in. A minimum requirement should be to be able to place, on a world map, the United States, the world's continents, some of the more important countries of the world, and large oceans. (This instructor's opinion.) All college students should have made themselves familiar with a course before it starts, so I hope you are reading this BEFORE the semester has started, and not after you have bummed the geography test! I did not have to write this web page about a problem that I could have ignored if I didn't care for students' learning. I will get my monthly paycheck anyway; I do it because I want to help. I do it because I want to help students succeed and become members of the educated part of our society. But I cannot help students who do not want to help themselves. It is not that hard to learn the world continents and some of the more important geographical locations on our planet -- where they are and how to spell them (with a legible handwriting).(If you don't agree with this instructor's spelling and handwriting policy -- here is another web page to read...)
Below are two saying on the topic that might interest you -- don't just ignore them, think about what the words mean, think about the message:"Life used to have consequences. Now life has excuses." Marianne Moody Jennings, 1994. Do passionless warriors lead the charge? Do the weakest take the helm in a storm? Do I lecture to offend not the incompetent or do I lecture to challenge the best?"  -- from the Tao of Teaching, Book 2, by Euoi Lo Ryi.
Clarification: When a cartoon artist makes a cartoon about something -- that something has become a serious problem in society. Just like the artist drawing a cartoon is usually not doing it to be mean or disrespectful, the educational cartoons on this page, and other pages on Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice, are not included to be mean or disrespectful to students. Flag burning is not required, because they are included as tools for critical and reflective thinking. They are included to challenge the students to take their college education seriously, and to hopefully make students understand that diminishing academic standards, and increasing problems with grade inflation are major problems in the United States today. Poor academic standards have global implications as to the role of the United States in a world with a global economy. Please read the cartoons and think (and smile if you think they are funny).  The cartoon is used for educational purposes by Dr. Nilsson, South Texas College, scanned, from The Monitor, McAllen. Dr. Nilsson. You better warm the coffee! See you on-line! 
Copyright © 2006, Jan A. Nilsson. Page created 23.II.2006, last updated 17.VIII.2006, most likely during the wee hours of the morning on a G3 PowerBook owned by Jan A. Nilsson. Web page layout and design © and intellectual property Jan A. Nilsson. Content on Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice may not be used for commercial purposes. All rights reserved. Except for educational purposes and 'fair use' (see below), reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited. If used for educational purposes and 'fair use', including photographs, source must be given. (Some clip art, texts and backgrounds used on Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice downloaded for educational purposes and/or 'fair use' from Internet free domain has no source.) -- Disclaimer: "Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice", at the time of writing located as a file under the South Texas College's (STC) web server with the general URL http://www.southtexascollege.edu/, is the intellectual property of Dr. Jan A. Nilsson, member of STC biology faculty. The content of Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice does not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of the STC faculty, staff, administration, and Board of Trustees. -- Fair Use Notice: Web pages on Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice are used for educational purposes; I understand the "fair use notice" below as the correct interpretation of the copyright law. Fair non-commercial use is necessary in order to maintain an open and free Internet -- as originally intended. As an educator I thank whom it may concern for allowing the use of material under the "fair use rule" for educational purposes to educate this and future generations.  If anyone feels that his or her material cannot be used this way I will immediately remove it if notified.   "This site [may contain] copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner." |
Since many of you plan to become teachers, here are some geography education links that might be of interest to you...
