Seeking Synthesis: An Integration Exercise for Teaching Regional Geography

Y

4

Geography; Geography Instruction; Geographic Regions; Intellectual Disciplines; Critical Thinking; Writing Skills; Synthesis; Lesson Plans; Interdisciplinary Approach; Advanced Placement; Foreign Countries

Africa; Asia; North America

10.1080/19338341.2013.854261

1933-8341

This article describes a lesson plan on achieving synthesis, the integration of diverse information sources to create a new whole, vital to the intellectual task of the geographer. This is true regardless of the type of geography being conducted or studied. Synthesis remains central to geography, whether understanding a region, pulling together an undergraduate course of study by means of a capstone course, or blending the diverse research specialties into a coherent academic discipline. This lesson plan (based on "Diversity Amid Globalization: World Regions, Environment, Development" (Rowntree et al. 2011) as the course text) is part of a course intended to introduce the students to geography as a discipline, give them a foundational knowledge of several macro regions, and further develop the critical thinking and writing skills needed for college.

ERIC

7

2014

EJ1025172