GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

Summary of the 2018 APHG reading

Source: www.slideshare.net

The Chief Reader report is not quite ready for distribution, but I gave this presentation at that AP Annual Conference in Houston this week based off of that report (PDF of slides is here).  Additionally, after the results, I discussed the importance of geographic skills that are important for our students to develop (and gave this handout on doing geography).   Overall, this slide shows that APHG, in terms of both growth and performance, did fantastic this year.

Tags: APHG, teacher training, geography education.

"This has been my first year as Chief Reader of the AP Human Geography reading and it is amazing to watch all the moving parts come together.  It couldn’t happen without such dedicated, professional, and passionate geography educators all working together.  I was delighted to have Dr. Marie Price, President of the American Geographical Society, be our professional development night speaker and she was outstanding.  Her talk, MIGRATION AS A CROSSCUTTING THEME IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY,  proved that her geographic expertise is only matched by her teaching prowess; the audience was riveted (PDF of slides here)."

Source: geographyeducation.org

NIGHT OF THE ROUND TABLES: Thursday evening, June 7th we had our annual “Night of the Round Tables” event. This event was designed to create a place to share new ideas, pick up lesson plans, discover new resources, and develop strategies for teaching geography. Presenters had 15 minutes to present. Here you can find the digital copies of the presentations given. 

Tags: APHG, teacher training, geography education.

“Are you interested in what’s happening in your global community? Explore economic, social, political, and environmental issues through the lens of geography. By exploring human influences and patterns, you can better understand the world around you, make predictions, and propose solutions to current issues. In this course, you will investigate geographic perspectives and analyze historical and current patterns of migration, population, political organization of space, agriculture, food production, land use, industrialization and economic development.

In addition, you will learn helpful strategies for answering multiple-choice questions and free response essay questions on the AP Human Geography test. Each of the seven modules in this course aligns with the concepts in the Advanced Placement* Human Geography course.

This course is specifically designed for students who are interested in learning more about the AP Human Geography course before enrolling, supplementary support and exam review, and for use in blended learning classrooms.”

Source: www.edx.org

This isn’t for everyone, but if you are interested in a 14 week online course about AP Human Geography offered through the University of Texas, you might want to consider this.  It’s free (or $49 for a validated certificate to be included). For a program that offers a full Master’s degree, Elmhurst College offers one with an emphasis in AP Human Geography.     

Tags: APHG, teacher training, geography education.

“Each June, over 15,000 AP® teachers and college faculty members from around the world gather to score the free-response sections of the AP Exams. These AP Readers are led by a Chief Reader — a college professor who has the responsibility of ensuring that students’ responses are scored to accurately reflect college-level achievement. AP Readers often describe the AP Reading as one of the best professional development experiences they have ever had.”

Source: apcentral.collegeboard.com

First off, I’m impressed by the phenomenal growth of the AP Human Geography exam and the number of exams this year will be unprecedented (213,000 anticipated exams).  While the number of exams has grown, the number of readers to score the exams hasn’t kept pace.  Consequently, human geography is in a deficit with our list of applicants in our reader pool.  College Board is changing the usual requirements of 3 years of experience teaching APHG for High School teachers to TWO YEARS of experience.  For higher education, anyone who teaches a class that is comparable to human geography is certainly invited to apply and we appreciate having those with college teaching experience within our ranks.  (OPEN DISCLOSURE: I am the Chief Reader Designate, so while I will be reviewing applications, I do not have the final say and obviously can’t promise that anyone will or will not get invited to the reading).  Personally, I LOVE attending the readings and consider it the best networking/professional development opportunity for a geography educator out there.

Tags: APHG, geography education, teacher training.