Geography In Higher Education

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Geography in Higher Education:

what’s it all about? If you were to ask “why should I go to university and study for a degree in geography?” there would be five benefits you should gain from higher education:

1. Learning about yourself and others The most important thing you should gain from university is a deeper understanding of yourself: • your strengths, • where you want your life to go, • the personal and political values you are going to take into later life.

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You will develop as a person: • You may be living away from home for the first time, • You will be meeting new people, • You will be exposed to new subjects, • Established ideas will be challenged, • You will have opportunities to develop new interests.

2. Learning to learn At university there will be more material to master, higher expectations of you and more emphasis on you as an independent learner, but not only will you gain the ability to master geography to degree level but also a set of learning skills that you can use during the rest of your life. Learning how to learn at the highest level will be one of the main benefits of a university education. If the way you organise your work is succeeding then keep it going. If not, when you get an essay back, review the mark and comments. Try to consolidate your strengths and work to improve your weaker areas.

You can only make a successful choice of career if you really know yourself and studying at university will help you do that. The wide range of contemporary issues you will study in geography (human, physical and environmental) will help you to get to know yourself better. There is a diversity of approaches (theoretical and applied; natural and social science) and many teaching methods are used in geography. Geography offers opportunities to work in different ways and on different subjects, helping you learn about yourself and your values. The more you know about yourself the more self – confident you are likely to be in your abilities to learn and cope. Also the variety of people you will meet (lecturers, professors, tutors, students) are all important. Understanding and getting on with all sorts of people is vital for later life.

3. Learning how to apply knowledge, skills and the ability to learn new topics Learning geography is also about learning how to apply knowledge and skills to new situations. By the end of your degree you will be able to show you were able to master subjects almost unknown to you to degree level. Prospective employers will be confident you can learn other new things, you are adaptable.

4. Learning to be independent Part of the experience of university is learning to be independent. This means: • operating at a high level using your own intellectual resources in areas which are complex and not routine, • being self confident enough in your abilities and judgement to be effective and bold when working

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independently or with others, • having the ability to weigh up evidence and situations, • being critical of arguments and evidence, • reaching fair judgements which you can justify, • being able to monitor and improve your own performance. Your geography degree will equip you in all these areas and they will benefit you in your chosen career and also as a citizen.

Learning geography is an excellent vehicle for you to transform as a worker, thinker and citizen. You can learn: • from your teachers, • from and with fellow students, • for yourself, • from your assessed work, • from reflection. Learning geography is not confined to formally timetabled periods of your life such as lectures or field visits - Geography is all around you all the time!

Further reading on study skills in Geography G. Clark and T. Wareham (2003), Geography@University Sage, London. P. Kneale (2003), Study skills for geography students: a practical guide Arnold London.

Geography covers a wide range of topics giving you an insight into the environment, economy and society and how these interact. It ranges across the continents, encompassing global issues and local events, showing how they are connected. Geography studies why places are distinctive and how they have changed over time. Geography is a subject with plenty of scope to specialise later in your degree. It also has a wide range of teaching methods and methods of assessment.

Department of Geography Lancaster University Lancaster LA1 4YB Telephone: (01524) 593736 Fax: (01524) 847099 e-mail: [email protected] web: http://geography.lancs.ac.uk

© Lancaster University November 2005

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5. Learning geography