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Joss,
Hope this is useful to you......Wendy






At 15:20 22/06/99 +0100, you wrote:
>Apologies for cross-posting
>
>Readers may be interested in the ten guides which the Geography Discipline
>Network has recently published on good practices in the learning, teaching
>and assessment of geography in higher education. 
>
>"This is the most comprehensive series about the teaching of a discipline I
>have ever encountered and provides a model for how academics can share both
>theory and practice about the teaching of their subject.  I have drawn on
>geography examples in these materials in my work just as the geographers
>have drawn on generic writing in their work.  It is particularly valuable to
>see how generic ideas are adapted and applied in specific contexts and how
>this adaptation enriches and fills out the generic ideas.  The publications
>are clearly and attractively presented.  I defy anyone not to find something
>new and useful.  I'd like to see other disciplines attempt a series of
>publications like this."
>Professor Graham Gibbs, Centre for Higher Education Practice, Open
>University, UK
>
>Guides
>*	Teaching and Learning Issues and Managing Educational Change in
>Geography
>*	Lecturing in Geography
>*	Small-group Teaching in Geography
>*	Practicals and Laboratory Work in Geography
>*	Fieldwork and Dissertations in Geography
>*	Resource-based Learning in Geography
>*	Teaching and Learning Geography with Information and Communication
>Technologies
>*	Transferable Skills and Work-based Learning in Geography
>*	Assessment in Geography
>*	Curriculum Design in Geography
>
>The Guides should be of interest not only to geographers, but also to staff
>in the other natural and social sciences.  They should also be of particular
>value to educational developers looking for discipline based case studies of
>good practice. They are also of direct relevance to teachers of 16-19 year
>old students.  Every university and college library and educational
>development collection should have a set!!
>
>The attractively designed and produced Guides vary in length from 38 pp to
>128 pp.  They can be ordered individually (cost varies between UK£3.95 and
>UK£8.95) or as a set (UK£54.00, plus p&p).  
>
>The Guides are supplemented by a Web-based resource database of good
>practice which has been suggested as a model for the new UK Subject Centres
>to emulate. 
>
>Further information about the Geography Discipline Network (GDN), the
>resource database, a summary of the contents of all the Guides, and an order
>form can be found at: http://www.chelt.ac.uk/gdn/  
>
>Orders should be sent to Dr Phil Gravestock, GDN Project Officer, Geography
>and Environmental Management Unit, Cheltenham and Gloucester College of
>Higher Education, Francis Close Hall, Swindon Road, Cheltenham GL50 4AZ, UK
>([log in to unmask]).
>
>Some reviews about the series:
>
>"The 10 Geography Discipline Network Guides constitute a major development
>in the teaching of geography in Higher Education. They were created jointly
>by subject specialists and educational developers and should act as an
>example to other disciplines, both in their content and in the collaborative
>way that they were created."
>Lewis Elton, Higher Education Research and Development Unit, University
>College London
>
>"One of the delights of reading ...the volumes is the sense that they convey
>of the range of possibilities for doing something immediately, and with
>barely any effort, to attempt to improve teaching and learning and of the
>positive consequences which may follow.  ...All of the volumes are highly
>accessible, capable of being dipped into or read at a single (fairly short)
>session.  ...These are generous volumes, not in terms simply of the wealth
>of material that they present - and there is a wealth here - but, much more
>importantly, in the diverse ways in which they succeed ...in engaging
>sympathetically with their readers.  ...It is the quality above all,
>perhaps, that distinguishes this excellent series: it inspires us to think
>about what we are doing in new and positive ways.... Geography is a better
>discipline for their presence: they make a difference by their encouragement
>not only to do better but to do so in better - educational - ways."
>Professor Roger Lee and colleagues, Department of Geography, Queen Mary and
>Westfield College, UK
>
>"At the pedagogical level, the Guides receive high marks because serious
>review of their content will make for more effective classroom teachers...
>The collection represents an impressive effort to team geographers and
>educational developers in an effort to identify the instructional, resource,
>research, technological, assessment and curricular design problems and
>prospects that confront instructors and students of geography.  Strategies
>for implementing the ideas found in the publications is a major strength;
>whether the analysis is about the methodology of lecturing, the process of
>student assessment, group projects, or the challenges of field work, action
>plans and case study testimonials are presented which are thoughtful,
>thorough, and practical."
>Gil Latz, Professor of Geography and International Studies, Portland State
>University, Oregon, USA
>
>"If there is one thing that this series does consistently well, it is to
>urge lecturers to consider overtly the assumptions that underlie existing
>practice, and to make clear to students the goals and intended outcomes of
>curricula, courses, modules, and specific items of teaching...  It will be a
>poor reader who is not motivated to question some aspects of existing
>practice, or who could not think of something new to try, by every one of
>these guides, no matter where s/he is."
>Professor Eric Pawson, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
>
>Comments on relevance to School Educators:
>"This series of Guides provides a thorough and stimulating overview of the
>potential of teaching and learning in higher education. The Guides are well
>written and attractively presented. They draw appropriately on theory and
>broader educational ideas and are exemplified by plentiful practical case
>studies. ... Many of the Guides focus on practical teaching and learning
>strategies (eg in fieldwork, small group discussion, resource based
>learning) which are of direct relevance to teachers of 16-19 year old
>students, others draw out fresh ideas and examples of the contribution of
>geography to eg key skills, work-based learning and the use of ICT - all
>areas which schools are currently asked to address as much as higher
>education.   .... the Guides make valuable reading for the interested
>geographer at all levels in the education system."
>Eleanor Rawling, Department of Educational Studies, University of Oxford
>
>Best wishes
>
>Mick
>
>________________________________________________
>Professor Mick Healey
>Director Geography Discipline Network
>Geography and Environmental Management Research Unit
>Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education
>Francis Close Hall
>Swindon Road
>Cheltenham
>Gloucestershire GL50 4AZ
>UK
>
>Tel:      +44 (0)1242 543364 (532971 Office)
>Fax:     +44 (0)1242 543283
>Email: [log in to unmask]
>http://www.chelt.ac.uk/gdn
>_________________________________________________
>
>
Wendy Bastable
Health Science Librarian
University of Wolverhampton
Tel:01902322728


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