1. C reating wings How to design and implement exciting learning experiences in the classroom? Herculano Cachinho Department of Geography, University of Lisbon Changing Horizons in Geography Education, HERODOT Conference Torun, Poland, 2-5 September 2005

2. Creating wings … Exciting geography! What does this mean? How to design innovative and exciting geographical learning experiences? Theory into practice: a Portuguese experience

3. Exciting geography! What does this mean? Turn geography into an open window for knowledge of the world around us, and the learning experience into an adventure We need geography classes to “give us wings not cages” We need classrooms to become effective learning places

4. Interaction/causality Historic time What to do? What for? Why? How? Where? What? Perception Space, place, territory Scale Location Distribution Distance School Geography Talk and thinking geographically

5. It seems that the best way to involve students in the learning process is to turn them into explorers George F. Mobley An open window for knowledge of the world...

6. Classes to give wings... Geography classes that create wings offer to students: tools and toys food and entertainment they are places were “learning is fun”

7. Classrooms as effective learning places... In ours schools, classrooms are more teaching spaces than learning places In teaching spaces, teacher is the actor, he plays the main role Learning places are centred in students, in their ideas, their potential and their limitations

8. Re-imagining classrooms Teacher: from reproducers to creators of geographical knowledge students: from spectators to the actors From the subjects to the experiences

9. From classrooms organized to highlight the role of teacher- actor and the student- spectator, to classrooms focused on learning: investigation, discovering and exploration Re-imagining classrooms

10. How to create exciting learning experiences?

11. Presentation of research results Problem identification Perception analysis Research questions Research problem formulation Development of guiding hypotheses Discussion of processes and learning outcomes Collection and analysis of students preconceived ideas Identification of meaningful learning problems Perceived and experienced space Rational and elaborated space : Developed through data analysis and research Integrated space and action place Development of the explanation Comparing the results obtained with those expected Confrontation with other cases Conceptualization of social and environmental problems Key-ideas Structuring concepts Key-questions Conceptual networks Design of educational learning experiences representatives of linguistic codes of geography  Verbal  Iconic  Statistical  Cartographical Collection and analysis of data to validate the hypothesis Our methodology

12. The collection and analysis of preconceived ideas of students about social and environmental problems The conceptualization of social and environmental problems Design of educational learning experiences representatives of the linguistic codes of geography Three main steps

13. Three kinds of space The collection of preconceived ideas The conceptualization of social and environmental problems Discussion of processes and learning outcomes The perceived and experienced space Rational and elaborated space Integrated space and action place

14. T heory into practice A Portuguese experience

15. An experience developed by 20 trainee teachers with students in Key-Stage 3 (12-14 years old) – about 1000 students were involved In the first term we collected students preconceived ideas and explored the subject in a scientific way In the second period we turned the scientific problem into an educational issue and we designed the learning experiences Finally, we implemented the learning experiences in classroom

16. Some projects … The role of Tagus river in the organization of economic activities in the axe of Vila Franca de Xira The location of a regional shopping centre in an area of extreme ecological vulnerability of the metropolitan area of Lisbon Sustainable development of National Park of Aires and Candeeiros Impacts of tourism in Castelo de Bode Dam

17. All projects… bring together the traditional learning activities developed in the classroom with fieldwork (real and virtual) start and end up the project with fieldwork activities offer students tools and toys are a space of edutainment: joining together educational activities and the entertainment world

18. Sustainable development of National Park of Aires and Candeeiros

19. – National Park of Aires and Candeeiros – exploitation of limestone quarries –

20. Sustainable development of National Park of Aires and Candeeiros Activities developed in classroom: -gathering, recording and presentation of evidences -quantitative analysis -drawing and inter- pretation of maps - role playing -…

21. Sustainable development of National Park of Aires and Candeeiros Fieldwork activities: - collect information - first had investigation of places -landscape observation - testing hypotheses -Assessing competences and skills

22. Sustainable development of National Park of Aires and Candeeiros – Fieldwork activities

23. The involvement of students parents in the fieldwork activities