Summary
In this session, we will discuss how to use laboratory assignments to teach population geography. Population geography connects diverse topics including sustainability, economics, politics, and culture. Using labs to teach this topic allows students to use real world data to deepen their understanding of population geography concepts. In this session, we will begin with an overview of teaching population geography, connecting it to geography and social studies standards. In the second part, examples of labs will be introduced, including the topics of international censuses, population policy campaigns, age specific fertility rates, and migration patterns. While the session is geared toward the college classroom, the content is easily adaptable to middle and high school grades. Lab assignments will be shared with attendees.
Session Focus
Higher Education | Inquiry | Population Geography, Labs
Conference Room
Clark
Meet the Presenter
Gillian Acheson is a professor in the Department of Geography & GIS at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She teaches a variety of courses including World Regions, Human Geography, Population Geography, Spatial Thinking & Behavior, Geography of Food, and Geography and Social Justice. Her research interests are in geography education and the cultural landscape with publications ranging from map reading and comprehension to representation of women in introductory geography textbooks to the cultural landscape of cemeteries. She is a past recipient of NCGE’s Higher Education Distinguished Teaching award.
