Learning | Huxley College of the Environment

Learning Outcomes, Assessment, Program Improvement: Geography

The programmatic objectives include:

To introduce geography’s integrative approach towards an understanding of human and environmental interactions;
To enable students to recognize spatial patterns on the earth’s surface and understand the processes that create them;
To encourage the identification and analysis of spatial patterns of human/environmental interactions for the purpose of prediction and policy action;
To help students to evaluate the assumptions, values, beliefs, and policies regarding diverse local, regional, national, and global issues;
To have students gain an understanding of and appreciation for the diversity of national and global cultures;
To assist students in developing improved understanding of geographic literacy: space, place, and relative and absolute location as it pertains to human and environmental conditions;

To provide students with the analytic tools needed in order to assess human and environmental issues/problems using the latest technologies, i.e., Geographic Information Systems and Global Positioning Systems;

In terms of assessment practices, it is first important to understand that assessment is an on-going process utilizing the tried and true practices of faculty-student interaction through advisement, office visits, and student performance on (and faculty evaluation of) examinations and term assignments. However, in addition to these practices, the geography faculty further assess students’ abilities and program objectives employing the following procedures:

The use of capstone courses which are designed to assess the collective knowledge senior students have gained through their course of study;
The preparation and presentation of senior projects such as those required as the final assignment in GIS courses as well as other problem oriented senior level classes;
Successful completion of internships where students must apply their academic training and skills to professional settings;
International study requiring students to utilize their classroom experiences to assess and evaluate geographic and environmental issues in a real world setting;
The use of college wide post baccalaureate questionnaires and assessments of graduates to determine the efficacy of geography’s academic objectives and curriculum;
Attendance at and evaluation of regular meetings with practicing geographers through the Association of Washington Geographers, Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, Association of American Geographers, Canadian Association of Geographers and with practicing professionals, e.g., in Geographic Information Systems with the objective of improving and/or modifying courses and program directions.
The hosting of research conferences on campus with opportunities for the presentation of student research projects.

back to Specific Programs