Chang, Chew Hung

How school geography should be taught has been a longstanding issue for geography educators. In some countries, state or national level curriculum predicates how the subject should be taught in schools. This paper examines these questions in relation to existing frameworks of conceptualizing school geography, such as the International Charter on Geographical Education. School geography in Singapore has evolved from regional geography to thematic geography to systematic geography. A review of the curriculum in 2007 resulted in a distinct form of school geography unprecedented in Singapore’s education history. Today, school geography in Singapore is learnt conceptually with national level assessment designed to that end. To what extent is this evolution in curriculum design in step with changes in our world? In response to the changes in school geography, pre-service and in-service teacher training has also responded by focusing on conceptual learning and inquiry. This paper will explore the state of school geography curricula in Singapore today, and the curriculum of teacher training, with the intent to critically discuss the state of geography education in Singapore. Although geography has remained a disciplinary subject whose place has yet been disputed, the big question of why study geography in the first place needs to be answered to ensure its continued survival. In particular, school geography will be examined for its relevance to a fast changing world. This critique ends by offering a reason to how geography plays an important role in education for sustainable development, and its relevance to Singaporeans or even any citizen of the world.

Climate change is an important theme in the investigation of human–environment interactions in geographic education. This study explored the nature of students’ understanding of concepts and processes related to climate change. Through semi-structured interviews, data was collected from 27 Secondary 3 (Grade 9) students from Singapore. The data was subjected to thematic analysis using Chi and Roscoe's conceptual change framework. The results showed that the students’ base knowledge of climate change is composed of incomplete and incorrect elements built within coherent and structurally sound mental models. Due to the consistency of the models in expanding the logic, albeit erroneous, of explaining the climate change conundrum, it is posited that students are unaware of mistakes inherent in their judgements. Transformation of these mental models through multiple and deliberate refutations should be foremost in a geography teacher's pedagogical approach.

According to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), "[w]arming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures" (IPCC, 2007: 5) by about 0.8–1.0°C over the last 160 years. Based on a survey of literature on global warming and precipitation, there is agreement that the frequency of extreme precipitation events in Southeast Asia will increase with global warming. At the regional level, densely populated countries in Southeast Asia are vulnerable to these changes in precipitation events. This article provides a review of the potential changes to storm events in Southeast Asia, based on the understanding of existing scientific discourse. The article also presents two case studies of anomalous storm event in Southeast Asia, Typhoon Vamei and the extreme high rainfall event in December 2006 in Peninsular Malaysia, as indication of the potential impacts of global warming related changes to storm activities, highlighting the need for preparedness in adapting to the impact of global warming.

Arising from the metaphor and methods of the design and engineering fields, design experiment is a methodology whereby an artifact or intervention is designed based on a known theory with the goal of improving the artefact or intervention thrqugh the inquiry. Experimental design, on the other hand, refers to an investigative method in which variability in the experimental subjects or objects are compared. In developing a methodology to investigate if Geographic Information System (GIS) use with the problem based learning (PBL) approach will result in higher order learning outcomes, the concepts of design experiment or design-based research (DBR) and experimental design were considered. A combination of both approaches was adapted into a hybrid methodology that draws on the benefits of these two approaches to address the research question raised. In particular, experimental design was used in combination with microethnography to inform the design process of this study. The experimental design part of the study found that GIS use with PBL resulted in higher order cognitive skills use , such as applying and evaluating, while the use of recall reduced. Studying the preliminary results of the micro-ethnography showed that the affordances of the GIS technology such as spatial analysis tools helped students develop cognitive skills of analysis and evaluation. While initial conception of the methodology was a hybrid of both experimental design and design experiment, the resultant methodology was primarily a DBR which addressed the process of learning and the way that learning is supported by GIS. A key outcome in this methodology evaluation process is the importance of having a practitioner on the research team.

This paper describes a baseline empirical study of Singapore secondary students' understanding of climate change . It reports that despite evidence of significant awareness on the topic , what learner's think they know does not match up with what they really know. Like other students around the world, their understanding of the phenomenon is not deep enough for accurate definition, explanation and linking of critical concepts together coherently and correctly. The paper critically examines how the introduction of a new national syllabus in geography in Singapore at grade 9level considers current developments in scientific discourse and affords the opportunity to help students develop values , knowledge, and skills to engage the climate change topic. The study argues for geographic education to be responsive in addressing gaps identified through updating the curriculum with current scientific discourse and by providing skills for students to engage a growing volume of information on climate change from various media.