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Natural Sciences Open Educational Resources

Geography

Finlayson C. 2023. World Regional Geography. Fredericksburg (VA): University of Mary Washington.

Rather than present students with a broad, novice-level introduction to geography, emphasizing places and vocabulary terms, this text approaches geography as experts understand the discipline, focusing on connections and an in-depth understanding of core themes. This thematic approach, informed by pedagogical research, provides students with an introduction to thinking geographically. Instead of repeating the same several themes each chapter, this text emphasizes depth over breadth by arranging each chapter around a central theme and then exploring that theme in detail as it applies to the particular region. In addition, while chapters are designed to stand alone and be rearranged or eliminated at the instructor’s discretion, the theme of globalization and inequality unites all of the regions discussed. This core focus enables students to draw connections between regions and to better understand the interconnectedness of our world. Furthermore, the focus on both globalization and inequality helps demonstrate the real-world application of the concepts discussed. Colonialism, for instance, rather than a historical relic, becomes a force that has shaped geography and informs social justice. This thematic approach is also intended to facilitate active learning and would be suitable for a flipped or team-based learning-style course since it more easily integrates case studies and higher-order thinking than the traditional model.

GIS (Geographic Information Systems)

Cheung W. 2020. Earth, Space, and Environmental Science with ArcGIS Pro, 2nd ed..

I wrote this book to not only introduce students to the tools in ArcGIS Pro, but also to provide a glimpse into some of the topics that may be covered in an introductory course in Geography, Environmental Science, or related disciplines. I aimed to achieve a balance of technical instruction and information about Earth, Space, and Environmental Sciences, to make this publication helpful for new GIS learners, as well as students who may be interested in learning about the applications of GIS in the Earth, Space, and Environmental Sciences.

 

DiBiase D. n.d. Nature of Geographic Information: An Open Geospatial Textbook. The Pennsylvania State University.

The purpose of this text is to promote understanding of the Geographic Information Science and Technology enterprise (GIS&T, also known as "geospatial").

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