engleski

Collaboration between geography institutions of higher education and schools in Croatia – challenge and opportunity

The contemporary approaches in geography disciplines based on the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) and new scientific research methods result in new knowledge relevant for its transfer to primary and secondary level of education. To teach geography in primary and secondary schools in Croatia, in accordance with new scientific knowledge and by using ICT, it is necessary to continuously enhance geography teachers' competences. Here all geography institutions that are involved in scientific research and higher education have the opportunity for better collaboration with schools. The example of such collaboration are national professional meetings organized by Croatian Geographical Society and the Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, with the support of the Croatian education and teacher training agency. The paper presents the example of organization and planned learning outcomes of the 3-day professional meeting oriented on advancement of geography teachers' competences in the field of developing practical geographical skills, and attitudes of participants on its' future professional development. During three days three different workshops were held. First day (Module 1) included topics: the use of relevant international databases for preparing and conducting geography teaching, development of geographic skills in the field of hydro- geography, and tracking, testing and evaluation of geographic skills in the field of hydro- geography. The second day (Module 2) included workshops QGIS, development of geographic skills in the field of climatology and cartography in geography teaching in primary and secondary schools. The third day (Module 3) included practical use of QGIS, development of geographic skills in the field of geomorphology, and tracking, testing and evaluation of geographic skills in the field of geomorphology in primary and secondary schools. The survey that has been conducted afterwards gathered information from 200 participants about the necessity for professional training in the field of using computer and software in planning and teaching, making exercises for development of practical geographical skills and digital teaching materials, as well as making exercises for testing the development of practical geographical skills. As expected, the biggest necessity is using QGIS, with the continuous support for teachers and students, which represents a huge professional, methodical and organizational challenge.

geography teacher competences, geography teaching, practical geographical skills, QGIS

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