Direct Observation as a Learning Strategy in Geography: Pedestrian Density and Functional Areas in Atlanta

DIRECT OBSERVATION AS A LEARNING STRATEGY IN GEOGRAPHY: PEDES IRIAN DENSITY AND FUNCTIONAL AREAS IN ATLANTA Donald R. Deskins, Jr. and John D. Nystuen* INTRODUCTION. Conducting controlled field work is a good way to introduce geographical ideas to students who wish to experience a closer link between their studies and real world problems. This paper is a report on a field experiment carried out in the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, which illustrated that learning can be realized through structured field inquiry. Students, generally eager to seek educational experiences which are relevant to societal needs, have found that traditional classroom settings do not always provide such experiences. However, experience in actual community settings present logistical difficulties and, more importantly, the objectives and commitments of the people in the area being investigated often differ from those of students and professors whose concerns are primarily focused upon educational goals. Ethical problems can arise when students and professors seek to use the community as a laboratory in which to realize their educational goals without acknowledging their responsibility to the people subject to the consequences of such inquiry. There are ways of squarely dealing with these types of difficulties wThere both parties can be satisfied. Internships and other community work experience arrangements often meet the needs of the local people as well as those of the student investigators. Responsibilities can be clearly defined in such situations and the ethical issues related to the responsibilities for the consequences of such inquiry can be resolved . However, these arrangements are time-consuming and only offer a satisfactory educational opportunity to a small number of students . At the other extreme, short field trips allow an entire class to act only as uninvolved observers with the result that the students may and often do remain passive and uncommitted to the problem being examined and insensitive to the people located in the area being studied. Under these unfavorable circumstances, little learning takes place. FIELD RESEARCH AND LEARNING PROCESSES. Field work in urban settings involving more than an observational trip but not disturbing a social situation by virtue of the presence of outsiders has been tried. (1) Such field work is possible when controlled observational * Dr. Deskins is associate professor of geography at The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Director of the AAG Commission on Geography and Afro-America (COMGA). Dr. Nystuen is professor of geography at The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. This paper was accepted for publication in September 1973. 106Southeastern Geographer procedures are employed. By seeking answers to questions the students themselves posed, the group acquires an internal sense of accomplishment and satisfaction creating an environment conducive to learning. The research exercise format which incorporates many skills traditional in geographic field work has the potential of meeting the logistical constraints as well as maximizing the learning experience for a larger group of students than can be accommodated when pure internship arrangements are followed. Before field work is begun, a geographical question is posed and the information needed to answer it is specified. Direct observation is then used to generate the necessary information and conclusions are derived. Finally, further research questions are stated. The procedure is, of course, an application of the scientific method using geographic subjects and theories as the vehicles of inquiry. The similarity between the learning process and the scientific research cycle of deductive/inductive reasoning is striking in this context. (2) The commonality between these respective processes can be illustrated (Figure 1). Several objectives are achieved by engaging in an urban field study. Students learn something about a part of the city through direct observation . They learn the value of systematic pre-planned observation. And finally, they are confronted with the logistical effort necessary to obtain such information. It has been found that students enjoy going out into the field for purposeful observation, that they better understand the phenomena they are observing in comparison to the level of understanding gained through the lecture/discussion format, and that they improve their study habits. That is, students recognize the value of a research question formulated in a pragmatic, answerable way. By following this approach, a premium is placed on sorting out critical facts and issues...