Journal article
Effect of hybrid teaching approaches on students’ learning and engagement with key geographic information science content knowledge
Journal of Geography in Higher Education, Vol.50(1), pp.133-151
2026
Appears in UniSC Supported Open Access Outputs
Abstract
This study reports on and discusses the use of hybrid teaching approaches in an introductory GIS course with the key aim of enhancing the learning and engagement of diverse students for difficult-to-understand but essential content knowledge. The approaches included the use of digital technologies, a 3D CAVE2 virtual environment, a flipped classroom, physical models, face-to-face and online student collaborations, and an assessment-feedback cycle. The study helps fill a gap in the GIS education literature by applying hybrid methods to teach key content, including earth models, datum types, coordinate systems, and map projections. The performance of this approach was evaluated by analysing students’ level of understanding of key content knowledge in both individual and group assessment tasks, as well as analysing feedback on student preferences and experiences concerning the different learning activities. The teaching team was able to identify key content knowledge that proved most troublesome for students to understand, in this case, the datum and properties of map projection, leading to the course design being modified in subsequent semesters. Results also supported previous studies on hybrid teaching in GIS, where it has been observed that online, virtual and traditional in-class teaching methods are effectively used as complementary activities.
Details
- Title
- Effect of hybrid teaching approaches on students’ learning and engagement with key geographic information science content knowledge
- Authors
- Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringGary Scott - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Publication details
- Journal of Geography in Higher Education, Vol.50(1), pp.133-151
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Date published
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.1080/03098265.2025.2563343
- ISSN
- 1466-1845
- Copyright note
- © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
- Grant note
- This study was funded by the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Centre for Support and Advancement of Learning and Teaching (C-SALT) under the university’s Commissioned Learning and Teaching Grant.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Sustainability Research Cluster
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991168345302621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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