Geography Education Research in Turkey: A Teacher’s Perspective

It is difficult to measure the impact of geographical education research (GER) on the
process of teaching and learning geography. Many studies have suggested that GER should
have an impact on geography education and a connection should be established between GER
and classroom environment. This study examined the effectiveness and impact of GER in Turkey
from the viewpoint of geography teachers. Teachers’ attitudes towards using the findings of GER in their courses and the constraints preventing them from benefiting from GER in classes are investigated. Results suggest that GER is not yet a part of their teaching agendas although the majority of teachers appreciate the benefits of GER in strengthening student learning, student motivation, and the quality of geography courses. Geography teachers do not consider the factors such as time and class size to be significant barriers to using GER in their courses, but a significant number of teachers believe that GER is primarily theoretical which does not have a direct connection with the classroom environment.