GEOG 1303

Houston Community College

GEOG 1303 - World Regional Geography Course Profile

 

Course Description. Geography is a dynamic spatial science that features a heritage of investigating the relationship between people and the natural environment through time and space. This course features a study of major world regions, with emphasis on prevailing conditions and developments. It also includes emerging conditions and trends, and awareness and diversity of ideas and practices to be found in these regions. This is a core curriculum course that fulfills a Social and Behavioral Science requirement.

 

Course-Level Student Learning Outcomes. Courses at HCC have objectives which are centered on "Student Learning Outcomes" (SLOs). These reflect what students will know, be able to do, or be able to demonstrate once they have taken a course. The objectives for this course are guided by measureable core competency and student learning outcome paradigms and are in accordance with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's Academic Course Guide Manual. Students will be assessed on any number of these SLOs and core competencies throughout the course of the semester. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Define and explain the geographic concept of "region".

2. Locate significant geographic features of regions of the world and describe their cultural, economic, political, and physical characteristics.

3. Demonstrate knowledge of each region's role in a globalizing world.

4. Apply geographic concepts to understanding current events, conflicts, and issues in a regional context.

5. Utilize maps to understand locations of places, the connections between places, and spatial patterns and trends of cultural and physical phenomena on Earth.

6. Describe area and population patterns, important historical background, features that create regional unity or division, economic, urban, and agricultural patterns, and geopolitical issues that help define each of the world's regions.

 

Core Competencies. Courses offered at HCC which are taken within "core" status meet a set of stringent guidelines which will help the student advance core skills in the foundational areas. World Regional Geography meets a Social and Behavioral Sciences core requirement at HCC. Social and Behavioral Sciences core area courses "focus on the application of empirical and scientific methods that contribute to the understanding of what makes us human" and "the exploration of behavior and interaction among individuals, groups, institutions, and events, examining their impact on society and culture." By taking a Social and Behavioral Sciences core offering, students will have the opportunity to further develop the following core competencies: critical thinking skills, communication skills, empirical and quantitative skills, and social responsibility skills. Throughout the semester, assignments and assessments in this class will help measure the student's advancement in each of these core competencies.