I was a student researcher on a project where we compared the level of geographic knowledge between students new to the upper-division portion of the major and student-teachers in training to become social studies teachers. 

 

Throughout the project, my duties ranged:

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• I collaborated on designing research and interview questions 

• I conducted two group interviews with a total of 7 participants, and then transcribed, and coded them with qualitative research software.

• I also produced a supplemental video promotion the major and department using video clips shot by other student researchers involved with the project.

 

 

A short excerpt from the paper reads: 

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"...many university geography departments are struggling with declining majors and low undergraduate enrollments. Given this context, in Fall 2017, students at San Diego State University set out to investigate perceptions and knowledge of geography education on our campus. As part of an upper-division Qualitative Research Methods in Geography class, we researched, surveyed and interviewed geography majors and future social studies teachers to measure students' basic geographic knowledge and determine how they perceive geography's value as a discipline." - Dr. Kate Swanson