Tag Archives: iEarth

Guest post by Mattias Lundmark on Self-Determination Theory (Vansteenkiste, Lens & Deci; 2006)!

“Motivation is left, right and centre in learning. Self Determination Theory’s (SDT) is one of the main  theories of motivation, and its two founders, Ryan and Deci, are number 6 and 16, respectively, on the list of the most cited researchers in the world. (They have a staggering 1 148 467 citations between them as of today.) Can SDT give us ideas for how to support students’ motivation to perform academically?” This is the start of Mattias Lundmark‘s guest post about an iEarth Journal Club article, and of course he will answer that question!

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Helping students connect disciplinary concepts with the real world is helping them learn

I’ve claimed that for years (for example with wave watching, with active lunch breaks, with tweeting about course content), but now I read the current iEarth Journal Club article that makes the exact same point and explains it with expectancy-value theory. See my 2014 summary of Hulleman & Harackiewicz (2009), or even better, read the 2-page-long original article!


Hulleman, C. S., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2009). Promoting interest and performance in high school science classes. science326(5958), 1410-1412.

Currently reading about how to successfully organize team work in student groups

Quick summary of this month’s iEarth Journal Club article: Clinton & Smith (2009) focus on how to “make” students take on responsibility in team work through team contracts and peer evaluation, in the context of cooperative learning. My summary below, and the strong recommendation to read what Oakley et al. (2004) have to say about “Turning student groups into effective teams” (see also featured image). That latter article is really one of the most useful articles I have come across over many years of reading, including a great FAQ section, and templates.

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Currently reading about cooperative & collaborative learning (Oakley et al., 2004; Møgelvang, 2023; Wieman et al., 2014)

iEarth’s current journal club paper deals with collaborative exams as learning opportunities, and this fits perfectly with Anja Møgelvang’s recent article on cooperative learning, where we can find inspiration for how to make this work in practice. So here are my thoughts!

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iEarth GeoLearning Forum 2023 Bingo

Unfortunately, I can’t join the iEarth GeoLearning Forum in person today, but at least I can be there in spirit (and contribute with a Bingo to be played during an active lunch break). The idea is to get students and teachers and staff talking to each other, about their experiences learning and teaching, and also their disciplinary pet topics. Let’s see how that goes! (Also, this is the first draft, not sure if/how it has been edited after this. But I’m sure it’ll be fun in any case!)

Currently reading: “Teaching with rubrics: the good, the bad, and the ugly” (Andrade, 2005)

Doing my reading for the monthly iEarth journal club… Thanks for suggesting yet another interesting article, Kirsty! This one is “Teaching with rubrics: the good, the bad, and the ugly” (Andrade, 2005) — a great introduction on how to work with rubrics (and only 2.5 pages of entertaining, easy-to-read text, plus an example rubric). My summary of the article:

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How to create an Activity Bingo for teaching purposes

We have recently shared our experiences with a Bingo game to nudge students to make the most out of fieldwork (Glessmer et al., 2023), and I have created Bingos for other purposes, like designing courses with Universal Design for Learning in mind, or for my freediving club’s summer camp, or the iEarth GeoLearning Forum 2023 (yes, you can look forward to that!). And now, Kjersti and I have come up with the Bingo of Bingos: A “how to design your Activity Bingo for teaching purposes” Bingo! Because who doesn’t love a gamified approach to basically everything?

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“Mandatory coursework assignments can be, and should be, eliminated!” currently reading Haugan, Lysebo & Lauvas (2017)

The claim in this article’s title, “Mandatory coursework assignments can be, and should be, eliminated!“, is quite a strong one, and maybe not fully supported by the data presented here. But the article is nevertheless worth a read (and the current reading in iEarth’s journal club!), because the arguments supporting that claim are nicely presented.

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