Student Learning Outcomes/Exit Standards
Glendale community college Geographydepartment
Geography 101:
Upon successful completion of the required coursework, the student will be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills and an understanding of:
1. the earth’s place in space and the complex interactions between the earth and sun;
2. the functions of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere including internal and external earth processes and their impact on landforms;
3. the complex interactions between these earth spheres;
4. the impact of human activities upon these earth spheres including climate change; and
5. the spatial aspects of the world's bio-physical environment.
Geography 102:
Upon successful completion of the required coursework, the student will be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills and an understanding of:
1.the concept of regions and its application to the world's human-cultural environment;
2. the distribution of the human population and the processes that shape this distribution including basic demography and human migrations;
3. the origins, diversity, and distribution of basic cultural patterns, with particular attention given to: language, religion, urbanization, political and economic patterns, and globalization; and
4. the basic concepts used in the geographic study of human patterns including: cultural regions, diffusion, spatial connections, cultural landscapes, cultural ecology and human-environment interactions.
Geography 103:
Upon successful completion of the required coursework, the student will be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills and an understanding of:
1. the concepts of the geographic region, core-periphery relationships, and the main mechanisms of spatial diffusion;
2. the location of major countries, regions, and physical features of the world;
3. the unique characteristics of select countries and geographic regions including the physical, cultural, economic, political and environmental patterns;
4. the geographical and historical aspects of globalization and regional development; and
5. the major cultural, political and economic interconnections between regions.
Geography 111:
Upon successful completion of the required coursework, the student will be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills, an understanding of, and an ability to perform:
1. lab activities related to the size, shape, and movements of the Earth in space and their importance to environmental patterns and processes;
2. lab activities related to the atmospheric, geomorphological, and biotic processes that shape the Earth’s surface environments;
3. lab activities related to the global distribution of the world’s major climates, ecosystems, and physiographic (landform) features;
4. lab and field activities related to basic concepts of physical geography in the analysis of real-world variations in environmental patterns;
5. lab activities related to the scientific method, scientific measurement, and practical experience using the tools and concepts of physical geography; and
6. lab and field activities related to the interpretation, analysis and creation of basic geographic tables, graphs and maps.