Gerber, R. (in press) Interpretive approaches to geographical and environmental education research. In M. Williams (ed.) Understanding Geographical and Environmental Education. London: Cassell. Chapter 2, pp. 12-25.

This chapter demonstrates how interpretive humanistic approaches to qualitative research offer an excellent basis for research in geographical and enviornmental educaiton. Emphases are placed on selecting reearch questions, gathering and analysing data, and aspects of quality across the research process. (Author s abstract).

Gerber, R. (1995) Students Understanding of the Concept of Global Change in their Geographical Education. Paper presented to Global Changes and Geography, Conference of the International Geographical Union, Moscow, Russia - August 14-18, 1995.

The concept of global change is a key one that is found in many geography curricula in secondary schools around the world. Students are encouraged to make geographical studies at different scales ranging from local area studies to studies on a global scale. Such studies are conducted in geography classrooms in order to describe and explain the current geographical situations as well as to establish how these situations have changed over time and space. Geography textbooks and reference books have included a range of studies at a global level. These have included: studies of global climate change; varying demographic, social and economic indices; investigations of resource usage and physical geographical activities such as volcanic eruptions. All of these studies involve elements of change and have had differing impacts on global activity. They indicate varying expert interpretations of people-environment interactions on a global scale. While these are usually very informative accounts and explanations, the scale of the global studies leaves one in wonder if the students who read these accounts are able to relate to and can experience global geographical activities meaningfully.

Therefore, the study reported here seeks to find out the extent to which adolescent students who are studying geography in Australia do understand the concept of global change based on their geographical education. The study will report on the qualitative variations which emerge from interviews with approximately 25 students in the third year of their secondary geography studies. Using a semi- structured interview method the students will be asked to describe, based on their geography class experiences, their understanding of how the world is changing. The students, approximately equal numbers of boys and girls, will be asked to describe how these in-class experiences are enhanced or challenged by other lived experiences, e.g. the impact of the media or travelling to different parts of the world. The transcriptions from the interviews will be pooled and analysed using a phenomenographic research method that is designed to detect the qualitatively different variations in the students experience. The resulting categories of description will be related to indicate any structural relationships amongst these variations in the students experience of global change.

A comparison will be made to the understandings of global change that are evident in the most popular geography text and reference books that are available to these students. Implications will be drawn for geography curriculum development and classroom didactics from the results. (Author s abstract).

Gerber, R. (1993a) A sense of quality - qualitative research approaches for geographical education. In H. Jager (ed.) Liber Amicorum Prof Niemz. Frankfurt am Main, Goethe University Press.

Qualitative research is becoming a well-established form of research in the humanities and social sciences. Geographical educators are only now becoming interested in a breadth of approaches to qualitative research. This article seeks to illuminate geographical educators understanding of qualitative research; describe some of the challenges that geographical educators face when they undertake qualitative research studies; highlight the importance of truthfulness in such research studies and offer advice on aspects to consider when developing a qualitative research proposal.

Gerber, R. (1993b) A sociocultural approach to curriculum change. Paper presented to the National Conference of the Australian Curriculum Studies Association, Brisbane.

"This article seeks to demonstrate how a (sociocultural) approach may be used in the development of an understanding of a curriculum change in an Australian educational context. It focuses on memories that stakeholders to this change have of their conscious actions during the change." (Extract from author s abstract).

Gerber, R. (1992a) Phenomenography as an important qualitative approach to research in geography. Paper presented to the International Geographical Union Symposium on Geographical Education, Boulder, Colorado, August 3-7, 1992.

Begins with a discussion of the nature of qualitative research and phenomenography as a form of qualitative research. Reports a study into conceptions of geography amongst trainee Geography teachers. Reflections on the phenomenographic research technique and the development of this research approach into the 1980's and 1990's follow. Concludes with a series of suggestions about the application of phenomenography to geography and geographical education.

Gerber, R. (1992b) Phenomenography as a qualitative research approach beyond the individual. Paper presented to the Third National Social Research Conference, University of Western Sydney, 1 July 1992.

Phenomenography is a relatively new qualitative approach to research that considers the discovery of regularities in data provided by people. In its classic sense phenomenography accepts that people develop their knowledge of the world through personal experience. Therefore, all knowledge is subjective in nature. The experiences that people have of selected phenomena, such as geographical concepts, learning processes or landscape, are recorded in the words or other expressions by the participants in a specific context..... variations of the phenomenographic approach may be applied to studies in geography and geographical education in a number of ways. These include: an investigation of different conceptions that learners hold of specific geographical concepts; consideration of the types of learning that occur in geography classrooms, investigations of the processes that learners use and experience in undertaking studies of specific topics in geography; and investigations of discourse and other cultural elements that abound in the geography classroom. (Adapted from author s abstract).

Gerber, R. & Bruce, C. (eds.) (1995a) Lars Dahlgren on Qualitative Research. Phenomenography - Qualitative Research: Theory and Applications. Video 1. Queensland University of Technology.

This video series is for researchers and students who wish to understand the history and potential of qualitative research and phenomenography. Ference Marton, Lennart Svensson and Lars Dahlgren present clear explanations of the phenomenographic approach and how it differs from other qualitative approaches - each from his own perspective. Data gathering, in the form of capturing participants approach to a task and interviews, is demonstrated in relation to a project on children s experience of wayfinding around a suburban environment. The series is a perfect introduction to the field for novices and an important record of the thinking of leading phenomenographers in the 1990s.

Gerber, R. & Bruce, C. (eds.) (1995b) Lars Dahlgren on Phenomenography. Phenomenography - Qualitative Research: Theory and Applications. Video 2. Queensland University of Technology.

Gerber, R. & Bruce, C. (eds.) (1995c) Lennart Svensson on Qualitative Research and Phenomenography. Phenomenography - Qualitative Research: Theory and Applications. Video 3. Queensland University of Technology.

Gerber, R. & Bruce, C. (eds.) (1995d) Ference Marton on Qualitative Research and Phenomenography. Phenomenography - Qualitative Research: Theory and Applications. Video 4. Queensland University of Technology.

Gerber, R. & Bruce, C. (eds.) (1995e) Gathering Phenomenographic Data: an example from wayfinding. Phenomenography - Qualitative Research: Theory and Applications. Video 5. Queensland University of Technology.

Gerber, R. & Boulton-Lewis, G. (1995) Teachers' understanding of graphic representations of quantitative information. Paper presented to the 6th EARLI Conference, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, August 26 - 31.

People are encountering more and more graphic representations of data in their learning and teaching. Much of this data occurs in quantitative forms as different forms of measurement are incorporated into the graphics during their construction. In formal education, teachers use a range of these quantitative representations in subjects across the school curriculum. Previous research that focuses on the use of information processing and traditional approaches to cognitive psychology concludes that the development of an understanding of such representations of data is a complex process for learners. Teachers need to understand this process in order to maximize the learning of their students. An alternative approach is to investigate the experiences of students as they interact with graphic representations of quantitative information in their own life-worlds. Similarly, for teachers to grasp the nature of these experiences they should understand how they see this information for themselves. This paper demonstrates how a phenomenographic approach may be used to reveal the qualitatively different ways in which teachers in a group of urban Australian secondary schools understand the phenomenon of graphic representations of quantitative data. The variations revealed in the study will be compared to those found in a similar study that was conducted with students aged 8 to 16 years in these schools. (Author s abstract).

Gerber, R., Boulton-Lewis, G. & Bruce, C. (1995) Children s understanding of graphic representations of quantitative data. Learning and Instruction, 5: 77-100.

Children are encountering more and more graphic representations of data in their learning and everyday life. Much of this data occurs in quantitative forms as different forms of measurement are incorporated into the graphics during their construction. In their formal education, children are required to learn to use a range of these quantitative representations in subjects across the school curriculum. Previous research that focuses on the use of information processing and traditional approaches to cognitive psychology concludes that the development of an understanding of such representations of data is a complex process. An alternative approach is to investigate the experiences of children as they interact with graphic representations of quantitative data in their own life- worlds. This paper demonstrates how a phenomenographic approach may be used to reveal the qualitatively different ways in which children in Australian primary and secondary education understand the phenomenon of graphic representations of quantitative data. Seven variations of the children s understanding were revealed. These have been described interpretively in the article and confirmed through the words of the children. A detailed outcome space demonstrates how these seven variations are structurally related. (Author s abstract).

Gerber, R. & Kwan, T. (1995) A phenomenographical approach to the study of pre- adolescents use of maps in a wayfinding exercise in a suburban environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 14: 265-280.

This paper reports the investigative study, which used a phenomenographical approach, on how a group of 12-year-old students found their way around a designated suburban route by referring to a sequential listing of streets along the route and a street directory map of the suburban area. While the content of this study belongs to map use and wayfinding experience of the pre-adolescent students, the approach used is phenomographic in that it identified the qualitatively different ways that the students experienced the suburban environment. The students experiences were interpreted using a behaviourial matrix of their actions while they traversed the route. Qualitative variations in their approaches to wayfinding using maps were obtained from itnerviews which were conducted immediatley after the students completed their route navigation. Four qualitatively different approaches were determined from their reflections from their reflections of their own wayfinding behaviours. They are the restricted and neophytic approach; careful and sequential approach; deductive and familiarized approach; and the visualized and co-ordinated spatial approach. These approaches reflect the different behaviours and abilities of the students to: plan their route using a street directory map; plan the route steet by street or a number of streets at a time; use street signs and other landmarks during the actual task; utilize local knowledge of the route; maintain their orientation; visualize spatial patterns; and use the scale on the map to help planning. (Author s abstract).

Gerber, R., Lankshear, C., Larsson, S. & Svensson, L. (in press) Self-directed learning in a work context. Education and Training.

This article addresses the challenge and debate which is currently evident about the nature of learning in workplaces. Relevant research literature seems to place a heavy emphasis on learning in the workplace as being based on methodological aspects or personal attributes of the learners. The study reported here focuses on the importance of the learner and the context in which the learning occurs. It values the importance of workers' experience of learning as being an important basis for understanding what is learned in work-based learning and how it is learned. A phenomenographic approach was used in a study of four types of organisations in Australia. The results of this study consist of six conceptions of self-directed learning. These conceptions saw learning as: personal experience and development, informal training, formal training, offering leadership, instinctive lateral planning, and as a process of quality assurance. (Authors abstract).

Gerber, R., Lankshear, C., Larsson, S. & Svensson, L. (1995) Approaches to learning in a work context. Paper presented to the 6th EARLI Conference, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, August 26 - 31.

Instead of using traditional approaches that focus on the personal or methodological aspects to investigate adult learning in the workplace, this paper focuses on the experiences of workers in specific workplaces to understand how they approach learning on the job. The Australian-based study reported here sought to understand the discourses of 21 white-collar workers' experience of self-directed learning in their workplaces. It was conducted in four different organisations - a large insurance company, a government department, a library and a private educational institution. The participants held varying positions of responsibility within their organisation. A phenomenographic approach was used to conduct the study with interviews as the source of data. The phenomenographic analysis of the data revealed six qualitatively different conceptions of the workers' approach to self-directed learning in their workplaces. In these conceptions, learning was seen to occur through: personal experience and making mistakes; informal discussion with other workers; formal training; offering leadership; open, lateral planning and quality assurance. Implications of these results are discussed. (Author s abstract).

Gerber, R., Ottosson, T., Boulton-Lewis, G., Bruce, C. & Aberg Bengtsson, L. (1993) Towards and understanding of how children understand graphic representations of quantitative data. Paper presented to the 5th EARLI Conference, Aix-en-Provence, France, August 31-September 5.

Children are increasingly being confronted with graphic forms of communication in their learning and daily living. In their formal educational experiences, children encounter a considerable range of graphic representations of data in a qualitative form. Previous research suggests that understanding of how young minds develop an understanding of such representations of data is not a simple process. The phenomenographic approach with its emphasis on a second-order perspective of people s lived experiences is an appropriate mechanism for investigating children s understanding of these graphic forms. Parallel studies, investigating children s understanding of commonly-used graphics that present quantitative information are currently underway in Sweden and Australia. This paper discusses the challenges of undertaking such a study using a phenomenographic approach in two distinctive cultural settings. These challenges relate to language discourse, cultural behaviours, and students thinking. Preliminary insights into the different ways in which students interpret graphics are also reported. (Authors abstract).

Gerber, R., Buzer, S., Worth, C. & Bruce, C. (1992) Is a GIS a GIS? or coming to an experiential understanding of GIS. In R. Gerber (ed.) Proceedings of the 20th Annual Conference of the AURISA, AURISA: Brisbane.

The concept of a GIS has been variously interpreted by theorists, practitioners and entrepreneurs. Using a qualitative research approach called phenomenography, it has been possible to determine what university academics and industry professionals in two Australian contexts - Brisbane and Perth - understand by the concept of a GIS. A series of interviews based on structured tasks and open ended questions revealed that the group interviewed possessed a limited number of varying conceptions of a GIS.

Gibbs, G. (1982) A review of the research of Ference Marton and the Goteborg group: a phenomenological research perspective on learning. Higher Education, 11: 123-145.

This article reviews the work of Ference Marton and his group of researchers... It describes and explains research into what students learn, how students approach studying ... This article is not a historical account of the development of the work of the Goteborg group. It is a review of the research in order to build up an overall picture of learning as seen from a phenomenological perspective.

Giorgi, A.P. (1986) A Phenomenological Analysis of Descriptions of Concepts of Learning Obtained From a Phenomenographic Perspective. Fenomengrafiska notiser 4, 1986:18, Institionen for pedagogik: Gotesborgs Universitet.

An important paper in which Giorgi outlines the difference he perceives between phenomenography and phenomenology. The core of the paper is a phenomenological analysis of data gathered for a phenomenographic investigation into learning. The outcomes of both analysis strategies are similar, although Giorgi claims that there are differences in interpretation (p36) between Saljo and himself.

Gurwitsch, A. (1964) The Field of Consciousness. Duquesne University Press: Pittsburgh.

Developing phenomenographic theory is drawing on the notions of consciousness as elaborated by Gurwitsch (see for example Marton s On awareness .)

Gustavsson, L., Linell, P. & Saljo, R. (1993) Discourse in language and discourse on language. International Journal of Educational Research 19(3): 265-276.

In language lessons, language is not merely the means of communication but also its target. The article reports findings from a study of second language learning among immigrant children (aged 10-12) in the Swedish comprehensive school. The particular focus is on how language is established as the subject of talk in the lesson and how coordination of linguistic activities to refer to language itself is achieved and maintained under such circumstance. The results show that the attitudes to language in the language lesson differ in interesting ways from what is typical in other settings. To establish language as the subject matter, the teacher creates what is referred to as a linguistic enclosure in which the normal communicative function of linguistic expressions is bracketed. It is also shown how this strategy creates difficulties for the student since it presupposes a new and unfamiliar mode of contextualising language. Furthermore, situations frequently arise when the premises for language use will be ambiguous and open for misunderstanding. (Authors abstract).

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