MGBGeo, a web-based system, empowers students to deepen their understanding of geography through teamwork and authentic blended learning.

My Groupwork Buddy for Geography (MGBGeo)

  How MGBGeo can Help Students

Key benefits of developing the web-based system “My Groupwork Buddy for Geography” (MGBGeo) and an accompanying curriculum package:

• Deepen students’ understanding of geographical topics
• Help students to grow in teamwork competency in an authentic blended learning context for student’s Geographical Investigation (GI).
  • Provide real-world teamwork and geographical collaborative inquiry scenarios for students to collaborate and learn together using the integrated Geographical Inquiry and TSDL framework.
  • Guide students through a process of team-based concrete opportunities to give anonymous feedback, increasing self and team awareness, team and self-reflection and sensemaking, team and self-growth and change.

 

Check out Teachers’ Guide to MGBGeo 

Why is MGBGeo Important? 

MGBGeo used design-based research with mixed methods for two trial cycles in Geographical Investigation (GI), a group project component in Singapore’s Geography curriculum. It involved 159 Secondary Three students and 3 teachers in a regular school. The web-based learning analytics system and curriculum package was co-designed with a group of researchers, policy officers and Geography teachers in a Singapore Secondary School.

MGBGeo Design Principles

Additionally, a set of techno-pedagogical design principles was identified for collaborative inquiry to meet the dual complementary goals of academic excellence and teamwork, applicable in blended or virtual learning.

Below are two example principles. You can refer to it in the resources package (Teachers’ Guide to MGBGeo).

1) Enacting a holistic collaborative inquiry model for geography and teamwork learning

A holistic pedagogical framework for MGBGeo was designed that brought together:

1. Geographical Inquiry approach (Ministry of Education, 2017) which includes conducting preliminary research, gathering data etc.
2. Team and Self Diagnostic Learning (TSDL) framework (Koh et al., 2018) which has four iterative phases: Team-based concrete experiences, Self and team awareness building, Team and self-reflection and sense-making, and Team and self-growth and change

2) Prompting collaborative inquiry and teamwork

• Learning prompts intended to motivate students’ learning in geographical content and teamwork

Motivating Principle 1: Take the students’ perspective 

• Hint: Why is it important to craft a good hypothesis? A good hypothesis gives your GI a clear direction.
• Tip: A little time spent here will save you a lot of time later

Motivating Principle 2: Offer activities to vitalize the psychological needs (competence, autonomy and relatedness)

• For competence, e.g., Tip: Use a combination of methods that are best for answering your team’s hypothesis.
• For competence and autonomy, e.g., Hint: Has your team chosen the best type of representation for what you are trying to show?

• Supports students’ learning of geographical knowledge and teamwork competency through the techno-pedagogical tool and package.
  • Relatively easy use of the web-based tool in blended learning and HBL or other online education

• Help teachers to leverage technological affordances to enhance their professional practice in geography.
  • Practical use of the tool, its design principles and curriculum package for GI.
  • A teachers’ guide with a lesson package is provided to offer teachers ideas and tips that they can utilize and adapt for their own lessons. (Click here for MGBGeo Teachers’ Guide)
  • Provide guidance towards leveraging tools that build the dual complementary goals of academic excellence (in geographical topics) and 21st century competencies (in teamwork).

• Demonstrating innovations in GI to pre-service teachers for courses in NIE.

 How can Teachers Get Started?

• • A technical teacher’s manual for MGBGeo system is available upon request from the PI.

• • The MGBGeo web application can be used in schools with support from their internal IT department/ team to deploy the system on their school web server. The school can contact the PI for more information.

• MGBGeo lesson package is also available for teachers as a downloadable PDF with accompanying slides. Alternative technologies are also suggested in the lesson package if the school does not use the MGBGeo web application.