$639.00 – $939.00
Description
Course Overview
Course Title: World Issues: A Geographic Analysis
Course Code: CGW 4U
Grade: 12
Course Type: University
Credit Value: 1.0
Prerequisite: Any University, College or University/College (Mixed) preparation course in Social Sciences and Humanities, English or Canadian and World
Studies
Department: Canadian and World Studies
Tuition Fee (CAD): $639
In this course, students will address the challenge of creating a more sustainable and equitable world. They will explore issues involving a wide range of topics, including economic disparities, threats to the environment, globalization, human rights, and quality of life, and will analyse government policies, international agreements, and individual responsibilities relating to them. Students will apply the concepts of geographic thinking and the geographic inquiry process, including the use of spatial technologies, to investigate these complex issues and their impacts on natural and human communities around the world.
Curriculum Expectations
By the end of the course, students will gain proficiency in the following areas:
Geographic Skills and Inquiry
- Geographic Inquiry: use the geographic inquiry process and the concepts of geographic thinking when investigating world issues;
- Developing Transferable Skills: apply in everyday contexts skills, including spatial skills, developed through geographical investigation, and identify careers in which a background in geography might be an asset.
Spatial Organization: Relationships and Disparities
- Natural Resource Disparities: analyse relationships between quality of life and access to natural resources in various countries and regions
- Population Disparities: analyse relationships between demographic and political factors and quality of life in various countries and regions
- Classifying Regions of the World: explain how various characteristics are used to classify the world into regions or other groupings
Sustainability and Stewardship
- Strategies and Initiatives: analyse strategies and initiatives that support environmental stewardship at a national and global level, and assess their effectiveness in promoting the sustainability of the natural environment
- Population Growth: assess the impact of population growth on the sustainability of natural systems
- Caring for the Commons: analyse issues relating to the use and management of common-pool resources
Interactions and Interdependence: Globalization
- Trade and Immigration: analyse the influence of trade agreements and immigration policies on global interdependence and the well-being of countries
- Impacts and Management: analyse issues relating to national and global impacts of globalization from a geographic perspective, and assess responsibilities and approaches for managing these issues
- Characteristics and Driving Forces: describe the major characteristics of globalization, and analyse factors that are driving the globalizing process
Social Change and Quality of Life
- Leadership and Policy: analyse the influence of governments, groups, and individuals on the promotion and management of social change
- Agents of Change: analyse impacts of selected agents of change on society and quality of life
- Continuing Challenges: analyse issues relating to human rights, food security, health care, and other challenges to the quality of life of the world’s population
Unit Overview
| Unit 1: Introduction to World Issues in Geography | 15 hours |
| Unit 2: Spatial Organization: Relationships and Disparities | 20 hours |
| Unit 3: Sustainability and Stewardship | 20 hours |
| Unit 4: Interactions and Interdependence | 20 hours |
| Unit 5: Social Change and Quality of Life | 20 hours |
| Unit 6: Culminating Project | 15 hours |
| Total Hours | 110 hours |
Policies
Teaching and Learning Strategies
Enthusiastic teachers and instructors bring unique teaching and assessment methods to the classroom because students learn best when they are engaged in a range of different learning techniques. The activities allow students to apply learned concepts to current world social, economic, and environmental issues which impact daily life. Opportunities to relate knowledge and skills to these wider contexts will motivate students to learn in a meaningful way and to become life-long learners. Instructors also inspire students to become successful problem solvers by investigating, providing alternative reasoning and solutions to problems as well as dedicating time and energy to the tasks at hand.
Effective instructional techniques utilize students’ existing knowledge and by capturing their interest and engaging in meaningful participation. Students will be engaged when they are able to see the correlation between the learned concepts and their ability to apply them to the world around them and in real-life situations. Students will have the chance to learn using a wide range of methods which include self-learning, cooperative learning as well as learning through teacher guidance as well has hands-on experiences. The methods and strategies teachers implement will be tailored to the learning requirements and the individual needs of the students. Teachers will achieve effective instruction in an online environment by using videos, interactive animations and virtual labs and discussion forums and video conferencing/live chat.
Individualized Accommodations for Students
Our methodology for student assessment follows the Growing Success Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario Schools First Edition, Covering Grades 1 to 12 (2010) manual published by the Ontario Ministry of Education. Assessment is the process of gathering information that accurately reflects how well a student is achieving the curriculum expectations in a subject or course. Assessment tools are designed to improve student learning which includes descriptive feedback, coaching, observations and self-assessments. In addition, student can be independent and set individual goals, monitor progress against these goals, determine next steps and reflect on their thinking and learning.
For a student with special education needs who requires modified or alternative expectations, assessment and evaluation of his or her achievement will be based on the modified curriculum expectations or alternative expectations outlined in the student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP). Accommodations required to facilitate the student’s learning may be identified by the teacher, however recommendations from a School Board generated in the form of an Individual Education Plan (IEP) should be used, if available.
For a student with special education needs who requires “accommodations only”, as described in his or her IEP, assessment and evaluation of achievement will be based on the appropriate subject/ grade/course curriculum expectations and the achievement levels outlined in the curriculum documents.
A student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) describes his or her educational program and any accommodations that may be required. The IEP specifies whether the student requires:
accommodations only; or
modified learning expectations, with the possibility of accommodations;
Assessment accommodations are changes in procedures that enable the student to demonstrate his
or her learning. These may include:
visual supports to clarify verbal instructions, assistive devices, or some form of human support;
alternative methods for the student to demonstrate his or her achievement of expectations (e.g., allowing the student to take tests orally) or the allowance of extra time to complete the assessment;
alternative settings that may be more suitable for the student to demonstrate his or her learning.
If accommodations are required to assess and evaluate student learning, the strategies to be used are outlined in the student’s IEP.
For further details about the different types of accommodations, modified learning expectation and alternative programs please refer to Growing Success Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario Schools First Edition, Covering Grades 1 to 12 (2010)
Materials Required
Standard Computer Requirements for all courses:
-Processor speed of 2 GHz or faster
-Memory of 4 GB RAM or greater
-A high speed internet connection with a connection speed of 10 MB/s or better.
-Monitor and video card with 1024×768 or greater resolution
-Keyboard and Mouse is recommended
-Speakers/Headphones
