Implementing Powerful Geography: Analysis and Assessment of Teacher and Student Reactions and Experiences

Powerful Geography is a new approach to teaching and learning geography that aims to help students make connections between powerful geographic knowledge and their future career goals and aspirations. As a method for connecting content and outcomes, Powerful Geography offers a valuable new toolkit for geography teachers at all levels. However, new innovations can take teachers a great deal of time and effort to implement in their classrooms. This can be especially challenging for teachers who may not have a solid background in the material or who do not have enough resources to assist them in implementing a new way of teaching. This study combined the Participatory Action Research Method and the Concerns-Based Adoption Model to collect qualitative data to measure, analyze, and assess the reaction of teachers to the Powerful Geography framework before, during, and after implementation of this research-based teaching innovation. This project, which was conducted by a high school teacher using Powerful Geography, studied teachers’ initial reactions to Powerful Geography upon their initial introduction to it, as well as following their reactions during and after their implementation. Findings from this research indicate that Powerful Geography can help students make meaningful connections between geography and their future aspirations and also offer insights into how teachers adapted Powerful Geography to fit their classroom instructional practices. The results from this research also provide insights and suggestions for future implementation.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Geography Education

Grantor

Texas State University

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Crane, Terressa Michelle

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Myles, Colleen

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Blanchard-Boehm, Denise
• Solem, Michael
• Summers, Emily

• powerful geography
• geography education
• curriculum implementation
• qualitative classroom research
• concerns-based adoption model
• participatory action research

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10877/24585

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.library.txst.edu:10877/24585