《自然地理学》是地理科学类专业的核心必修课程，当前国内高校开设该课程的时序差异较大，学段跨度广。本研究以地理科学类本科专业为对象，采用定性与定量结合的方法，根据培养方案和师生调研数据，探究不同学年开课的优势与挑战。研究发现，低、中、高年级开课各有适配特点，同时可能存在教师差异化教学不足、学生课程定位认知模糊、高年级教学内容重复和高阶教学落实不到位等现实问题。本研究成果可为高校优化《自然地理学》课程开设时序、完善课程体系、提升地理专业本科教学质量提供参考。

Physical Geography is a core compulsory course for geographic science majors. At present, there are substantial discrepancies in the scheduling of this course among domestic universities, with a wide span of teaching semesters and frequent revisions to training programs. Taking undergraduate geographic science majors as the research object, this study adopts a combined qualitative and quantitative approach. Based on the sorting of training programs and survey data collected from teachers and students, it explores the advantages and challenges of off ering the course in diff erent academic years. The study shows that scheduling the course in the lower, middle and upper grades each has its own applicable characteristics. Meanwhile, practical problems exist such as insuffi cient diff erentiated teaching by instructors, students’ vague understanding of the course positioning, repetitive teaching content for senior undergraduates, and inadequate implementation of advancedlevel teaching. The fi ndings of this study can provide a reference for universities to optimize the teaching schedule of Physical Geography, improve the curriculum system, and elevate the undergraduate teaching quality of geography majors.