Geographical practice teaching is a vital pathway for cultivating students' geographical practice competence and has attracted signifi cant attention among geography educators. Its implementation requires addressing two fundamental questions: fi rst, which specifi c abilities should be cultivated; and second, how these abilities can be assessed. In view of this, this study explores an instructional and assessment approach for geographical practice competence based on landscape observation. Drawing on relational thinking, this research decomposes the process of landscape observation into three steps: identifying elements, analyzing relationships, and conducting evaluations. Generally, a higher level of competence is reflected in the ability to recognize a broader range of landscape element categories, identify more complex spatial relationships between elements, and evaluate these relationships from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders. Using the landscape observation activities undertaken by undergraduates from Beijing Normal University (Zhuhai) during a human geography fieldwork course in Beijing as a case study, this paper illustrates the application of the three-step method through three specifi c cases and evaluates students' competence levels accordingly. The fi ndings suggest that this method fosters students' holistic and dynamic thinking in landscape analysis, stimulates their initiative and creativity in fi eld exploration, provides an objective framework for competence assessment, and ultimately cultivates their awareness of context-sensitive spatial practice.