As the first translated work to systematically introduce Western geology in the late Qing Dynasty, Elementary Exposition of Geology stands not only as a milestone in the transformation of modern Chinese geological knowledge, but also as a critical origin of the history of geography education in China. Breaking through the traditional research frameworks of the history of science and translation studies, this paper re-examines the scientifi c and technological thoughts and educational value of this translated work from the perspective of the history of geography as a discipline.The study fi nds that through gradualist narration, evidence chain construction and interdisciplinary integration, Elementary Exposition of Geology initially established the content organization logic of modern geography textbooks: progressing from phenomena to mechanisms, and from partial components to systematic wholes. Its knowledge localization strategy and uniformitarian reasoning method (the present is the key to the past) have provided an early paradigm for situational creation and geographical practice.Facing the contemporary geography curriculum reform, this paper extracts historical enlightenment from three dimensions: textbook compilation logic, classroom teaching transformation, and teachers' professional development. First, textbook construction should strengthen the leading role of big ideas and the design of cognitive ladders. Second, classroom practice should cultivate Geographical Key Competences through evidence-based reasoning and cross-scale thinking. Third, teacher development should enhance curriculum transformation capacity and historical and cultural consciousness. The scientifi c and technological thoughts embodied in Elementary Exposition of Geology are not only a carrier of scientifi c enlightenment in the late Qing Dynasty, but also provide referable historical and practical wisdom for contemporary geography education.

As an important approach to cultivating core competencies in geography,problem-based teaching has been widely practiced in frontline classrooms. By examining typical teaching cases from four dimensions—teaching objectives, procedures, organizational forms, and methods—it is found that current problem-based teaching in geography has generally devolved into “geographical problem chain teaching”: the context is clear, but the core problem remains vague. While the form aligns with curriculum standards, the underlying logic still follows the knowledge transmission paradigm.In practice, issues such as the structuring of knowledge oriented toward competency goals, the superfi cial use of context creation, problem inquiry, and collaborative organization are prominent, and student autonomy is limited. To truly realize the value of problembased teaching in geography for cultivating core competencies, there is an urgent need to promote a dual shift in teachers’ cognition and practice, bridging the logical gap between abstract competency cultivation and concrete teaching operations.

Cognitive holding power refers to the proactive force within a learning environment that encourages learners to engage in diff erent types of cognitive activities. Based on the cognitive processes it prompts learners to enter, it can be classifi ed into primary cognitive holding power and secondary cognitive holding power.Taking 620 senior high school students from six schools in Binzhou City as the research subjects, this study explores the internal mechanism through which cognitive holding power in senior high school geography classrooms enhances academic performance in geography. The findings reveal that applying primary cognitive holding power in geography classrooms shows a ceiling eff ect in terms of teaching eff ectiveness. It only improves learning engagement—and thereby geography performance—among students scoring below 75 points in geography.In contrast, appropriately applied secondary cognitive holding power broadly promotes geography learning. It enhances geography performance through the mediating role of learning engagement. To optimize instructional eff ectiveness and classroom effi ciency, teachers can stratify teaching content to align with diff erentiated levels of cognitive holding power, and design fl exible task requirements based on students’ individual cognitive diff erences.

To reveal the application depth of digital resources in high-quality secondary school geography lessons and its knowledge basis, this study selected 45 junior and senior secondary school geography lesson videos of the 2025 National China Map Press Edition as research samples. Classroom video analysis was adopted, and continuous state units were used to code TPACK knowledge representation, resource types, interaction modes, functional orientations, and application depth. The results show that TPACK and PCK constitute the main forms of teachers’ knowledge representation in the sample lessons. The application of digital resources is characterized by the dominance of one-way presentation, the coexistence of presentation-demonstration and simulation-inquiry functions, and a structure in which shallow application is dominant while deep application also accounts for a relatively high proportion. There is a relatively clear structural correspondence between high-level TPACK integration and deep application, but high integration does not necessarily lead to deep application. The study suggests that the quality evaluation of digital resource application in geography classrooms should further focus on the relationship between resources and learning tasks, as well as the processes of evidence generation and learning output.

Academician Fu Bojie's theory of the three paradigm shifts in geography research—"knowledge description — pattern-process coupling — human-environment system simulation and prediction"—profoundly reveals the essential characteristics and developmental trends of the discipline of geography. Based on this theory, this paper analyzes its five implications for high school geography teaching, and explores the pedagogical transformation of paradigm shift theory through three practical pathways: constructing "pattern-process" dual-thread instructional design, introducing GIS-based scenario simulation teaching, and developing role-playing and proposal-argumentation teaching. This study aims to provide theoretical support and practical reference for the implementation of core competencies in geography education.

Based on a critical examination of Master of Education dissertations in geography education that have employed educational action research over the past five years, this study reveals several prevalent misconceptions among master's students in applying this methodology. At the level of research purpose, studies fall into a technical orientation mismatch and a narrowing of practical function. At the level of research process, they exhibit an absence of spiral cycles and fl imsy data analysis. At the level of research conclusions, they demonstrate superfi cial refl ection and an inverted generative logic. The emergence of these misconceptions stems from cognitive biases regarding research paradigms—caused by defi ciencies in graduate students' scientifi c literacy and challenges in integrating their dual identities—as well as external contradictions between the "practically-oriented" requirements of professional degree dissertations and the brief duration of educational internships. To address these issues, improvement strategies are proposed across four dimensions: cognitive reshaping, process standardization, methodological reinforcement, and logical correction. These strategies aim to facilitate the transformation of geography education master's students into "refl ective practitioners" through the standardized application of action research, thereby eff ectively enhancing their practical wisdom in resolving complex educational problems.

Focusing on the “Vegetation” unit in Geography 1, this paper challenges the constraints of conventional lessonbased teaching. It reconstructs an operational approach to curriculum structuring through four dimensions: core concept integration, cognitive progression design, interdisciplinary practice, and assessment convergence. The fi ndings reveal that the crux of structured teaching lies in leveraging core concepts to dismantle knowledge silos, deploying hierarchical tasks to foster deep learning, and driving transferable application through authentic problem-solving. Crucially, embedding performance assessment throughout this process is indispensable. By establishing a learning chain “holistic perception—elemental deconstruction—synthetic regression”, this design effectively scaffolds students in constructing transferable geographic cognitive structures within authentic contexts. 

Problem-based learning is an effective way to cultivate geographical key competences. Taking the classic case of the Aswan Dam, this paper designs a progressive problem-based learning plan, "Why Build a Dam — The Advantages and Disadvantages of Dams — The Future Development of Dams" to guide students in examining the advantages and disadvantages of dams in a systematic, dynamic, and dialectical approach, thereby deepening their understanding of the human-environment relationship. This approach helps students develop an awareness of respecting, adapting to, and protecting nature, and fosters concepts such as green development.

To address the implicit nature of mental map construction in junior high geography, this study explores an AI-empowered teaching model using a campus mapping project. Through four stages -cognitive visualization, humanAI calibration,verification, and application-the model transforms vague spatial perceptions into precise cartographic representations. Practice shows that this approach fosters students' geographical key competencies and cultivates critical thinking towards AI, while maintaining human agency in the learning process.

As educational digitalization accelerates, teachers are expected to make full use of information technology to support geography teaching. From the perspective of technological integration, this paper explores practical implementation pathways for GIS-assisted situational teaching in junior high-school geography. Taking "Landscape Evolution in Shenzhen" as the overarching teaching context, it carries out GIS-assited situational teaching practices to cultivate students’ core competencies.

As China enters a new stage led by "science and technology education," this paper aims to explore the design strategies and practical paths of interdisciplinary subject learning in junior high school geography from the perspective of science and technology education. By analyzing the interdisciplinary thematic learning case of grade 8 ' Exploring the principle of water and sand ', this paper puts forward the design strategy and practical path of interdisciplinary thematic learning from the perspective of science and technology education, and reveals its practical characteristics from the multiple paths of ' in-class inquiry-after-class expansion-field scientific examination ' in the perspective of science and technology education. It provides a practical model and implementation path for front-line teachers to carry out interdisciplinary thematic learning from the perspective of science and technology education.