Recognizing bias helps one to see their own assumptions and thus to reduce personal prejudice and to recognize it in others. To evaluate one must judge and to judge one must have definite criteria. The term 'environment' refers to geography's ecological perspective, i.e., the links between human beings and their environment. For example, Pennsylvania is linked to West Africa because the cocoa in Hershey's chocolate bars comes from that area. Geography is a broad synthesizing discipline that incorporates the methods and insights of the arts, social sciences, and sciences.
Effective note taking is therefore important.
Classroom notes are often fragmentary, so it is essential that you rewrite those notes in a more detailed, narrative fashion soon after class. Your revised notes are also a big step toward the first draft of a practice exam essay. Academic dishonesty is a major violation against the University's Code of Conduct. In the recent past, students have received failing grades for the course because of plagiarism. I believe that the best kind of learning takes place when we approach shared material collectively and collaboratively in a group.