On The Current State Of Geography Research Learning

In the age of knowledge economy, competition in all aspects is fierce increasingly. Speeding up the reform of elementary education, fostering talents with knowledge, ability and innovative spirit has becoming the primary task of the development of education. At present, in China, the innovative spirit and practical ability have been pursed as the core of quality education, which holds student development-centered as its basic guiding ideology in order to nurture creative talents and enhance the national quality. The publication of Essentials of the Elementary Curriculum Reform (Proposed Essentials) and the spread of The National Curriculum Standards announce the coming of a new era of the elementary curriculum reform in China. New curriculum reform gives birth to new learning styles, research learning, which is an efficient approach to implement innovative education and comprehensive ability as an opposed style to receptive learning. Coinciding with the requirements of quality education, research learning has become a luminescent spot and hot spot of the current reform in elementary education curriculum as one of the important learning methods advocated in new course.Research learning brought a new concept for the geography teaching. Middle school geography is a strongly comprehensive and practical subject that has the advantages of implementing geography research learning and suits to research study as well. Research learning is urgent to be prompted in middle school geography for the needs of geography course curriculum. With its unique geographical perspective, geography research learning finally achieves its aim to cultivate students'innovative spirit and comprehensive competence by taking advantages of geographic knowledge in solving practical problems. Carrying out research learning can change students'learning style from simply accepting knowledge, develop students'positive attitude and strategies in learning and cultivate their innovative spirit and practical capability.Firstly, present studies about research learning from home and abroad are summarized and the connotation of geography research learning is defined with the characteristic of autonomy, process, practical, and innovative. The general process of implementation is discussed and the principles and contents of evaluation are elaborated based on the principle of subjectivity, process, and differences. According to the analysis, it is believed that Cognitive Structure, Humanism and Constructivism has significant enlightenment on geography research learning. Secondly, the paper analyzes the current situation of geography research learning of some present middle schools in Urumqi by questionnaires. The material datum is processed in order to analyze the current situation and problems of present geography research learning. Finally, the paper puts forward some feasible suggestions for those problems. It is aimed at providing some valuable reference for deepening the curriculum reform, taking advantages of subjects, cultivating student's initiative spirit and practical ability, advancing quality-oriented education and creative education development in a healthy way.