Human and Cultural Geography

[dthacker]

I need to take Soc300 as a general studies requirement for my degree. At my school they recognized the Dantes Human and Cultural Geography as an equivalent.

Instantcert doesn't have this course in their list. Has anyone taken it and can you recommend a study guide or other courses that instantcert has that are relevant to this test.

For the clep Social Science and History course, Instant cert recommends you review 6 other sets of questions they have because they don't have a specific set for that course. I was hoping that someone could recommend a similar suggestion for the Human and cultural Geography test. Or some other study guide.

Also, if anyone has taken the test is it hard? and what does it basically cover.

Thanks:

[Kiwi Lover]

Has anyone taken it and can you recommend a study guide or other courses that instantcert has that are relevant to this test.

Hi dthacker,

First of all, welcome to the IC forum! We are glad to have you with us. As for your question about study guides for the Human & Cultural Geography exam, I have copied a post (see below) that Snazzlefrag made last year which lists several websites to check out that might possibly help you with the exam.

You can also find other feedback by using the Search function. Click on "Search" at the top of the page, then choose "Advanced Search"; type in "Geography" under "Search by keyword"; then choose "Search Titles only". Scroll down and choose "Posts" under "Show Results as", and then click "Search Now" at the bottom. That will bring up all of the posts made to date for the Human & Cultural Geography exam.

DANTES Human/Cultural Geography - Resources

Hi All,

Here are a few online resources I found for the DANTES Human/Cultural Geography exam. I haven't taken this exam, so I can't vouch for their usefulness. But it's better than nothing.

Reference

Geography Home Page - Geography at About.com


Online Videos

Resource: Human Geography: People, Places, and Change

Resource: The Power of Place: Geography for the 21st Century


PDF Files (University of London)

http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/curr...l_complete.pdf

http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/curr...og_4chptrs.pdf


Study Guides/Lecture Notes

coursetopics

Earth Science Courses - Lake Tahoe Community College

Geography Classroom: Lecture Notes

IS 531 : Social Science Information: Geography Lecture Notes


Link Sites

Intute: Science, Engineering and Technology - Geography

Human Geography :: SPACE Discipline Resources

Open Directory - Science: Social Sciences: Geography: Human Geography

Use 'em if you need 'em!

Good luck,
Snazzlefrag

I hope that helps you somewhat. Good luck and be sure to post some feedback if you can!

JoAnne

[dthacker]

JoAnne,

Thanks for the info, however when I click on the instantcert link you sent it says "sorry no matches please try another term". Is there any other way to access that info from the IC member?

[Kiwi Lover]

dt....See the revised instructions above; I took out the direct link and gave you the Search instructions instead. You should be able to get into all of the feedback previously posted.

Hope that helps.

JoAnne

[knucyt]

I also have to do this one for SOC300. Has anyone taken this exam?

[highlanderburial]

I posted feedback on this exam but I don't think it ever went anywhere. Let me try and find it.
-HB

Snip! Here it is!

Firstly, there weren't a lot of questions that jumped out at me as something that you could simply grab a book and study. You seemed to need a general knowledge of world geography and where countries are in relation to water bodies etc.

What crops were NOT originally domesticated in North America

What US city historically suffers the most natural disasters

Know what classifys an undeveloped, developed and developing country

Know the difference between regional languages and what are language families

Where did Buddism originate
Where did confucianism originate

Know what a megolopolis is and what regions of the US are NOT classified as a megolopolis

You will be given graphs which show population in contrast to food supply

What is a consumption indication of a developed region (electricity?)

What is considered a non-renewable resource

A cold temp, but a clear sky in January in upstate NY is likely caused by what kind of weather pattern

What human tool causes the most drastic changes in the natural environment (bronze, steel, fire etc)

Do a google search for noted Cultural Geographers (there aren't many!) Learn a few of their notable theories

What city out of a list lies between 40 deg and 60 deg lat north or south and has a rainy winter and warm summer

What city in 20-30 deg north or south has a wet winter and a dry summer from a list

Learn what economic systems are and what regions can fall into them

Know what a core-periphery model is

Know what causes a pushing force in migration from countries

China is considered (multiple choice: resource rich, developed...resource poor developed....resource rich undeveloped etc....)

What is not considered a grass land: tiaga, meadow, plain, etc]

A country that is not near another that controls that country is an example of ...............(imperialism)

Where were humans located on the earth around 10,000 bc

Where did humans develop urbanization

What are the advantages of a flat map over a glope.....

What is false about lattitude: it's a meridian arc, it passes through Greenwich, it goes from 0 to 90 deg, it runs north and south

Know a few land physiography terms (I didn't know quite a few of them)

I passed this one with a B.

That's all I remember for now. If one of my questions doesn't make sense than it's probably my memory!There weren't many questions on the test that seemed difficult. Some of them seemed WAY too easy to be right, but after reading them a few times, I realized it was the only answer. I probably would take the Social Sciences Clep before this one. There are a lot of questions from the CLEP book that would apply to this test from there. As this test seemed kind of wandering and ambiguous at times, I probably would have been stressed out while taking it if I had paid for it. Unless your a big-time geography nut, I would pass this one by.

[knucyt]

Dear HB

Thank you for your v. helpful post. I am not a geography nut - far from it (I do not like Geography one bit!) - but unfortunately this is the only challenged exam Strayer University will accept for this class (SOC300). So my choices are...take this exam or pay for yet another class and spend 12 weeks online or in class.

I'm curious as to how many hours approx. and how many of the resources suggested by KiwiLover you used (or other resources).

Thanks again v. much for your response.

FSB

[highlanderburial]

Preface: This test is not as bad as it seems.
Alrighty.
As I mentioned, I don't think I knew about all the resources listed above. I simply took the Free study sheet and went through it section by section on Wiki. If I told you that I studyied for more than 3 days, off and on for maybe a total of 9 hours I might be on the borderline of telling a lie.
Keep in mind this thing is a DSST, and as such you don't have to knock it out of the park as it were. I would say that even with little study, 1/4 of this entire test will seem obvious to you. Another 1/4 can be pretty much breezed over by a minor amount of study. Realistically you only need to answer half the test plus a few more to put you over the top with a "C". If you want an "A" or a "B" I think a week's worth of study time using the stuff I listed and Kiwi's post, you should be MORE than prepared for this one. Try the free study sheet a few times, do a few more WIKI searches, and right before you go in stare at some maps or a globe for about 45 minutes. See where the countries are in relation to each other. That should do it for you. Let's face it, even if you don't pass, 6 months later you can hit this thing again far better prepared. This latter concept is not one which I think will happen, but it's there as a fallback.
As I tell all the folks on these forums, JUST TAKE IT! Get so you can rap off 50 to 75% of the material and go for it!
Personally the time I spent studying this stuff bored me to tears, I think if I had to sit through a monotone teacher or a really bad online course I would join the circus as elephant cleaner #2.
Waterboy Quote: "Yew Cain Doooooo eeeeeeet!"

Hope this helps!
-HB

[knucyt]

Thanks for the details HB - your response helps put the effort in perspective - it can be difficult to judge the LOE required with an exam that does not have any official prep materials available - I will follow your suggestions.

Thanks again,
FSB