Author: rrge_hcsaba

2026_1

PROPAGANDA-INFORMED VISUAL DISCOURSE IN GEOGRAPHY OF ROMANIA SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS, DURING THE 1980s

Oana-Ramona ILOVAN

Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Geography, and Territorial Identities and Development Centre, ROMANIA.
Email: oana.ilovan@ubbcluj.ro

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2075-1808

 

ABSTRACT

This research examines the images (mainly photographs) included in four Geography of Romania school textbooks published in the 1980s, with the aim of identifying recurring themes that align with the broader propaganda discourse on socialist territorial development. By doing so, the study addresses a gap in the literature regarding the role of geography textbooks in shaping representations of the national territory in Romania during both the socialist and post-socialist periods. I conducted a thematic analysis of both the visual materials and the texts accompanying those images. After identifying the key themes, I interpreted them in relation to communist propaganda as manifested in Romanian society and the educational system. Accordingly, the study employs critical visual methodology for the analysis of images and discourse analysis for the textual material. The Romanian case illustrates the instrumentalization of geography education in reinforcing socialist ideology and cultivating a collective socialist identity based on reiterative representations of territorial unity and socialist development.

KEYWORDS:

communist propaganda, socialist development, geographical education, critical visual methodology, discourse analysis

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Ilovan O.-R. (2026). Propaganda-Informed Visual Discourse in Geography of Romania School Textbooks, During the 1980s. Romanian Review of Geographical Education, 15(1), 5-45. http://doi.org/10.24193/RRGE20261

2025_10

GIS TECHNIQUES FOR DEVELOPING THE DIDACTIC MODEL
“3D MAP OF THE RELIEF OF CLUJ COUNTY”

Andrei CRIȘAN

”Octavian Goga” Secondary School, Cluj-Napoca, ”Gheorghe Șincai” Secondary School, Florești, Cluj County, Romanian Lepidopterological Society, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA.
Email: andrei.crel@gmail.com

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3501-785X 

ABSTRACT

 In this study, we briefly present the stages involved in the development of two types of didactic models, namely two 3D models of the relief of Cluj County, highlighting the main advantages and disadvantages offered by each of them, as well as several possibilities for their use in geography lessons. These 3D models are used in geography teaching for the formation of spatial representations of relief and running waters, for the localization of human settlements, and as tools for representing geographic space.

KEYWORDS:

GIS, map, 3D model, model (maquette), representation, relief

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Crișan, A. (2025). GIS Techniques for Developing the Didactic Model “3D Map of the Relief of Cluj County”. Romanian Review of Geographical Education, 14(2), 65-73. http://doi.org/10.24193/RRGE202510

2025_9

TOOLS, MATERIALS, AND TECHNIQUES USED IN THE 3D REPRESENTATION OF THE IDEAL CITY

Hadrian-Vasile CONȚIU

Babeș-Bolyai” University, Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, ROMANIA,
Email: hadrian.contiu@ubbcluj.ro

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8108-2092

Andreea CONȚIU

„Babeș-Bolyai” University, Cluj-Napoca,Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, ROMANIA,
Email: andreea.contiu@ubbcluj.ro

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5228-287X

ABSTRACT

 The present study investigates the tools, materials, and techniques used by students in the 3D representation of the ideal city. It analyzes the effectiveness of this practical approach in fostering creativity, critical thinking, and spatial representation skills. The research also aims to highlight the formative potential of scale-model construction activities as an active, student-centered teaching method, emphasizing that hands-on modeling and construction activities lead to sensory learning, active engagement, and critical thinking. To achieve the research objectives, 79 students aged 16–17 from three 10th-grade classes at the “Al. Papiu Ilarian” National College in Târgu Mureș were involved in a project-based learning activity. The students were divided into groups of four or five and engaged in several stages of the project; this paper focuses in particular on aspects related to the stage of constructing scale models of the ideal city (three-dimensional or 3D representations). The research adopts a qualitative approach with quantitative elements. The analysis of the scale models revealed a wide variety of tools, materials, and techniques used by the students, as well as a high level of engagement and creative expressiveness. The results indicate that project-based learning is an effective instructional method with strong formative potential, contributing to the development of students’ creative, practical, and cognitive competencies.

KEYWORDS:

3D representation, scale model, ideal city, practical skills, spatial thinking, critical thinking, creativity

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Conțiu H.-V.., & Conțiu, A. (2025). Tools, Materials, and Techniques Used in the 3D Representation of the Ideal City. Romanian Review of Geographical Education, 14(2), 47-64. http://doi.org/10.24193/RRGE20259

2025_8

POSTCROSSING AT SCHOOL – EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS OF POSTCARDS EXCHANGE

Roxana HOBAI

„Gheorghe Șincai” Technological High School, Târgu Mureș, ROMANIA.
Email: roxana_ro2011@yahoo.com

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2308-0292

Diana BERKU

„Gheorghe Șincai” Technological High School, Târgu Mureș, ROMANIA.
Email: dianaberku25@gmail.com

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5725-8566

ABSTRACT

 The aim of the research is to analyze the impact of postcrossing activities on students from educational, linguistic, cultural, and emotional perspectives. For this purpose, 10th-grade students of “Gheorghe Șincai” Technological High School from Târgu Mureș participated in an extracurricular activity carried out through a website dedicated to the international exchange of postcards. The students’ perceptions of the activity were identified both through direct observations and through a questionnaire.  Although today’s communication context is highly digitalized – dominated by instant messages and online social networks – we believe that postcrossing-type activities bring significant benefits, contributing to the development of students’ transversal skills and to the strengthening of intercultural education.

KEYWORDS:

postcrossing, postcards, transversal skills, intercultural education, interdisciplinarity, extracurricular activity

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Hobai, R., & Berku, I. (2025). Postcrossing at school – educational benefits of postcards exchange.
Romanian Review of Geographical Education, 14(2), 34-46 http://doi.org/10.24193/RRGE20258

2025_7

INTEGRATING CONTENT AND COMMUNICATION IN AN “ENGLISH FOR TOURISM” COURSE. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

Roxana MIHELE

Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Letters, ROMANIA.
Email: mihaela.mihele@ubbbcluj.ro

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3186-0922

Ioana MUDURE-IACOB

Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Letters, ROMANIA.
Email: ioana.mudure@ubbcluj.ro

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0978-8538

ABSTRACT

 In the field of English for Specific Purposes, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has been reputed to be an effective approach to fostering both linguistic and professional competencies. The present study explores the Tourism students’ needs, lacks and wants regarding their academic and professional usage of Specialized English to prepare for future jobs in the hospitality industry, and it is based on the data analysis collected in a survey addressed to 1st year Tourism Geography students enrolled at the Faculty of Geography, Babeș-Bolyai University. The special roles of task-based activities, usage of authentic materials as instruments of practice and autonomous learning in language and content learning are investigated in correlation with increased levels of student satisfaction. The encouraging results of our findings are further discussed for best practice implementation and the pedagogical implications for designing future ESP curricula and syllabi. This study investigates how increased value can be added to ESP classes by CLIL approaches, particularly when such an approach is founded on task-based learning, design of authentic learning materials and language learning optimization via AI driven tools. New learning requirements and tailored employability skills are essential for Tourism students, who show strong interest and readiness in exploring and utilizing a wide range of digital tools to enhance their industry-related competencies and the current study indicates how such learning needs can be molded in CLIL tailored language courses. While experimenting with both foreign language and specialized content in such customized micro-communities of practice, learners are exposed to a plethora of scenarios in which motivation enhancement, and the building of transversal skills are genuine gains.

KEYWORDS:

CLIL, task-based activities, authentic materials, increasing students’ motivation, integrated learning

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Mihele R., & Mudure-Iacob, I. (2025). Integrating content and communication in an “English for Tourism” course: Opportunities and challenges in students’ academic and professional training. Romanian Review of Geographical Education, 14(2), 21-33 http://doi.org/10.24193/RRGE20257

2025_6

VISUAL MATERIALS AND MODERNISATION OF GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION IN SOCIALIST ROMANIA

Oana-Ramona ILOVAN

Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Geography, and Territorial Identities and Development Centre, ROMANIA.
Email: oana.ilovan@ubbcluj.ro

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2075-1808

Adrian-Daniel MUNTEAN

West University of Timișoara, Faculty of Chemistry, Biology, Geography, and Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Territorial Identities and Development Research Centre, ROMANIA.
Email: adrian.muntean99@e-uvt.ro

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2160-2206

ABSTRACT

 In this study, we presented and discussed how teachers were advised to teach geography, using images, during socialism in Romania (1948-1989). Besides geographical knowledge, geography classes were supposed to also transmit other types of knowledge, because the scientific canon of geography in socialist Romania was shaped through politicised education. Our aim was to show how geography education and geography textbooks were infused with propaganda, in particular to produce a coherent and impactful official visual discourse through spatial representations of territorial development under socialism. We analysed several didactics of geography from the socialist period and school textbooks for teaching geography. Critical visual methodology and the discourse analysis method were employed. Results showed that didactic advice for teachers aimed to shape students’ socialist consciousness. This was to be developed starting from patriotism and a positivist approach to geographical space: visual representations were “telling the truth” about the socialist reality.

KEYWORDS:

didactics of geography, textbooks, maps, propaganda, socialist development

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Ilovan, O.-R., Muntean, A.-D. (2025). Visual Materials and Modernisation of Geography Education in Socialist Romania. Romanian Review of Geographical Education, 14(2), 5-20. http://doi.org/10.24193/RRGE20256

2025_5

DEVELOPING GEOGRAPHICAL THINKING THROUGH THE REPRESENTATION OF THE IDEAL CITY

Hadrian-Vasile CONȚIU

Babeș-Bolyai” University, Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, ROMANIA

Email: hadrian.contiu@ubbcluj.ro

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8108-2092

Andreea CONȚIU

”Al. Papiu Ilarian” National College, Tg. Mureș; „Babeș-Bolyai” University, Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, ROMANIA

Email: andreea.contiu@ubbcluj.ro

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5228-287X

ABSTRACT

 This study highlights the importance and effects of developing geographical thinking through the conception and creation of a 2D representation of an ideal city plan. The aim is to identify and correct possible gaps in students’ understanding of urban space, plans, and maps, and to validate their prior knowledge, which will serve as the foundation for connecting new information, concepts, or procedures. A total of 79 students, aged 16-17, of both genders, from three 10th-grade classes at “Al. Papiu Ilarian” National College in Târgu-Mureș, participated in the study. In order to achieve the research objectives, students were engaged in a project-based learning activity. They went through several stages, with the current study detailing the stage focused on creating the ideal city plans (2D representations). The study emphasizes the necessity of involving students in practical experiences to foster the development of critical thinking and scientific skills.

KEYWORDS:

plan, map, ideal city, geographical thinking, urban facilitiesh

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Conțiu, H.-V.., & Conțiu, A. (2025). Developing Geographical Thinking through the Representation of the Ideal City. Romanian Review of Geographical Education, 14(1), 57-81. http://doi.org/10.24193/RRGE20255.

2025_4

SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS AND THE STUDY OF INDUSTRIAL GEOGRAPHY IN LOWER SECONDARY EDUCATION IN ROMANIA

Viorel PARASCHIV

Technological High School of Tourism Economics, Iași, ROMANIA,
Email: paraschiv03@gmail.com

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4065-6290

Cristina-Georgiana VOICU

Titu Maiorescu Secondary School, Iași, ROMANIA,
Email: voicucristina2004@yahoo.fr

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9299-6551

Gheorghi NICULIȚA

Ion Creangă State Pedagogical University of Chișinău, Faculty of History and Geography, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA,
Email: niculita.gheorghe@upsc.md,

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2240-0569

ABSTRACT

 The first part of the article outlines the place of industry in Romania’s official curriculum, starting with early education, continuing through primary education in subjects such as Mathematics and Environmental Exploration, Science, and Geography, and ending with secondary school Geography. The second part of this article suggests learning activities aimed at raising students’ awareness of errors in 8th-grade geography textbooks and developing both transversal skills (researching, analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating data, as well as investigating) and geography-specific competencies.

KEYWORDS:

secondary school, learning activities, competencies, territory, industrial branches, scientific research

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Paraschiv, V., Voicu, C.-G., & Niculița, G. (2025). School Textbooks and the Study of Industrial Geography in Lower Secondary Education in Romania. Romanian Review of Geographical Education, 14(1), 41-56. http://doi.org/10.24193/RRGE20254

2025_2

ANALYSIS OF RELIEF ON THE MAP IN PRIMARY EDUCATION

Nicoleta-Ioana BOGDAN

Secondary School in Măguri-Bogdănești, Cluj County, ROMANIA.
Email: nicoletabogdan84@gmail.com

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/

ABSTRACT

 The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of using a worksheet to analyze the relief of a small territory, represented on a thematic map. The study involved 16 fourth-grade students. The activity consisted of three stages: in the first stage, a pre-test was applied; in the second stage, students individually analyzed the relief on a hypsometric map and solved the tasks in a worksheet based on this map; in the third stage, a post-test was applied. The results show that students, after the formative intervention, have a greater volume of knowledge about the relief of the commune in which they live. Analyzing the relief represented on the hypsometric map and solving the tasks in the worksheet by students determined positive effects on the volume of knowledge about the relief.

KEYWORDS:

hypsometric map, worksheet, mountain relief, analytical thinking, simultaneous learning, individual activity

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Bogdan, N.-I. (2025). Analysis of relief on the map in primary education. Romanian Review of Geographical Education, 14(1), 17-28. http://doi.org/10.24193/RRGE20252

2025_3

CONSTRUCTING THE SOCIALIST HOMELAND AND PATRIOTISM WITH GEOGRAPHY

Oana-Ramona ILOVAN

Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Geography, and Territorial Identities and Development Centre, ROMANIA.
Email: oana.ilovan@ubbcluj.ro

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2075-1808

ABSTRACT

 The Romanian socialism spanned over a long period (1948-1989), transforming and shaping the education system so as to accommodate and promote communist ideology. Drawing on expert advice from several didactics of geography published during socialist Romania, on how to use propaganda information in geography classes, I employed discourse analysis to show that this process of ideologizing education was a conscious endeavour of didactics of geography authors. One of their aims was to enable geography teachers to construct discursively and visually the socialist nation and socialist patriotism during geography classes. Moreover, propaganda, according to the analysed sources, considered Geography of Romania classes as the main means to present socialist achievements to students and further introduce political messages to them.

KEYWORDS:

didactics of geography, geography education, visual imagery, patriotic education, communist ideology and propaganda

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Ilovan, O.-R. (2025). Constructing the Socialist Homeland and Patriotism with Geography. Romanian Review of Geographical Education, 14(1), 29-40. http://doi.org/10.24193/RRGE20253