Understanding the meaning of uncertainty in geography education: a systematic review

Abstract

In the field of geography education, the term uncertainty is present yet varies in its definition and conceptualisation. This paper presents an overview of definitions and concepts of uncertainty in geography education, where the term is used in different contexts. This overview is especially important for geography teachers and scientists because their understanding is intrinsically linked to their teaching and research. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was conducted. The selected publications (n = 63) were all published in the English language and analysed using qualitative content analysis. It was evident from most of the publications that no explicit definition of the term uncertainty exists; however, there are references to definitions from other authors as well as implicit definitions and specifications of the term (e.g. scientific uncertainty). The term uncertainty can be defined and conceptualised differently using science-oriented, knowledge-oriented, action-oriented, and decision-oriented approaches, together with references to different categories, such as actor groups or the temporal dimension. Each of these categories is addressed in this systematic literature review.