Disaster preparedness is one concern in Indonesia for natural disasters have frequently occurred in the country, both geologically and environmentally. Disaster preparedness focuses on activity series which are related to organizational ability, spatial thinking, and decision-making abilities. However, the two latter are still unconcerned. This study aims to improve disaster preparedness through spatial thinking. It is an action research, with the subject of 32 high school students who were studying geography lesson. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques. The study results are: (1) there was an increase in students’ knowledge about disasters with the classical completeness of 92%, proving the effectiveness of the learning process (2) It is easier for students to understand the concept of disaster through spatial thinking. Spatial thinking includes three components, namely: (a) the spatial concept as the space and direction, such as points, regions, distances, which are vital during disaster; (b) tools of representation, such as maps of an area as representations of the real-world; (c) the process of reasoning for problem-solving through a spatial perspective by using a variety of cognitive skills and knowledge. Therefore, schools need to facilitate teachers to implement spatial thinking-based disaster education in preparing young people to face disasters.

Disaster education in Indonesia has been initiating after the Aceh Tsunami disaster in 2004 which was one of the major disasters that have ever occurred in Indonesia. Disaster risk reduction efforts have been carried out by the Indonesian government by revising the national curriculum. This aims to improve prevention efforts and preparedness for the school community. School students in Indonesia are in extreme risk of natural disasters, especially when they are in school. In this context, a few educational programs for disaster risk reduction (DRR) have been integrated into school subjects. Therefore, this study aims to analyze and evaluate the changes in the geography curriculum for secondary schools that have been revised in Indonesia. The new curriculum began to be implemented in 2013. In this context, this article will focus on analyzing geographic curriculum content that integrates disaster related material that is taught to high school students. Evaluating curriculum changes is aimed at building students’ disaster knowledge with geographic learning in an effort to improve disaster preparedness.

The Covid-19 pandemic almost stalled the face-to-face learning method in all institutions across the globe. Consequently, for learning to continue uninterrupted, there was a need to change teaching mode to online using social media and other platforms. This research aimed to examine the effectiveness of online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic and the challenges geography students faced in implementing this type of study. The research used a descriptive qualitative approach involving questionnaires designed to determine the implementation of online learning and the challenges encountered. The questions were structured through synthesizing various components of learning. Random selection was used to select 305 participants from various higher education institutions in the Aceh Region, Indonesia. The results indicated that online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic was effectively implemented. However, some challenges were encountered, including students who could not fully participate since they could not log in to the provided learning platforms. Furthermore, students from rural areas had poor internet connectivity besides the inability to buy internet quota. There were many instances of reported power supply failures, and this hindered online learning. Overall, learning geography during the pandemic was effective, though it had a fair share of challenges. The research also identified the need to develop an online learning model, teaching material, and multimedia in supporting geography-based online learning.     Keywords: Assessing; Effectiveness; Geography-based online learning; Covid-19; Higher education Copyright (c) 2021 Geosfera Indonesia and Department of Geography Education, University of Jember     This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share A like 4.0 International License

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