Teaching Geographic Information Science and Technology in Higher Education

About this book

Geographic Information Science (GISc&T) has been at the forefront of education innovation in geography and allied sciences for two decades. "Teaching Geographic Information Science and Technology in Higher Education" is an invaluable reference for educators and researchers working in GISc and Technology providing coverage of the latest innovations in the field and discussion of what the future holds for GI Science education in the years to come.

Stemming initially from the challenges and opportunities of integrating advanced GISc&T technologies into existing college and university programs, GISc&T scientists were soon leading the way in the development of web-based instructional materials, distance education, professional training and certification. This book clearly documents these innovations and takes stock of lessons learned. The content will be of interest to both educators and researchers working in GISc&T as well as educators in other disciplines. More importantly, this book also anticipates some of the opportunities and challenges in GISc&T education in the next decade. As such it will be of interest to chairs, deans, administrators, faculty in other subfields, and educators in general.

The book is edited by arguably the top people in the field who bring a wealth of experience through their own teaching and research in the subject. There is simply no other book on the market and as a result of the Editors standing in the field, they are able to invite contributions from a broad range of academics in a range of institutional settings from an international perspective at all levels of higher education.

Contents

About the editors ix
List of contributors xi
Foreword xv
Editors' preface xvii

SECTION I GIS&T IN THE ACADEMIC CURRICULUM - INTRODUCTION 1
1 GIS&T in higher education: challenges for educators, opportunities for education 3
2 Making the case for GIS&T in higher education 17
3 The internationalization of Esri higher education support, 1992-2009 37
4 Reflections on curriculum development in the US and abroad: from core curriculum to body of knowledge 47


SECTION II ISSUES IN CURRICULUM AND COURSE DESIGN 61
5 Using the GIS&T Body of Knowledge for curriculum design: different design for different contexts 63
6 Scope and sequence in GIS&T education: learning theory, learning cycles and spiral curricula 81
7 Building dynamic, ontology-based alternative paths for GIS&T curricula 97
8 Addressing misconceptions, threshold concepts, and troublesome knowledge in GIScience education 117
9 Active pedagogy leading to deeper learning: fostering metacognition and infusing active learning into the GIS&T classroom 133
10 Where to begin? Getting started teaching GIS&T 145
11 Issues in curriculum and course design: discussion and prospect 159

SECTION III PERSPECTIVES ON TEACHING GIS&T 165
12 The University of Minnesota master of geographic information science (MGIS) program: a decade of experience in professional education 167
13 Geospatial education at US community colleges 185
14 The GIS Professional Ethics project: practical ethics for GIS professionals 199
15 An exploration of spatial thinking in introductory GIS courses 211
16 Teaching spatial literacy and spatial technologies in the digital humanities 231
17 Discussion and prospect 247

SECTION IV DIGITAL WORLDS AND TEACHING GIS&T 255
18 Virtual geographic environments 257
19 Using web-based GIS and virtual globes in undergraduate education 289
20 Trying to build a wind farm in a national park: experiences of a geocollaboration experiment in Second Life 301
21 From location-based services to location-based learning: challenges and opportunities for higher education 327
22 GIS is dead, long live GIS&T: an educational commentary on the opening of Pandora's Box 345

SECTION V DISTANCE AND E-LEARNING 359
23 Media and communications systems in cartographic education 361
24 UNIGIS - networked learning over a distance 383
25 The Esri Virtual Campus 395
26 Delivering GIScience education via blended learning: the GITTA experience 405
27 GIS&T in the open educational resources movement 421
28 Experiences in 'e' and 'distance-' learning: a personal account 439

CONCLUSION 451
29 Ways forward for GIS&T education 453

Index 469

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