What to consider when preparing a model core curriculum for GIS ethics: objectives,methods, and a sketch of content

The purpose of this article is to provide a summary of what is known about teaching ethics in engineering, science, and related disciplines. Such a summary should provide a useful starting point for preparation of a detailed curriculum for teaching the ethics of geo-coded information systems broadly understood (“GIS ethics” for short). It attempts to answer the following questions: What is “ethics” for the purpose of GIS? What is teaching ethics? What objectives should teaching ethics have in a technical curriculum? What methods should be used? How should student work in ethics be assessed? How should the teaching of ethics be assessed?     

Small core,big network: a comprehensive approach to GIS teaching practice based on digital three-dimensional campus reconstruction

Geographic information science (GIS) features a wide range of disciplines and has broad applicability. Challenges associated with rapidly developing GIS technology and the currently limited teaching and practice materials hinder universities from cultivating highly skilled GIS graduates. Based on the idea of “small core, big network,” a comprehensive and interesting approach to GIS teaching practice is introduced in which a variety of key knowledge areas and technologies are effectively incorporated into a single project. A year-long assignment based on this approach was conducted, providing the students with practical training and successfully resulting in a digital three-dimensional representation of the campus.     

Student perspectives on the teaching of geographical information systems (GIS) in geography degrees

In an era when graduate employability is a key concern, the teaching of geographical information systems (GIS) has become a subject of considerable interest. This paper reports on a study of the GIS student learning experience using student survey data from six UK geography undergraduate programmes. The findings show that although students’ satisfaction levels are generally encouraging, more could be done to capitalize on the opportunities GIS offers both for the discipline and for our students. Recommendations are made for further enhancing the profile and quality of GIS pedagogy in geography curricula.     

Evolving technology,shifting expectations: cultivating pedagogy for a rapidly changing GIS landscape

As humans and natural processes continuously reshape the surface of the Earth, there is an unceasing need to document and analyze them through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The public is gaining more access to spatial technologies that were once only available to highly trained professionals. With technological evolution comes a requirement to transition traditional GIS training for the next generation of GIS professionals. Traditional GIS combined with non-traditional GIS (i.e. mobile and location media) and CyberGIS educational materials could attract new and diverse students into Geography departments while informing the next generation of geospatial tool builders and users. Here we pose an applied pedagogical framework for teaching cutting-edge GIS material to diverse student populations with varying levels of technological experience and professional goals. The framework was developed as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) CyberGIS Fellows program and was applied as a course template at the University of Washington Tacoma’s Master’s of Science in Geospatial Technologies. We chart how the framework developed into a cyclical structure from our original conceptualization as a hierarchy. This changed the epistemological orientation accommodating the shifting technological terrain of the GIS landscape to improve the skills of those driving the machines.     

Doing Independent Overseas Fieldwork 1: Practicalities and pitfalls

This article explores issues of scalability and sustainability in distance learning. The authors kept detailed records of time they spent teaching a course in geographic information science via the World Wide Web over a six-month period, during which class sizes averaged 49 students. The authors also surveyed students' satisfaction with the distance learning course through ratings and open-ended questions. Findings are compared with similar data collected a year earlier, when class sizes associated with the same distance learning course averaged 18 students. In response to the increase in average class size by a factor of 2.7, the authors' course-related workloads increased by a factor of about 2.5 (from 47.5 hours to 116.7 hours total). Analyses of student feedback suggest that student satisfaction with the course was high overall and suffered no significant decline as a result of increased instructional efficiency.     

Illuminating spaces in the classroom with qualitative GIS

As social and postmodern ontologies continue to shape our definition of space, undergraduate instructors have struggled to incorporate these paradigms in the geography classroom. Recent research suggests that practical applications using field work, qualitative research, and geographic information science can augment students’ understanding of these spatial ontologies. Qualitative GIS holds promise as a means to integrate these methods in geographic education, yet there are no signs to date that the methodology has transitioned from research to teaching. This paper details our attempt to incorporate qualitative GIS into an undergraduate urban field studies course in lieu of a strictly lab-based GIS assignment. We outline our approach before discussing students’ engagement with the assignment in greater depth. Drawing from field experiences and deliverables across four terms, we argue that teaching from a qualitative GIS framework can effectively communicate the fundamentals of modern spatial theory and geographic research methods to students as they investigate problems in the field. We also note recurring challenges to mixed-methods teaching for students unfamiliar with the new methods presented. We close by discussing avenues for instructors in different circumstances, e.g. personal skills sets and class characteristics, to consider qualitative GIS in their classrooms.     

Doing Independent Overseas Fieldwork 2: Getting Funding

The development and testing of a Web‐based GIS e‐learning resource is described. This focuses on the application of GIS for siting a nuclear waste disposal facility and the associated principles of spatial decision‐making using Boolean and weighted overlay methods. Initial student experiences in using the system are analysed as part of a research project on teaching GIS concepts to large numbers of students with little or no prior GIS experience. Some general thoughts on the utility of Web‐based GIS for learning and teaching are presented. Results from the first cohort of 167 undergraduate/postgraduate geography students using the system indicate that students find it easy to use, a useful aid to learning about the issues involved, and a thought‐provoking exercise in Internet‐based democracy.     

Video annotation software application for thorough collaborative assessment of and feedback on microteaching lessons in geography education

This article discusses the process and findings of a study in which video annotation (VideoANT) and a learning management system (LMS) were implemented together in the microteaching lessons of fourth-year geography student teachers. The aim was to ensure adequate assessment of and feedback for each student, since these aspects are, in general, a shortcoming of micro-lesson facilitation. VideoANT is an online environment synchronizing web-based video application with timeline-based text annotations, and it was imported into and managed in the university's LMS called eFundi. The web videos of the geography students' micro-lessons on VideoANT were made accessible by the lecturer according to a rotational time schedule managed in eFundi. This enabled students to assess fellow students' micro-lessons in a collaborative blended learning environment and to receive feedback on their own lessons. Qualitative as well as quantitative data were collected, and the results indicate that geography student teachers held positive views of these technology applications for geography microteaching in particular and for their teaching training in general.     

Geography,GIS and employability in Turkey

Although higher education in Turkey does not have especially well-advanced systems and resources for addressing graduate employability, two developments are making it particularly important for Turkish geography departments to give increased priority to this agenda. One is the country’s new Higher Education Qualifications Framework and the other is a major increase in geography student numbers, which means that geographers seeking school teaching posts (traditionally seen as the natural career pathway) now hugely outnumber the posts available. Against this background, this paper proceeds to explore the potential of geographic information systems (GIS) to contribute to geographers’ employability in Turkey through a study involving the views and experiences of academic staff, students and employers. The paper reveals a mixed picture of both opportunities and challenges. It ends with a series of employability recommendations for geography and GIS in Turkey, a number of which could also be of wider relevance elsewhere.     

认知地图空间分析的地理学研究进展

认知地图是环境意象构成要素、要素间的距离和方向信息最为完全的表现形式,综合反映了居民对城市的认知和城市对居民的影响,是行为地理学核心研究内容之一。论文基于认知地图空间分析的视角,全面梳理了国内外的手绘地图研究、认知地图扭曲研究、地名认知/距离认知/城市空间结构认知、认知地图居民属性研究,提出了国内努力的方向。     

The Ethics Minefield: Issues of responsibility in learning and research

Google Glass was deployed in an Urban Studies field course to gather videographic data for team-based student research projects. We evaluate the potential for wearable computing technology such as Glass, in combination with other mobile computing devices, to enhance reflexive research skills, and videography in particular, during field research. The utility as well as the limitations of Google Glass are discussed, including its actual and potential application for teaching and data gathering purposes in the field. As such, this article constitutes one of the first instances of evaluating Google Glass as a social science research tool.     

新课程下地理学习的评价

地理教师的评价应该渗透到教学过程的各个环节之中,针对学生学习的学习特点和心理特征,采用灵活多样的评价体系,基于《地理课程标准》理念,从多角度、多方位出去,建立以激励性机制为主的科学的评价机制,通过评价激发学生的学习积极性,使每个学生都得到充分发展。     

Redesigning Physical Geography 101: bringing students into the discussion

This article analyses student-learning outcomes from the redesign of Introduction to Physical Geography 101. Among the purposes of the redesigned course were to enhance student learning by providing rich interactive online content, provide more meaningful instructor–student and peer–peer exchanges, and to promote attitudes that facilitate student opportunities to construct new knowledge. Through empirically testing two of the redesigned course’s key components on students’ learning, we determine the positive effects on students’ exam scores. We offer, despite the additional work required from instructors and teaching assistants for such a redesigned course, that with further refinement these pedagogical changes may offer potential longer term impact on students’ learning behaviors.     

Flipping and still learning: experiences of a flipped classroom approach for a third-year undergraduate human geography course

The flipped classroom approach, a form of blended learning, is currently popular in education praxis. Initial reports on the flipped classroom include that it offers opportunities to increase student engagement and build meaningful learning and teaching experiences. In this article, we analyse teacher and student experiences of a trial flipped classroom application in a third year undergraduate human geography course that challenges conventional thinking and practice in resource management, including an explicit focus on the marginalization of Indigenous knowledges in that context. The flipped classroom trial included empirical research with teachers and students to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of this mode of learning. Interviews, focus groups, surveys, reflections and participant-observation activities were conducted before, during and after the course. The research shows that this particular implementation of the flipped classroom approach generated multiple experiences for teachers and students, some constructive, others less so. Overall, space, time and flexibility matters not only to the kinds of pedagogical tools we employed to tailor learning to students’ differing needs, but also to the kinds of learning spaces – online and offline, individually and in groups – in which learning happens.     

Teaching introductory GIS programming to geographers using an open source Python approach

Computer programming is not commonly taught to geographers as a part of geographic information system (GIS) courses, but the advent of NeoGeography, big data and open GIS means that programming skills are becoming more important. To encourage the teaching of programming to geographers, this paper outlines a course based around a series of laboratories that aims to provide an introduction to programming. Methods for teaching and assessment are recommended. These laboratories use core spatial concepts that are relevant for all areas of geographic study, and use an open source Python approach that has wider logistical and pedagogical benefits.     

浅谈初中英语教学中的学生自主学习

自学能力的培养对学生获得知识、获得其它能力的发展有促进和加速作用。在中学阶段培养学生英语自学能力是非常重要的,这需要教师在教学过程中对学生进行有计划、分层次的训练,激发学生的求知欲,使自学成为他们内在的需要,使学生从苦学到乐学,从学会到会学,他们才能真正获得适应社会需要的学习能力。     

浅谈“数学情境”的创设

教学实践证明：最好的学习动机是学生对所学的内容产生浓厚的兴趣。因此在教学中,教师精心创设教学情境,组织丰富而有趣的教学活动,能有效激发学生的学习兴趣和探究意识,产生求知欲望,积极参与到“想探究”、“想尝试”的过程中来。营造一个快乐的学习氛围。     

A hard binary to shake: The limitations and possibilities of teaching GIS critically

This paper builds upon studies employing a syllabi-based methodology that suggest a tendency for critical geographic information science (GIS) courses to emphasize reading/discussion about GIS without actually doing GIS, and for traditional GIS instruction courses to emphasize the technical capacities of GIS software without incorporating critical theory in substantive ways. However, through ethnographic evidence we reveal that there is likely more innovative theory-practice transcending pedagogies being utilized than would necessarily show up in such a syllabi-based methodology. There are also very real and differentially manifest pragmatic, departmental, and institutional barriers in place to effectively incorporating critical social theory into courses that actually do GIS. We first catalogue these barriers as a means of ascertaining what can (and cannot) be done to overcome them through GIS pedagogic innovation. We then outline the (often-veiled) pedagogic strategies deployed by critical GIS scholars today to navigate and circumvent these barriers.     

Active learning through online quizzes: better learning and less (busy) work

Active learning is increasingly promoted within institutions of higher education to assist students develop higher order thinking and link knowledge to meaning. In this paper, the authors evaluate the use of weekly online quizzes based on prescribed preparatory material as a tool to incentivize preparatory reading in order to enable and encourage active learning. The study is based on mixed data sources, including three years of student-evaluation data, to understand student perceptions of the role and value of online quizzes. The study shows a high level of student engagement with the quizzes and positive assessment of their role in encouraging the completion of prescribed reading. Online quizzes were found to be an effective mechanism for incentivizing student completion of preparatory work, enhancing active learning (such as through in-class discussions), and were relatively time efficient from the perspective of the educator.