Mapping a Path to the Future

GIS, K-12, and Science Education

Alibrandi, Marsha. (2002, April). Geography is Everywhere: Connecting Schools and Communities With GIS. Learning and Leading with Technology, 29(7), 32-37.

In "Geography is Everywhere: Connecting Schools and Communities With GIS", Marsha Alibrandi illustrates how GIS, a professional tool used to communicate digital information, can be utilized in K-12 education to facilitate project-based learning activities. Alibrandi reports on five different schools, primarily located in the Northeastern region of the United States, who have implemented GIS as a tool to aid in teaching community-based problem solving skills. Her interests focus on determining the evolution of various industry partnerships resulting from GIS implementation, student's interpretation of what they were learning and contributing to the community, and how the teachers perceived what the students were learning and giving back to the community. As part of her research she discovered central to all five schools was the importance of collaboration among industry partners and teachers, ultimately resulting in the sustainability of GIS in the K-12 curricula. Perhaps most pivotal to her research, was the idea that students can contribute meaningful information to their community while participating in a unique learning opportunity. Alibrandi concludes by stressing the importance of schools contributing to the community that supports them, highlighting that GIS is one plausible way this can be accomplished.

Baker, Thomas R. (2005, February). Internet-Based GIS Mapping in Support of K-12 Education. The Professional Geographer, 57(1), 44-50.

In his paper, "Internet-Based GIS Mapping in Support of K-12 Education", Thomas Baker explores why, over the last decade, GIS has had a slower than anticipated growth curve in K-12 education. He provides detailed information about the connections between standards-based education, obstacles to desktop GIS, and the ultimate role for Internet-based mapping in K-12 education. Common barriers associated with using desktop GIS in the classroom include lack of time to implement the technology into the curriculum, outdated systems that are ill-equipped to handle complex technology, and the regimented daily grinned of K-12 education. Baker illustrates that by implementing Internet-based mapping teachers, administrators, and students will be equipped with a powerful tool that will aid in overcoming the challenges of adopting GIS in the classroom. It is imperative, Baker points out, that GIS obstacles are met head-on, as GIS serves to be a powerful tool in the future of inquiry-based education; where teachers act as facilitators, while students are encouraged to discover and learn by utilizing critical thinking skills. Internet-based mapping redirects student and teacher learning to use GIS as a supplimental tool to heighten their learing, versus spending their time learing to use the technology.

Dillion, Deborah and Lemar, Shea. (2000, July-September). Using Mapping to Solve Community Problems. <http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0700/auth.html> (August 2006).

This article highlights the contributions of the City of Phoenix, Arizona, AT&T, and ESRI in fostering a project aimed at involving adolescents in community-bases problem solving. Project AuThenTiCITY focuses on involving community youth in contributing to the sustainability of the place they live in. Educators who actively participate in AuThenTiCITY receive a learning curriculum and ArcView GIS training. Students gain valuable insight into the step-by-step process of scientific inquiry, including reporting their results to the city and participating in decisions about community change and improvement. AuThenTiCITY is an evolutionary program where everyone involved benefits.

Gatrell, Jay D. (2004). Making Room: Integrating Geo-technologies into Teacher Education. Journal of Geography, 103, 193-198.

In "Making Room: Integrating Geo-technologies into Teacher Education", Jay Gatrell takes a deep look at current teacher licensure programs and the plausibility of incorporating GIS and GIScience into the education programs and how this integration could impact pre-service teaching programs. Gatrell focuses on how the International Society for Technology Education's National Education Technology Standards (ISTE NETS) will be used to move beyond current geography curriculum and cross the chasm by integrating geosciences into social science and earth-space science pre-service licensure programs. He is quick to point out that the ISTE NETS should not strive to change content areas, but rather supplement and support them. In his paper, Gatrell suggests that pre-service training should move beyond training teachers to use GIS technology; rather, equip them with the skills necessary to teach with the technology. Enabling teachers with this ability will result in more inquiry-based education where students develops fundamental skills to ask more probing questions, leading to a more in-depth understanding.

Gutierrez, M., Coulter, B., and Goodwin, D.R. (2002, September). Natural Disasters Workshop Integrating Hands-On Activities, Internet-Based Data, and GIS. Journal of Geoscience Education, 50(4), 437-443.

In their paper, "Natural Disasters Workshop Integrating Hands-On Activities, Internet-Based Data, and GIS", Melida Gutierrez, Bob Coulter, and David Goodwin examine the challenges faced by today's educators to entice student inquiry and learning in the sciences. The authors point to recent research that suggests that the cause and effect relationship associated with natural disasters provides educators with a powerful tool for leading inquiry-based teaching modules. Utilizing natural phenomenon as a teaching tool the authors designed and offered a week long workshop to thirty K-12 teachers. The workshop provided the teachers with the skills and knowledge necessary to develop hands-on activities utilizing internet-based data about natural disasters and GIS software. This workshop is but one of many currently being offered in conjunction with the Missouri Botanic Garden, the Missouri Geographic Alliance, and Southwest Missouri State University to promote the use of GIS technology in K-12 education. Guteirrez, Coulter, and Goodwin go on to note the importance of implementing GIS into the curriculum as it not only encourages inquiry-based learning, but it also supports different learning abilities. Visual learners reported the benefits from being about to visualize the spatial relationship of the data.

Kerski, Joseph, J. (2003), The Implementation and Effectiveness of Geographic Information Systems Technology and Methods in Secondary Education. Journal of Geography, 102, 128-137.

This paper uses research conducted on geographic information systems in K-12 education to determine how GIS is currently being used in classrooms and evaluates its effectiveness as a supplementary teaching tool. Joseph Kerski illustrates three goals in conducting his research: first, determine to what extent GIS is being implemented in secondary education in the United States; second, explain how and why GIS is being implemented into curriculum; and finally, assess the effectiveness of GIS as a tool for teaching inquiry-based lessons. The author draws on previous research that substantiates that the focus has, thus far, been to teach about GIS rather than teaching with GIS. Kerski's research is supported by a thirty-three item survey that was mailed to 1500 high school teachers currently owning GIS software. Additionally, Kerski gleaned information from experiments and case studies conducted at three high schools. Feedback from the surveys led Kerski to surmise that the majority of K-12 educators are veteran teachers. Technology wasn't the main barrier to implementing GIS into the classroom; rather, social, educational, and political factors stood in the path of effective implementation of GIS in the K-12 classroom. The case studies showed an interesting role reversal between teacher and student, resulting in more dynamic communication and teaching methods.

Linn, S., Kerski, J., and Wither, S. (2005). Development of Evaluation Tools for GIS: How Does GIS Affect Student Learning?. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 14(3), 217-222.

In their article, "Development of Evaluation Tools for GIS: How Does GIS Affect Student Learning?", Sophia Linn, Joseph Kerski, and Sarah Wither examine a project developed by the Colorado Geographic Alliance (COGA) and the USGS to quantify the benefits of GIS in advancing student learning. The authors recognize the beneficence of GIS in K-12 curriculum, but are in agreement with administrators and teachers, that to justify future funding, a tool to measure such benefits must be developed. Ten teachers were chosen to participate in the development of the necessary tools. To effectively determine the benefits of GIS a three-pronged approach was devised: a quantitative assessment, using a pre-determined rubric; a qualitative evaluation, using observed student behavior; and student perception, determined by utilizing student reflections in the form of journals and surveys. This project is in the beginning stages, but can be used as an initial measurement of the effects GIS on inquiry-based education and justifies further research.

Lucking, Robert A. (2003, January). Layers of Information: Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Science Scope, 26, 54-57.

In his article, "Layers of Information: Geographic Information Systems (GIS)", Robert Lucking equates GIS to the tool that will pave the path for the way science educators teach science in the future. Lucking believes that by combining GIS with powerful desktop mapping, remote sensing, and database management systems a gap will be bridged that will give teachers the ability to develop interdisciplinary curriculum. He believes this will lead to a broader understanding of geography, Earth science, physics, and biology. With greater emphasis placed on inquiry-based teaching, Lucking believes GIS provides the tool to encourage students to explore, analyze, and learn in a self-directed fashion, with the teacher acting as a facilitator of knowledge. On a final note Lucking points to an interesting application not yet addressed in previous literature I have encountered; using GIS to measure academic achievement. He provides an example where GIS illustrations, used as an interpretative exercise question, can prompt students to answer a series of multiple choice questions relating to the activity.

Meyer, J.W., Butterick, J., Olkin, M., and Zack, G. (1999, November).GIS in the K-12 Curriculum: A Cautionary Note. Professional Geographer, 51,(4), 571-578.

The focus of this study is to identify factors that can hinder the successful adoption of technology and GIS to K-12 curriculum. In this paper the authors, Judy Meyer et. al, follow two qualitative case studies. The authors draw on past research citing availability to appropriate technology, time to learn and implement the technology into the daily curriculum, and ongoing training and support as critical issues regarding GIS based curriculum. The first case study, centered on teacher input, was comprised of thirteen science teachers from grades 7-12 with credentials in social studies, math and science. After spending a week learning two GIS software packages and a week developing curriculum utilizing the new technology they provided constructive feedback. Concern about hardware and software availability and time were concerns indicated by the teachers. The second case study involving seventh and eight grade students from the gifted/talented program focused on the student's ability to learn the technology, spark interest in local geography, and refine practical problem solving skills using GIS. Again, the same issues were of concern, availability to technology, time, and continued training. Despite the concerns, students did show significant improvement in their ability to utilize and understand the GIS technology. In conclusion the authors end by saying that GIS is a powerful tool, but should be used to enhance the learning process, not the focus of it.

West, Bryan A. (2003, November-December). Student Attitudes and the Impact of GIS on Thinking Skills and Motivation. Journal of Geography, 102(6), 267-274.

In the article, "Student Attitudes and the Impact of GIS on Thinking Skills and Motivation", Bryan West draws on the relationship GIS has on the development of improved cognitive ability. West further hypothesize student attitudes, motivation and the learning experience are substantially improved when GIS is used as an instructional tool. In his paper West offers a detailed explanation of how successfully using GIS to tackle geographic problem solving boosts student development of more efficient heuristic skills. West further details how GIS enables students to move beyond the adages of geography as a mere data set; rather, GIS fosters a desire to investigate how the data has relevance to them, their family, and the community around them. Testing West's hypotheses involved administering pre and post surveys to students using ArcView 3.1 between the years of 1999-2002.