Page 175 - GIS for Science, Volume 3 Preview

The final projects deserve particular attention because they represent the culmination of the class for the students, and in several instances, the first time students had chosen and pursued projects of their own interest without the tight constraints of an academic discipline. We work with students to help them craft projects that are important to them and that can be done within the time available with existing data. Many students chose an area of scientific inquiry that’s amenable to the application of geospatial technologies. They can hone their scientific reasoning and problem solving while using cutting-edge technology.
The work in Virginia has led to other adoptions of the GSS. Pacific University in Oregon and the Chicago Public Schools have created versions of the GSS in hopes of offering their students similar opportunities. We’ve been in discussion with schools in Beijing and Redlands, California, about starting programs.
The stories from the GSS are similar to stories from several other programs that have featured GIS during the last two decades. Programs such as EAST (https://www. eastinitiative.org/) and 4-H have offered students in-school and after-school hands- on programs that provide exposure to GIS software and data. However, the GSS now has behavioral and cognitive data to support the anecdotes about its effectiveness.
SUMMARY
We’ve taken an in-depth look at the impact of extended high school coursework using GIS to address a variety of interesting problems. We observed dramatic changes in student behavior and cognition after a yearlong experience. These findings lead to more research questions, and we’re now embarking on a new project to try to determine how much exposure to geospatial technologies will provide similar behavioral and cognitive results.
Ultimately, it is the students’ experiences that motivate and propel them into scientific and geospatial careers. When asked what she might say to a high school student in light of her experience, Becky Schneider offered the following: “GIS is so much more than IT or computer science, and the applications of this type of knowledge and background are endless. You can take this knowledge and apply it anywhere from environmental science to intelligence analysis, work in either the public or the private sector, and have so much fun along the way!”
When Drew Mehfoud was asked what advice he would give to schools considering the GSS, he replied, “I would tell any schools considering the class to do everything they can to add it. The class is interesting, challenging, teaches a highly demanded skill, and is worth college credits! The class changed my mind on my future aspirations and could do the same for a student at any other school. I highly recommend, if able, adding a GIS class to the list of classes available for students to take!”
Many of the thousands of students who’ve participated in the GSS share these sentiments. Through their experience, they’ve built their critical thinking and spatial reasoning skills and been exposed to the broader world of geospatial technologies and their applications. We hope our work will support the adoption of the GSS and similar programs more broadly around the world and open this experience to a range of students who’ll be prepared and eager to make a difference in the many scientific disciplines described in this book.
Support for this research was provided by the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center and the National Science Foundation (DRL 1420600).
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