Toward consensus on a European GIS curriculum: the international post-graduate course on GIS

Abstract

Abstract At the Department of Geoinformation of the Technical University of Vienna, a European Community funded project to develop an International Post-Graduate Course on GIS is underway. This intensive course is intended for participants with a variety of disciplinary backgrounds and experience who need a broad theoretical overview of GIS coupled with the necessary knowledge and skills to apply GIS in real situations. As curriculum design for GIS courses is normally carried out by a very small group of individuals, curricula generally reflect the specifics of the experience or disciplinary environment of these individuals. For this European project, a widely acceptable course curriculum was needed. This required the cooperation of experts from different disciplines, across many application areas and from different countries. A Delphi survey method combined with a meeting of a small number of GIS education specialists was used to achieve the necessary balance in the curriculum. The survey was used to determine the general content of the course and allowed the varied opinions of the group of European GIS experts to be merged towards a consensus. It resulted in the development of a list of important topics that need to be taught. Following completion of the survey, the GIS education experts met to review this list and discuss the concerns raised in the survey. These discussions led to the development of a Course Blueprint which describes the organisation of the course into 18 instructional units and outlines the objectives and contents that will be achieved in each of them.