Geographic Information Systems Courses Research Articles

Students' Perception Towards the Implementation of Project Based-Learning in Geographic Information System Course

Project Based Learning (PJBL) is a learning model that can organize projects in learning. PJBL can provide opportunities for a student-centered learning system. This learning model is believed to be able to provide solutions to the problems of the education process in Indonesia which is still not optimal. Geographic Information Systems course is a compulsory course in epidemiology specialization. The main objective of the study was to determine student perceptions of the application of the PjBL model in the Geographic Information Systems course. This study used a cross-sectional study design with a sample size of 37 students. Data collection was carried out using a structured questionnaire that had been tested for validity and reliability. Data processing and analysis using IBM SPSS 25.0 software. The results showed that students' perceptions of the implementation of GIS course PJBL predominantly agreed followed by strongly agreed with the implementation of PJBL. This study concludes that student perceptions of the implementation of PPA in Geographic Information Systems courses are very good.

The Development of E-Learning Using Multimedia-Based GIS E-Modules

The aim of this research is to develop an interactive, interesting, effective, and fun multimedia-based e-module for the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) course, which can be accessed online so that it can improve student learning outcomes in e-learning via Moodle LMS. The research method employed is the Research and Development (R&D) method. The research method used is the research and development method, which has been modified by Sukmadinata and consists of a preliminary study stage, a model development stage, and a model test stage. The data used in this research is primary data, a population of teaching lecturers who are experts in teaching Geographic Information Systems courses as an e-module trial. The second primary data is the respondent population of ITB STIKOM Bali students who took the Geographic Information Systems course. The sample used in this study was a simple random sample of students registered to take these courses. The data collection technique used in this research used a Likert scale questionnaire instrument for e-module testing. The questionnaire analysis technique uses the feasibility percentage formula. To determine the effectiveness of the e-module, give a test to a sample of students before and after using the e-module by using the N-gain formula in data analysis. The research findings indicate that the e-module is suitable for use as a learning resource, as it received a positive evaluation from the lecturers who used it, with an average score of 48.5 or 88.2% in the "excellent" category based on Likert scale responses in the questionnaire. Additionally, the e-module is effective for student learning, as evidenced by the N-Gain score of 0.74, with a value greater than 0.7, indicating a high level of effectiveness.

Student and Instructor Ratings in Geographic Information Systems: A Comparative Analysis

Geographic information system (GIS) education empowers engineering students to make informed decisions, integrate comprehensive data, and communicate effectively through maps and visualizations. In GIS education, it is common to employ problem-based learning, which can benefit from the advantages of peer assessment methods. Among the benefits of peer assessment are the enhancement of students’ capacity for analysis and synthesis, improvement in organizational and professional communication skills, and the development of critical judgement. However, a consequence of its application is that there may be variation in students’ final grades, with no consensus in the literature on this matter. This paper explores the extent to which the application of peer ratings among students can modify student grades in the field of GIS education. This was achieved by conducting an experiment in which undergraduate engineering students assessed two problem-based learning activities carried out by their peers in two different basic GIS courses. The ratings obtained after the peer assessment were compared with the grades given by the instructors. The results allowed us to debate whether the teaching benefits of this strategy compensate for the differences between the students’ grades and those given by instructors. Although no clear pattern was found in the mean ratings awarded by the two groups of evaluators, the results show that student engagement in peer assessment was high. This experience has demonstrated that the assessments of the two groups complement each other and allow students to gain a better understanding of their ratings and how to improve their skills.

The Integration of Curriculum Civics Elements in the Teaching of Tourism GIS

Abstract It is possible to use RS, GIS, GPS, and other technologies to collect, manage, analyze, and use tourism geographic information in a system that is based on a tourism geographic information database. These technologies can be used to manage, evaluate, predict, and do other things with tourism geographic information. To integrate ideological and political education elements into the tourism geographic information system course and to establish a new system of ideological and political education and professional courses combined to educate people. Researchers explore the role of teaching practice in enhancing professional performance and ideological and political literacy through controlled experiments and questionnaires. The results indicate that the weight value in the middle of the class, at 0.61, is the most significant component of the teaching link due to the weight setting. The experimental class’s tourism geographic resources test score averaged 86.34, 5.51 points higher than the control class’s, indicating a significant difference (0.04). After the practical teaching, the p-value for the six aspects of civic literacy is less than 0.1. Tourism GIS course: The majority of students recognize the importance of civic literacy. This paper demonstrates the effective combination of tourism GIS and civics teaching so that the course can serve as both a knowledge transfer and value leadership course for students.

DEVELOPMENT E-MODUL GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM BASED ON MOODLE

The development of information technology has affected all fields, namely the field of education without exception. Information technology-based learning (e-learning) is learning where all information is centered on students. If the educator is not present, learning can still be done with e-learning learning which can be accessed using the internet. Current learning at ITB STIKOM Bali, especially in the Information Systems course, is still not effective due to limited learning resources that can increase student enthusiasm for learning. This lack of learning resources for students is a problem during a pandemic and currently facing the digital era due to unpreparedness in dealing with the digital world, this also occurs at the ITB STIKOM Bali campus which still uses learning resources that are less attractive and less interactive which causes students to be less interested to learn. This is supported by data from questionnaire results from 60 students who have completed GIS lectures with previous learning resources, around 72% of students stated that they agreed with the development of learning resources using multimedia e-modules. This course was chosen in the development of teaching materials because teaching Geographic Information Systems requires high-level thinking skills in the process of understanding theory and its applications, therefore higher-order thinking skills play an important role in developing understanding of the material and learning along with it. requires high concentration in digital map digitization. Based on these problems, it is necessary to develop learning resources in the form of Moodle-based multimedia-based e-modules that can be accessed by students online. The method of making an application using the method. The research method consists of literature study, MDLC (Multimedia Development Life Cycle) stages and evaluation. Testing the e-module by giving questionnaires to students taking Geographic Information Systems courses. The software used in making e-modules is Adobe Captivate and other supporting software in photo, audio, and video editing. Testing the effectiveness of the e-module by giving pre-test and post-test to 20 students randomly with an average N-Gain learning result of 0.78 in the high category so the e-module is very effectively used as a learning resource.

Effectiveness of visual communication and collaboration tools for online GIS teaching: using Padlet and Conceptboard

ABSTRACT Geographic information systems (GIS) have become more suitable for online delivery. But teaching GIS online is challenging because, without enough interactions with the instructor or among themselves, students may not understand processes, use critical thinking, and collaborate effectively on a team project. This study aims to evaluate two online visual collaboration tools, Padlet and Conceptboard, in enhancing learner engagement, collaboration, and visual communication in an online GIS course. We analyze 1) usage patterns and their relationship with student performance, 2) students’ opinions on the added values of the tools compared with face-to-face delivery, and 3) students’ qualitative feedback. Student findings show that those tools, particularly Conceptboard, help students get timely help from other students and the instructors, be motivated by participating in discussions and seeing others’ progress, organize and brainstorm project ideas, and summarize and present the final products. The combination of Conceptboard and an online video conference tool is a particularly effective alternative to the face-to-face learning environment. On the other hand, we also found significant challenges with remote teamwork in GIS. The course design incorporating online collaboration tools can provide practical strategies to instructors who teach GIS or similar software online.

Effectiveness of learning materials implementation for spatial thinking ability in geographic information systems (GIS) course

Geography education is realized in learning that combines the study of physical and human geography in a spatial context. GIS Learning in universities is directed to be able to equip students in the use of spatial information which must be accompanied by the ability to manage it cognitively. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of Spatial Thinking Ability learning materials development. The model used in this research and development study was the Dick & Carey model. The field trial was carried out by experimental research using a Quasi Experiment model. The trial design was Post-test Only, Non-Equivalent Control Group Design. The trial was carried out on sixth-semester undergraduate students at Muhammadiyah Surakarta who had taken a GIS course with as many as 41 students. The activity took place in March 2018. In this study, some students were given treatment in spatial thinking ability learning. The result shows a U value of 56 and a W value of 209. When converted to a Z value, the value is -3.943. Sig value or P-Value of 0.000 <0.05.

An evaluation of the use of GIS and open data in secondary school education in South Africa, with reference to QGIS and OpenStreetMap (OSM)

South Africa is one of only a few countries that has Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the secondary school curriculum. Of these few, SA is even more singular as its Geography syllabus includes GIS geoprocessing. Results from this study show that only a minority of teachers teach practical GIS classes irrespective of their Examination Board, access to hardware, how resourced their school is or whether they teach at a private or a government school. The key determinants to teaching practical GIS lessons are the teacher’s perceived GIS expertise and access to spatial data and time. Software, connectivity, and power supply are also identified as challenges. Teachers who participated in the study overwhelming agree that there are numerous benefits to using GIS in the classroom. They also expressed a keen willingness to attend GIS courses and learn more about QGIS. A sample group evaluated how OpenStreetMap (OSM) could be used to create local spatial data and how QGIS can be used to teach the GIS curriculum and used to map local data for individual research projects. There is an urgent need for more current research, both globally and locally, into how GIS can be used more in secondary school pedagogy.

Reimagining GIS Instruction through Concept-Based Learning

Abstract. Research in geographic information science has not yet found clear answers to the questions of what geographic information is about or what a geographic information system (GIS) contains. This lack of consensus makes it especially challenging to teach and learn GIS. Existing pedagogical approaches either focus on the representational level of data (e.g., “raster and vector”) or are too generic (e.g., “geo-referenced information”). This characterization of GIS and its content is difficult for learners to transfer and apply broadly. As instructors, we approach the challenge of teaching GIS from a conceptual basis. We describe our process to develop a set of core concepts of spatial information, which we use to redesign an undergraduate-level introductory GIS course. Our intervention focuses instruction on the kinds of questions that geographic information enables before training students to produce workflows and answers through system commands. The course redesign complements and informs ongoing research on core concepts of spatial information. Our results demonstrate that GIS courses can deliver more than software training, indicating both theoretical gains and didactic challenges.

Mapping an American College Town: Integrating Archival Resources and Research in an Introductory GIS Course

Scholars who use primary resources in teaching and research have documented the rewards of integrating archival collections into undergraduate- and graduate-level courses. There is a gap in the literature, however, regarding how these invaluable resources can effectively be integrated into geographic information systems (GIS) courses as a means for increasing students' information and data literacy skills. This study seeks to address this gap by expanding empirical research on how librarians and instructors can collaborate on course projects to better embed information and data literacy techniques. In particular, this article will focus on a final course project designed by a special collections librarian and a GIS librarian, who was the instructor of record, for an undergraduate- and graduate-level introductory GIS course. We emphasize librarian collaboration in the project design process and highlight the skillsets students learned by completing this assignment, including but not limited to: primary source research, database creation, geocoding, historical and spatial data interpretation, and geographic information literacy. Our goal is to promote this type of collaboration to increase students' information literacy abilities and to reap the benefits of hands-on, primary resource driven projects that integrate geospatial technologies.

Curriculum Design for Upper- and Advanced-Level GIS Classes: Are New Skills being Taught and Integrated?

Geographic Information System (GIS) skills are increasingly marketable across a wide range of industries, subject areas and specialized fields. As a result, GIS courses draw students from a plethora of disciplines beyond geography, including business, social sciences, agriculture, geology, natural resources and computer science. At advanced teaching levels, this disciplinary diversity generates questions about how complex GIS skills are being taught to students who do not necessarily have a background in geography or the spatial sciences. This study compares undergraduate and graduate course curricula to determine what topics, techniques and theory are being addressed and prioritized in GIS courses across pedagogical levels. We surveyed 1,698 courses being taught at 126 research universities in the United States. Our findings point towards a shift in pedagogy that favours technique- or application-centred lessons at advanced levels that require less background knowledge in geography than more theory-centred teaching methods. Our findings also suggest that a large number of graduate courses, even introductory courses ones, fail to address many fundamental GIS concepts and theories. Together, the results suggest a need for standards to ensure that students enrolled in GIS classes are properly trained to enter the workforce with appropriate skills.

Teaching GIS outside of geography: a case study in the School of International Development, University of East Anglia

The importance of developing employability skills of graduates has become a strategic priority in higher education. Knowledge of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools is a valuable skill for graduates both in terms of the specific skillset it provides and of the wider transferable skills. This paper discusses the importance of GIS as an interdisciplinary and employability skill within the setting of a weeklong intensive GIS course taught in the School of International Development at UEA. GIS as an employability skill within a commercial setting is discussed, with the focus on how to teach GIS most effectively in this setting.

Development of critical spatial thinking through GIS learning

This study developed an interview-based critical spatial thinking oral test and used the test to investigate the effects of Geographic Information System (GIS) learning on three components of critical spatial thinking: evaluating data reliability, exercising spatial reasoning, and assessing problem-solving validity. Thirty-two students at a large state university completed pre- and post-tests administered during the 2010 fall semester. This study found positive relationships between GIS learning and critical spatial thinking. We argue that the improvement can be attributed to students' experiences in a GIS course.

GIS learning objects: an approach to content aggregation

Content development and maintenance of geographic information systems (GIS) related courses, especially designed for distance and online delivery, could be a tedious task even for an experienced instructor. The paper outlines application of abstract instructional design techniques for modeling course structure and developing corresponding course content using the concept of learning objects. The paper elaborates on theoretical and methodological aspects of using learning object to design a family of the subject-related courses. Feasibility of the developed methodology is illustrated by the practical implementation using author-it component content management system. The developed course content pyramid, learning objects, and other course content components were used to compile lectures and laboratory assignments for different GIS courses, designed both for in-class and online delivery.

Teaching Introductory Geographic Information Systems through Problem-based Learning and Public Scholarship

Teaching geographic information systems (GIS) requires linking concepts with technical skills, which can be challenging, especially in standard lecture and laboratory-format courses. This paper reports on an introductory undergraduate GIS course that incorporated a community-driven problem-based learning exercise as a major component of the course. Analysis of student performance and course evaluations indicates that the exercise was effective in aiding student learning of GIS, while also teaching research and other professional development skills, and providing insight into an important social issue within their community. Benefits and cautions are discussed from the perspective of students, instructor, university and local community.

THE SKILL SETS FOR GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM FOCUS: COMPETITIVE INTELLIENCE IN THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS CURRICULUM

Geographic Information System (GIS) is becoming more and more widely used in many different areas of application, but the workforce skilled in the technology is still in short supply. GIS courses to provide the needed training are becoming available at various levels in colleges and universities. We share our experience in the design and development of new GIS courses, including a brief survey of the equipment and sources of data needed to launch a GIS course. We then analyze the course syllabus design to focus on the skill sets needed to meet the demands of the going trends in the IS/IT market place. The skill sets include: (1) skills in data and files manipulation, (2) spatial analysis and statistical reasoning, and (3) graphic arts design in map presentation. We also discuss the on-going development of GIS technology, and how the IS curriculum may plan to prepare students for these future trends.

Scaffolding Instruction in a University-level GIS Course

This article describes action research conducted in a university geographic information systems (GIS) certificate program. This research was employed with the goal of improving students' transfer of GIS/ global positioning systems (GPS) skills to field settings, independent projects, and to future employment. This scaffolded instruction was evaluated by analyzing students' work and their perceptions of the field experience using GPS with GIS. Although GIS and GPS are increasingly used in concert by planners, little instructional research into the integration of these technologies in university urban studies or planning curricula has taken place. The evaluation of the active scaffolded learning field exercise showed that the urban studies and planning students demonstrated mastery and transfer of field-based GIS and GPS data collection and management. The evaluation supports a scaffolded instruction approach in a GIS curriculum, one that engages students and results in positive learning outcomes.

Geographic information systems

This paper discusses the development and delivery of an upper level computer science elective course in geographic information systems (GIS). GIS applications span numerous and diverse fields, but it is computer science that holds the key to the understanding and development of the underlying spatial database and programming for custom applications. Here the authors discuss the benefits and challenges of a GIS course for students, faculty, and researchers.

GIS and Colleges of Business: A Curricular Exploration

Geographic information systems (GIS) have become a powerful research and operations tool in the world of business, especially in real estate. However, few geography departments in the United States combine the fundamentals of business curricula with their most important geospatial technique—GIS. This study explores whether colleges of business in institutions of higher education in the U.S. incorporate GIS courses into their curricula to ensure that graduates have a better comprehension of spatial analysis in business endeavors. From a sample of 140 public and private institutions across the country, this study identified only five colleges of business that include GIS courses in their curricula.

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Geography Majors in the Workplace: A Comparison of GIS/AIS Curricula

Today's Geography graduates are employed by a diverse set of employers, and the jobs these individuals fill are as varied as the field of Geography itself. Geographers who join corporate workplace teams may need to find common grounds for communication with their business school‐trained colleagues. This cross‐disciplinary study examines the curricula of introductory courses in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and one of its business counterparts, Accounting Information Systems (AIS), through an analysis of GIS and AIS textbooks. The findings suggest that there are areas in which shared background exists. Introductory information about systems, and an understanding of database architectures are the most likely areas of commonality; depending on which GIS text was used during the geographer's training, the geographer may also share background in such areas as systems analysis, database management systems, and data modeling.