Curricular Connections: High School Geography and Geographic Information Systems

Sarah W. Bednarz, Texas A&M University
and Gail Ludwig, University of Missouri, Columbia

The number of high school geography teachers using geograpic information systems (GIS) is increasing. These pioneers, however, represent only a fraction of the individuals teaching geography. In contrast, science teachers have adopted GIS as a teaching tool much more readily. The diffusion of GIS among high school geography teachers is hampered by a number of factors, for example, lack of teacher training, hardware and software issues, and time constraints. The more fundamental barriers to implementation of GIS in high school geography include teacher conceptions of the nature of geography, curricular goals and expectations, and a dearth of accessible materials which demonstrate ways GIS can be used to teach typical high school geography. This paper examines these issues and presents an analysis of state-mandated high school geography/social studies curriculum for links to GIS.

Sarah W. Bednarz
Department of Geography
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas 77843-3147
email: s-bednarz@tamu.edu

Gail Ludwig
Department of Geography
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211
email: gailmo@showme.missouri.edu