I am currently leading a GIS educational resource project supporting COSCs environmental, space, and science education programs primarily serving the school districts and communities of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the San Francisco East Bay region. The goals of the project are 1) to provide schools and the general public access to a wide range of annotated, interoperable geospatial data and environmental analysis, 2) to assist k-12 teachers in developing and implementing GIS based curriculum and in using GIS as a teaching and learning tool, 3) to prepare selected students to use various GIS software and applciations and to undertake various research projects and assist in regional studies, and 4) to develop the public's understanding of environmental and development issues affecting their community, region, state, and the nation.
The project is in the process of 1) developing various introductory GIS and remote sensing courses/workshops for k-12 teachers and their students (the majority of whom come from educationally and economically disadvantaged backgrounds) and the public and 2) developing GIS based environmental and science courses and interactive exhibits for the schools and the science center. Courses/workshops for teachers will be part of a long range regional professional development program (involving 5-8 school districts) aimed at developing teacher understanding of GIS and remote sensing and their applications in the k-12 curriculum and at introducing teachers to specific GIS based curriculum. Courses/ workshops for selected secondary students will be aimed at introducing them to GIS and remote sensing and to various GIS software and applications. These courses will focus on developing students research skills and will involve students in various mapping projects and studies in the neighboring regional parks, water district, cities, and their communities; These courses will also be integrated into a regional (multi county and school district) school to career program.
Courses in GIS and various applications involving selected students in school to work programs will be articulated with degreee and certificate programs at local community colleges. Research findings will be incorporated into all courses. Courses are expected to evolve through teacher feedback and experimentation. Exhibits will be developed on an ongoing bases in part in response to current issues. A web page is currently being constructed and will be able to be accessed at http://www.regis.berkeley.edu.
My formal training is in mathematics. The principle focus of my work over the last 25 years has been in math and science education. For all but the last three years I was senior staff at the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley where I developed and directed several major long range collaborative University school change and curriculum reform efforts aimed at strengthening science and mathematics curriculum and instructional practices in the Oakland and San Francisco School Districts. I have informally studied GIS, cartography, and remote sensing.