Curriculum Issues Group
Summary of Principal Research Issues
Submitted by: Sonia Wardley, Monica Ramirez, Bob Loudon, Dan Barstow
Editorial comments on this section should be directed to Sonia
Wardley.
Some of the issues which guided our discussion were:
- The teacher implementors of K-12 GIS can be broadly divided into two
groups: the GIS informed and creative and the GIS receptive. Each group
will have different expectations of a GIS curriculum.
- Any curriculum framework must be linked to national content standards
and benchmarks in the discipline in which it is to be used, if it is to
receive wide spread acceptance.
- All curricular materials should be investigatory in nature, to encourage
problem solving, independent thinking, and individual learning.
Research Goals:
- To develop independent GIS disciplinary curriculum frameworks which
correlate with existing geography, evironmental science, or earth science
curricula and address national standards and benchmarks in these disciplines.
The supposition here is students studying these curricula would receive
the appropriate social studies or science credit, depending on the course
emphasis.
- To develop GIS programs which can be integrated into different disciplines.
Here GIS will be used as a tool to facilitate exploratory learning in other
subject areas, for instance: geography, earth science, environmental science,
and math.
- To develop exemplary materials including data sets, which are investigatory
in nature. These will use GIS to help students learn key concepts and skills
and meet national content standards and benchmarks in geography, science,
or math.
Ancillary Research Questions:
- What should a GIS curriculum include?
- What is it essential to know about GIS theory to successfully use it
as a tool, from both the teacher's and the student's perspective?
- How can GIS be used in scientific inquiry?
- What are the relative educational merits of externally directed versus
teacher-student generated investigations for student learning?
- Which aspects of remote sensing should be included in GIS educational
materials?
- What are the specific connections between GIS classroom materials and
the national standards.
- How can curricula be designed which will lead teachers and students
to independent usage of GIS.
- Which specific topics within a curricular framework would be most amenable
to GIS supported learning.