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The Role of Geographical Information Systems in Environmental EducationAbstract The purpose of this study was to examine whether a new GIS in environmental education program was effective for middle school students. Students were to gather climate information countrywide and enter it into the database for map construction. This was the beginning stage of the GIS usage program. Findings were to be used for the next stage of the program in which students will gather additional information related to weather changes such as crop destruction, insect population changes, and more. A case study was used to examine the program outcomes. Student and teacher surveys, teacher observations, and focus groups were used to gather data. Findings showed that students were able to gather data and make maps, however, teachers reported needing further training and support for the next phase of the program and students need concepts to be related to real life situations. Introduction The purpose of this study was to examine whether a GIS in environmental education program was effective for middle school students. Geographic information systems (GIS) in education assist educators, researchers, and students with the understanding of issues related to spatial data and the earth (U.S. Department of the Interior, 2005). For example, GIS provide methods to analyze information about the earth as it relates to topics of land use, population, climate, natural hazards, vegetation, geology, and more. Technology is used to provide computerized land maps, satellite images, data based, graphs, and aerial photographs. Digital map data has been available since the 1970s and these maps provide information that allow for the analyzing of urban growth, effects of mining and other research, weather concerns, and more (U.S. Department of the Interior, 2005). GIS assists with government decision-making and it helps universities and industry understand data sets for geographic analysis. Geography examines patterns of the earth regarding the physical environment and the people and this is assisted with GIS. GIS also helps with surveying of the Earth and studying the Earth from space. GIS assists elementary, secondary, and university level students. Schools teach students about GIS with related courses in geology, environmental studies, business, engineering, and geography. Schools also help student understand earth science, biological science, chemistry, geography, history, and even mathematics. In addition, GIS is an important research tool for all higher education industries (U.S. Department of the Interior, 2005). There are numerous examples of studies of the use of GIS. For example, Langley (2001) reported on the use of GIS by education administrators. Since there must be enough schools to ensure that each student has access to an education, it is important for administrators to understand land use and its relationship to the building of new schools. Role planners must use geographic information such as pupil numbers, teacher numbers, home areas, parent status, eligibility for school lunches, needs for special education, and more to plan for the building of new schools and the utilization of existing schools. GIS provides a visual representation of this data and shows existing schools across the city as well as geographic information related to each. Results related to the different schools can also be mapped. Findings may point to the need to redistribute students rather than build new schools. Mehra and Heidorn presented an example in which citizens use EcoWatch programs to gather information and act as citizen scientists. Since professional disciplines in environmental sciences or other fields may use complex terminology, the average citizen may not be able to understand it much less analyze data. GIS provides visual information that can be easily understood and used by the lay public. GIS shows patterns, trends, and relationships in ecology and it provided an educational tool for citizens as well as students. Mehra and Heidorn noted the example in which GIS helped students to comprehend conservation ecology, as required by a statute in 1957 (Conservation Education Act 105 ILCS 415) that demanded that conservation education be taught to students in Illinois schools. EcoWatch programs provided teachers and students with GIS information to assist with this goal. EcoWatch data collection procedures assisted with the curriculum materials and teaching of science and ecology to students. GIS visualization tools helped students understand data and how it was related to environmental issues and decision-making policy. GIS also assisted in the understanding of data from ForestWatch. Graphics and maps showed forest wealth and vegetation survival as part of the Illinois ForestWatch program. Desktop mapping software was used to create and demonstrated maps related to survey data. Themes were made visual with maps. The maps showed drainage patterns, road networks, county boundaries, trees per site, species per sites, land cover types, ages of trees, spread of disease, exotic species, pollution, and importance of findings. Wiegand (n.d.a) reported further on the use of maps and atlases as reference tools in school and the role that these play in helping children understand the world. According to this author, literature on maps in education regards the ability of children to read and interpret maps and the ability to use them. The research therefore focuses on the use of the maps rather than the maps themselves. Wiegand outlined literature on educational cartography or the making and study of maps for educational purposes. Findings were negative and showed concern regarding the quality of educational map products and teacher training in their use. Findings also showed that schools are not keeping up with the new developments in cartography such as digital maps. Weigand (n.d.b) studied pairs of students from different ages groups (14-15 years and 16-17 years) and found that older students were more engaged in the reasoning and questioning of the maps while all students tended to focus on cartographic strategy rather than on technical aspects of the functions of GIS. Weigand (n.d.a) also studied 50 pairs of students, ages 11-14 years who were to make maps. Findings were that the type of talk was related to map quality and older children used more related to cartographic concepts. Fargher (2006) reported further on the need to include GIS in education, noting results of the application of GIS in geography education. Fargher stated that universities utilize GIS most in geography courses and other schools fail to use GIS due to learning needs and costly training. Despite these barriers, digital GIS has been shown to be a productive tool to teach geographical information. Students are provided with a spatial view of the world and this facilitates geographical thinking. Local and distant places are portrayed to allow the student to understand a wider range of data. A study of good practices across North America, Europe, and Australia, demonstrated that it is important for teachers to become competent in GIS and be able to help students understand GIS data. They must master many educational paradigms using GIS data and use this as a tool to teach. They must also master assessment paradigms and understand policy dimensions in order to teach students with GIS tools. In addition, teachers respond to support from other teachers and they learn from their peers. Teachers share strategies and this contributes to the building of knowledge and ability to use GIS in education. Lyons (1998) reported findings from a project that touched on the use of GIS for environmental education for students in grades K-12. A web-based program was used that provided data regarding seasonal changes and animal migrations. Students collected data related to seasonal events and this went into a master database. GIS software was used to help over 100,000 students worldwide but most students were located in North America. A mailing list was also provided by the Internet source; students shared their findings and communicated with each other. Online quizzes and activities were also provided. The project sought to explore how GIS application furthered the goals of the program, understand data types that were most useful, develop GIS applications from student observations that could be used by students to advance their education, and import data to a master database correcting for errors (Lyons, 1998). Data was mapped to show patterns of migration events and exposure to GIS. Patterns and migration data were gathered along with information regarding population density, transportation networks, precipitation, vegetation, soils, land modification, climate, land production, fault lines, elevation, political borders, rivers, major cities, and U.S. Federal lands. Journey North Data Explorer ArcView applications were used to show and analyze data. Findings from the study showed that this GIS tool provided a step toward use of the GIS in environmental education. This GIS application provided students with tools to gather their data and analyze findings from numerous databases. It was recommended that a school survey be conducted to further the application of GIS to education and improve its use (Lyons, 1998). Methodology A case study approach was used for this research paper. Case study is a type of nonexperimental research. This research strategy differs from other types of research in that it examines an existing situation. This situation typically includes a practical problem that must be resolved or an event that is of interest to the researcher. The case study does involve an empirical inquiry related to a situation or real-life situation. The case study is appropriate if there is an immediate situation that requires investigation, there is no clear distinction between context and phenomenon, and if there are multiple sources of evidence (McBurney, 1994). For this study, a new program designed to use GIS in environmental education was introduced to students from a local junior high school. Students were instructed about GIS and how to use GIS to gather information about the weather changes over the last ten years across the country. Students ranged in age from 11 to 13 years. Students were taught how to make maps and use a computer program that allowed for the making of these maps. The maps showed the average weather for each season for each year, countrywide, for the last ten years. Students were to gather this climate information and enter it into the database for map construction. This was the beginning stage of the GIS usage program. Findings are to be used for the next stage of the program in which students will gather additional information related to weather changes such as crop destruction, insect population changes, and more. This will provide a database for analysis. This case study was designed to evaluate the initial stages of the new program in order to make necessary changes prior to going on to the next stage of the program. As recommended by Lyons (1998), student and teacher surveys were conducted to determine program effectiveness, teacher ability or needs for further training and support, student applications, and outcomes. Teacher observations of students during the learning procedures were recorded and this data was presented on survey questionnaires. Focus groups with students and teachers provided further and more detailed information about the program and its outcomes. For this study, ten teachers and twenty students agreed to participate in the focus groups and complete the surveys. Results Survey Findings. The survey findings revealed that teachers found that they were able to teach students how to make maps and use the computer software but they believed that they required further assistance and ongoing support for the next stage of the program. Students reported liking the program and wanting to use computers to gather data and make maps. They reported being more interested in computer use and making graphics than actually understanding how to analyze data. Teacher Observation Findings. Findings from teacher observations showed that students were able to master the GIS concepts and tools and worked together to complete assignments. Teachers reported that the students appeared to enjoy learning with these techniques. Teachers also reported that students were enthused by the graphics and ability to use computers more so than by what they were actually learning. However, compared to traditional methods of teaching, students appeared more interested in what they were learning. Student Focus Group Findings. Focus groups with students showed that they wanted to learn more about GIS and its application to environmental learning. The students came up with their own ideas about what they wanted to learn. While some were interested in the weather and related effects, others wanted to learn more about tornadoes and earthquakes. When they were informed that this was part of learning about weather and related consequences, they demonstrated enthusiasm about going on to the next phase of the program. Teacher Focus Group Findings. Focus groups with teachers demonstrated findings that teachers remained enthused about the program but they expressed apprehension regarding the next phase. They had some problems handling the software when compiling data countrywide. For example, listing the weather according to an average per season, posed difficulty for some. Teachers reported that they would ask each other for a solution whenever they ran into a problem. Teachers also reported that they felt that students would be more interested in the content of the databases if it were related to their lives in some way. The notion that GIS allowed them to study the weather countrywide was not as interesting as expected. Instead, students wanted to understand how they themselves would be affected by the weather. For example, they demonstrate exclamation whenever they learned something about their own city. Product and Student Outcomes. Other outcomes of the program included the maps generated by the students. All students were able to understand and make the maps and manipulate the databases. Conclusion In conclusion, it appears that the first phase of the program was successful since all students demonstrated their ability to understand and utilize GIS in environmental education. However, study findings also pointed out shortcomings of the program and needs for change prior to the second stage of the program. Teachers reported needing additional training and support before going on to the next stage. In addition, teachers and students both reported the need to apply findings to real life situations to provide more meaning to the students. While students remained interested in the use of the computers they failed to maintain high levels of interest regarding the content learned. As the gathering of data became more complex and less relevant, student interest waned and was only maintained by the colorful graphics. Findings are applicable to the development of the second phase of this specific program and can be used to facilitate the understanding of program needs in general. Studies show that schools are lagging behind in their use of GIS in environmental education for different reasons (Fargher, 2006). One of these barriers is the lack of teacher training, which was also noted by this study’s outcomes. Teachers will require more training and the establishment of ongoing support systems prior to going on to the next phase of the program. Research findings by Wiegand were that only the older students tended to display reasoning and questioning strategies, which is a finding that was supported by this study. Students in this study failed to show interest or tendencies for utilizing reasoning strategies and they tended to show more interest in the computers than asking questions about the content. Thus, for the second phase of the program, an effort to relate concepts to real life situations for the students must be included. Limitations of the study are relevant to the use of the case study to analyze the situation. The case study does not allow for comparisons across subjects or to evaluate the outcomes in a true experiment. While the case study provides more detailed findings related to a specific situation, in this study, these findings are based primarily on self-reports, which may have limited results. Since students and teachers were part of a study, this may have affected study habits and responses. For example, students and teachers may have provided more favorable responses. However, since both teachers and students appeared willing to point out the shortcomings of the program, it appears that this bias was not a problem.
References Fargher, M. (2006). Linking lessons learnt from the spatially speaking project with research findings on pedagogies with GIS. [Internet]. Available from: www.geography.org.uk |
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