Space Grant Consortium - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
Space Grant Consortium - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
Space Grant Consortium - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
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Background<br />
Expanding GIS Across the Curriculum<br />
Jennifer Johanson<br />
Physical Science Department; Alverno College 1<br />
Milwaukee, <strong>Wisconsin</strong><br />
Alverno College is a women’s college located in Milwaukee. About one-third <strong>of</strong> our students<br />
are minorities, and a high percentage <strong>of</strong> our students are the first generation in their families to<br />
attend c ollege. O ur s tudent m akeup t argets m any <strong>of</strong> t he unde rrepresented g roups t hat N ASA<br />
hopes t o r each. A lverno’s a bility-based c urriculum f osters de velopment <strong>of</strong> e ight s pecific<br />
abilities; pr oblem s olving, a nalysis, c ommunication, de veloping a global perspective, effective<br />
citizenship, s ocial interaction, va luing i n de cision m aking, a nd a esthetic e ngagement. T hese<br />
eight abilities a re explicitly ta ught in d ifferent c ourses across th e c urriculum a nd v alidated<br />
through assessment at four developmental levels.<br />
Geographic Information Systems ( GIS) i s pa rt <strong>of</strong> a group <strong>of</strong> related geospatial d ata co llection<br />
and management technologies, including remote sensing and global positioning systems (GPS),<br />
which routinely use both Earth and satellite-based data. GIS technology allows a user to look at<br />
data in a d ifferent way, placing spatial and/or temporal data on a map. Visually mapping data<br />
makes it easier to pick out spatial and/or temporal patterns. As such, GIS is a natural tool to help<br />
teach logical thinking, allowing students to see spatial patterns rather than looking only at graphs<br />
and tables. Geospatial technology has been widely used in urban planning, environmental and<br />
earth s ystem s ciences, a nd m ore r ecently i n o ther f ields. H ealthcare, s ocial s cience, b usiness,<br />
and education have begun to routinely use GIS, as well as emergency planning and emergency<br />
response. G IS i s us ed i n t racking t he s pread o f di sease, l ocating crime patterns, f inding s afe<br />
travel routes in natural disasters, etc.<br />
Alverno College f aculty w anted t o i ntegrate t he us e <strong>of</strong> G IS t echnology into bot h s cience an d<br />
non-science co urses i n p art t o i ncorporate a n ap preciation o f t he impact o f aer ospace<br />
technologies in widely varied majors in many different disciplines. GIS technology is a natural<br />
tool for teaching many <strong>of</strong> the abilities, as well. F or example, looking for trends and patterns is<br />
part <strong>of</strong> t he a nalysis a bility, and e ffectively pr esenting i nformation on a m ap i s pa rt <strong>of</strong> t he<br />
communication a bility. However, w ithout f aculty t raining or p r<strong>of</strong>essional de velopment<br />
opportunities in G IS, f aculty w ould not b e ab le t o p rovide ef fective l earning ex periences f or<br />
students.<br />
<strong>Wisconsin</strong> <strong>Space</strong> G rant C onsortium ( WSGC) provided A lverno C ollege a n in itial two-year<br />
Higher E ducation Initiatives gr ant f or a pi lot p roject t o i ntroduce GIS technology into our<br />
curriculum in 2005, which allowed us to establish a new course in GIS, promote the GIS course<br />
as an elective or required course in selected majors, and use the course to train faculty and staff<br />
in the use <strong>of</strong> GIS and its role in different disciplines. In 2007, WSGC awarded Alverno a second<br />
two-year Higher E ducation Initiatives gr ant, w hich ha s a llowed A lverno t o f und G IS-related<br />
1 Funding for this project provided by <strong>Wisconsin</strong> <strong>Space</strong> <strong>Grant</strong> <strong>Consortium</strong><br />
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