Pandemic teaching during COVID-19 has further magnified the unsustainable and fraught nature of teaching across schools and universities worldwide (Singer 2020). The remote turn to emergency remote ...teaching (ERT)--so-called "Zoom University" (Martin et al. 2020)--brings with it immense challenges of access, equity, outreach, and mental health that are impossible to understand and quantify (Heim 2020; Hodges et al. 2020). This article reflects on the authors' ERT experiences specific to teaching Introduction to GIS during an ongoing pandemic. The courses, facing a constant need to adapt, adjust, flex, and flow, were under significant pressure to support students in extraordinary circumstances while maintaining the necessary content and organization for student success beyond the GIS classrooms. The authors employ an autoethnographic approach, particularly the Butz and Besio (2009) typological category "Personal Experience Narrative" to reflect and develop insights into their thinking and reactions throughout the challenges of a full ERT semester of COVID-19--impacted GIS instruction, as well as those of their teaching assistants (TAs) and students, during the Fall 2020 semester. With another semester of COVID-19 affecting higher education ahead, the goal is to share their experiences, successes, failures, and practices to inform others of lessons learned in these times.
Students in geographic information systems and science (GIS) require significant experience outside of spatial analysis, cartography, and other traditional geographic topics. Computer science ...knowledge, skills, and practices exist as essential components of GIS practice, but coursework in this area is not universally offered in geography or GIS degrees. To support those interested in developing such courses, this paper describes the design and implementation of a server-focused course in WebGIS at Texas A&M University. We provide an in-depth discussion of the equipment and resources required to build and operate an on-premise CyberGIS server infrastructure suitable for supporting such classes, providing comparisons with an equivalent solution built on Amazon Web Services (AWS). We consider the comparative costs of these systems, including benefits and drawbacks of each. In comparing these deployment options, we outline the technical expertise, monetary investments, operational expenses, and organizational strategies necessary to run server-based CyberGIS courses. Finally, we reflect on assignments and feedback from students and consider their experiences in a course of this nature. This article provides a resource for GIS instructors, academic departments, or other academic units to consider during infrastructure investment, curriculum redesign, the addition of courses in degree plans, or for the development of CyberGIS components.
Exploring the 260 AVAs in the United States is an exciting journey in geographic variation. An under-explored area of interest is the Nutmeg State - Connecticut. Despite ranking in the bottom quarter ...of wine producing states, Connecticut's wine geography is varied and nuanced. With three distinct AVAs, 79 bonded wineries, and hundreds of millions of dollars of estimated annual economic impact, wine in Connecticut deserves a deeper look. This essay reflects on the nature of wine production in Connecticut by reviewing the establishment of its three AVAs, considering the factors that went into their establishment by reviewing documentation from initial proposals published in the federal register, and mapping the separate AVAs in question. Further, discussion of the newest Connecticut AVA, the approval of which in 2019 makes it one of the newer AVAs in the country, investigates how wineries are adopting the use of these AVAs on their production.
Patterns of habitat selection for sympatric urial Ovis vignei and Siberian ibex Capra sibirica are poorly known, in part because there are few places where such overlap exists. Using envelope ...modeling methodology, we analyzed location data of these species in the Hindu Kush range along the Wakhan Valley of the Wakhan National Park (10,950 km2) in northeastern Afghanistan, recorded during field surveys in April-May of 2011, 2015, and 2018. Distribution models showed significant ecological niche differences (P < 0.05) between urial (a true sheep species) and ibex (a true goat species) for most variables. Urial stayed at lower elevations compared to ibex, both species tended to avoid flat areas, but urial avoided slopes above 60 %.
Urial used southeast-facing slopes more, and west-facing slopes less, than available, whereas ibex had a slightly more than expected use of southwest-facing slopes. Urial preferred terrains with ruggedness index (∼20–40) of the values available (15–60), whereas ibex were more generalist in terrain preference. Urial utilized habitats closer to human activity areas compared to ibex. Both species utilized the higher quality vegetation areas (NDVI > 0) and showed the same avoidance of lower quality areas. Understanding selection criteria of habitat use by urial and ibex in Wakhan Valley, inhabited by over 14,000 people and their livestock (ca. 78,000), will enable adjustments to the protection schemes regarding the requirements of two key mountain ungulate species critical to the sustainability and conservation of this unique ecosystem. This type of information is very scarce in the literature for the sympatric mountain ungulates in Asia.
Geographic Information Science (GIS) is fully embedded as a foundational information technology across domains and areas of practice. With this significance, the nature of the knowledge, skills, and ...practices in GIS requires regular reflection to quantify how GIS learning is structured, and to understand what the next generation of GIS professionals is learning and needs to learn to continue their geospatial practice. We investigate a subset of academic units classified as Esri Development Centers (DCs) to understand the nature of the teaching and learning in GIS taking place at these institutions. Esri DCs are university departments recognized for GIS excellence and provided with access to specialized Esri software and technology. This article discusses the differences in GIS degree programs offered by Esri DCs both in the United States and Europe, the achievements of students crowned “Esri Development Center Students of the Year” at each qualified university, and the relationships between the student accomplishments, GIS degrees, and GIS courses offered at the university where the project was completed. This research finds a strong relationship between the degree requirements and the focus area of student project winners, and a high representation of computational practices, like coding and geocomputation, in GIS work.
Geographic information systems (GIS) are fundamental information technologies. The capabilities and applications of GIS continue to rapidly expand, requiring practitioners to have new skills and ...competencies, especially in computer science. There is little research, however, about how best to prepare the next generation of GIScientists with adequate computer science skills. This article explores how U.S. geography departments are introducing and developing computer science and programming skills in their geography and GIS degree programs. We review the degree requirements in fifty-five geography departments and discover that forty-four of them offer some kind of GIS programming course. Of the 210 separate degree options identified, however, only 22 require one of these courses for a degree. There is little consistency or emphasis on computer science and programming skills in geography or GIS degrees, despite the immense importance of these components in geography and GIS careers. We propose future research along distinct investigative tracks to build a research-based understanding of the educational interactions among GIS, computer science, programming, and geography.
This case study surveyed students in geography courses at the University of Idaho, investigating perceptions of geography's role in their daily lives, relevance to careers or academics, and parts of ...their geographic skill. Primarily, white, younger than 20, gender-balanced students in Introduction to Physical Geography and Human Geography courses comprised the study sample. A sample of 265 students formed the pre-course survey and 82 students formed the post-course survey. Pre-course, men held a more positive sense of geographic skill, while women viewed more positively geography's relevance to careers and academics. Post-course, women's agreement concerning geography's role significantly increased, outpacing men's agreement.
The debate regarding geographic information systems (GIS) as tool, toolbox, or science still lingers in geography departments and among geographers. Analysis of geographic information is a vital ...component of decision making among business, governments, researchers, and academics. GIS users, geographers and nongeographers alike, use and benefit from problem-solving methods in numerous fields and contexts, making the use of GIS and the core competencies associated with using GIS a topic of intense debate. Complicating this ongoing discussion is the rise of data-centric approaches to research in geography that further expand the capabilities of spatial analysis and add to the expected knowledge of a GIS user and analyst. Building on a panel discussion at the 2016 American Association of Geographers (AAG) annual meeting, as well as informal dialogues on Twitter and other social media platforms that navigate this issue in academics and industry, this article explores how skills in research computing and programming operate in geography and GIS, especially given the rise of data-centric approaches to research in these realms. Some topics, like the costs and benefits of open and closed source software, are familiar from previous discussions in geography and GIS. Others, though, like the reward structures and recognition for computing skills or programming ability, have not been widely considered given the current landscape.
Understanding of fundamentals of computer science and abilities in programming are becoming more important components of the GIS practitioner's skillset. As the frontiers of GIS expand into areas of ...inquiry and modes of operation which require such domain capabilities, teaching and instruction in GIS must begin that shift as well. And while the knowledge, skills, and practices of the GIS practitioner have always been in flux, the range of potential topics from computer science and programming to integrate into GIS instruction is a major pedagogical challenge. This paper examines a range of syllabi from variant GIS programming courses to explore the landscape of programming coursework. Through content analysis, these syllabi reveal three general themes: courses built on learning scripting with Python, courses built on learning fundamentals of WebGIS, and courses built on learning fundamentals in geodatabase design and management. While each of these focus areas are impactful skills for GIS learners to explore, there is by no means any consistency or cohesion in how GIS programming courses operate, nor does there seem to be any general resources or approaches to unify course design. More work is necessary among GIS instructors to begin building evidence‐based practices in GIS programming instruction.
Key Messages
Courses in GIS programming have variant design, structure, and format.
While three general themes of course content are identifiable, course design and function are very uneven.
Curriculum and course development work to build evidence‐based computer science and programming instruction is a major research need.
Les plans de cours et l'enseignement des SIG : tendances et pratiques dans l'intégration de l'informatique et de la programmation
La compréhension des principes fondamentaux de l'informatique et les capacités de la programmation deviennent des éléments de plus en plus importants de l'ensemble des compétences des praticiens des SIG. Alors que le champ d'intérêt des SIG s'étende dans des zones d'enquêtes et des modes de fonctionnement qui nécessitent de telles capacités, l'enseignement et l'apprentissage des SIG doivent eux aussi prendre ce virage. Et bien que les connaissances, les compétences et les pratiques des utilisateurs de SIG aient toujours été en fluctuation, l'étendue des thèmes reliés à l'informatique et à la programmation à intégrer dans l'enseignement des SIG est un défi pédagogique majeur. Le présent texte examine un éventail de plans de cours variables de programmation des SIG pour scruter l'angle des travaux exigés en matière de programmation. À travers une analyse de contenu, les plans de cours révèlent trois thèmes généraux : les cours reposant sur le scriptage de l'apprentissage avec Python, les cours reposant sur les principes fondamentaux de l'apprentissage des SIG sur le Web et les cours reposant sur les éléments de base de l'apprentissage de la conception et de la gestion des bases de données géographiques. Bien que ces domaines d'intérêt aient des effets sur les capacités d'approfondissement des étudiants en SIG, on constate qu'il n'y a aucune cohérence ou cohésion dans la façon dont les cours de programmation en SIG fonctionnent, tout comme il ne semble pas y avoir de ressources générales ou d'approches pour unifier la conception des cours. La sensibilisation auprès des enseignants en SIG paraît nécessaire pour adopter des pratiques davantage fondées sur des faits concrets dans l'enseignement de la programmation des SIG.
CyberGIS is an interdisciplinary field that merges components of cyber‐infrastructure, geographic information science, and spatial analysis. This fusion combines the technical capabilities of ...advanced cyber‐infrastructure with the spatial analysis capabilities of GIS. How expert GIS practitioners perceive, use, and value the various components of CyberGIS is unknown, making student preparation for CyberGIS competency difficult. To address this gap, we reviewed the CyberGIS literature to develop a set of 37 key CyberGIS concepts. Then, we used Q‐methodology to interview 20 expert GIS users to understand the components of CyberGIS they viewed as most applicable to their GIS practice. Three distinct conceptions of CyberGIS expertise emerged: the spatial analyst, the domain‐specific problem solver, and the CyberGIS‐enabled computer scientist. The CyberGIS‐enabled computer scientist emphasized the underlying technologies which allow spatial analysts to discover and implement advanced methods and processes in GIS, which are then utilized by problem solvers to address domain‐focused issues. These three contrasting perceptions of CyberGIS expertise raise questions about the nature of curriculum and instruction appropriate to develop competent CyberGIS practitioners. With the identified variety of expert practices concerning CyberGIS, confusing practices and contrasting visions of the nature of CyberGIS reveal a need for instructional organization.
