Abstract.
A
GIS-based
curriculum does
not exist as of
today
in
Brooklyn
College (other
CUNY
colleges, such
1
as Hunter or
City
College,
have
already
introduced it).
Therefore,
in
2003
we
proposed,
within
the
Department of
2
Geology,
the
development of
a
GIS-based
curriculum. It
will consist of
an
Introductory
GIS - GPS
(Global
3
Positioning
Systems)
course
and
laboratory
–
which will be
opened to all
Brooklyn
College
students willing
4
to start their
specialization in
GIS and GPS,
followed by an
Advanced GIS
course
and
laboratory, open
to
graduate
students from
5
Brooklyn
College
and
other
CUNY
colleges.
A
third GIS-based
course
and
laboratory will
be
Hydrogeology,
6
aimed to the
Brooklyn
College
students
majoring
in
geology
and
environmental
sciences. In the
future
years,
7
this curriculum
will be further
developed by
adding
more
GIS-based
courses in areas
where this kind
of curriculum
will
benefit
8
most
our
students
(archeology,
environmental
studies,
Computer
Information
Sciences,
Sociology,
9
health
and
nutritional
sciences, etc.).
By introducing
this curriculum,
we anticipate a
significant
improvement in
overall
10
academic
achievement of
our
students,
development of
a
studentoriented
campus,
and
advancement
toward
11
becoming
a
“model citizen”
in the borough
of
Brooklyn.
We also are
confident that
the
skills
learned during
GIS
courses
12
will
greatly
enhance
our
students’ ability
to further and
contribute
to
academic life
beyond
the
gates
of
Brooklyn
13
College and to
increase their
chances
on
today
very
competitive
labor
market.
Later on, these
courses will act
as a foundation
14
for a Brooklynbased center for
GIS authorized
training
programs that
will allow us to
issue
GIS
Expert
Certifications.
15
Global
Information
Systems (GIS)
represent
an
information
system that is
designed to work
16
with
data
referred
by
spatial
or
geographic
coordinates. In
other words, GIS
is
both
a
database system
with
specific
17
capabilities for
spatiallyreferenced data,
as well as a set
of operation for
working with the
data.
More
explicit,
GIS
means a set of
18
computer
programs
(ArcView,
ArcMap,
ArcTool,
ArcExplorer,
ArcHydro, etc.)
that
capture,
store, retrieve,
19
analyze,
and
display spatial
data according to
a predefined set
of tasks and in
order to solve
specific
problems
derived
from
20
those tasks. GIS
software is used
by more than
300,000
organizations
worldwide
including most
U.S.
federal
agencies
and
21
national
mapping
agencies, 45 of
the
top
50
petroleum
companies, all
50 U.S. state
health
departments,
22
most
forestry
companies, and
many others in
dozens
of
industries. GIS
software is the
standard in state
and
local
government and
23
is used by more
than 24,000 state
and
local
governments
including Paris,
France;
Los
Angeles,
California, USA;
Beijing, China;
24
and Kuwait City,
Kuwait. On any
given day, more
than 1,000,000
people around
the world use
GIS to improve
the way their
organizations
25
conduct
business.
GIS
software is an
essential tool in
solving various
tasks
in
agriculture,
community
development and
26
land
management,
cultural or social
issues, economic
development,
environment,
homeland
security, hospital
and
health
27
systems, housing
and
urban
development,
human services,
K12 education,
marine studies,
public
health,
public
safety
(fire and law
28
enforcement,
public
works,
transportation,
archeology,
forestry,
etc.
GIS
provide
opportunities for
teachers
and
students
to
29
conduct
scientific inquiry
with
large
amounts of data,
including
geographically
referenced
observational
research in fields
30
spanning
the
natural
and
social sciences.
The complexity
of
these
investigations
offer appropriate
conditions
for
deep learning in
31
critical areas of
science
and
mathematics
identified
in
national
and
state standards.
32
1. Goals.
The
overall goal of
this project is
double folded:
a. Thinking
scientifically.
As a tool or as
an information
33
system, GIS
technology
has changed
the
entire
approach
to
spatial
data
analysis. GIS
has
already
been
34
compared to
not one but
several
simultaneous
revolutionary
changes in the
way that data
can
be
managed. The
35
convergence
of GIS with
allied
technologies,
those
of
surveying,
remote
sensing,
air
photography,
36
the
Global
Positioning
System (GPS),
and
mobile
computing and
communicatio
ns has fed a
spectacular
growth
of
37
these
technologies.
As a result, the
way of doing
business – the
standard
operating
procedure of
geographic
38
and
spatial
information
handling – has
rapidly
restructured
itself.
Nowadays, the
technology of
GIS
has
39
become much
simpler, more
distributed,
cheaper, and
has
crossed
the boundary
into
disciplines
such
as
40
anthropology,
epidemiology,
facilities
management
forestry,
geology, urban
planning,
business, etc.
41
b. Adopting a
business
approach.
Groups
monitoring the
GIS industry
estimate the
total value of
the hardware,
42
software, and
services
conducted by
the
private,
governmental,
educational,
and
other
sectors
that
handle spatial
43
data to be
billions
of
dollars a year.
Furthermore,
for the last
half decade of
the 1990s, and
into
the
current
44
decade,
the
industry has
seen doubledigit
annual
growth. The
growth of GIS
has been a
marketing
phenomenon
45
of
amazing
breadth
and
depth and will
remain so for
many years to
come.
Clearly, GIS
will continue
to integrate its
46
way into our
everyday life
to such an
extent that it
will soon be
impossible to
imagine how
we functioned
before.
47
2. Activities.
The
three
courses
we
propose
to
develop
will
introduces
students to GIS
–a
set
of
48
computer tools
that
allows
people to work
with data that
are tied to a
particular
location on the
earth, and to
GPS
–
a
49
sophisticated
satellite system
used
for
acquiring that
location with a
high degree of
accuracy. The
first
course,
Introduction to
50
GIS/GPS,
is
intended
primarily
for
students
in
geology
and
earth
science
education,
although it also
should be of
51
interest to the
students
majoring
in
environmental
sciences,
biology, history,
or archeology.
GIS is also
intensely used
52
in
environmental
management,
sociological
analysis,
business
marketing, land
use
planning,
and more. The
53
lab portion of
this course will
be using the
recently
acquired
24laptop cart with
ArcGIS
software
installed
on
54
each computer,
as well as 24
GPS hand-held
devices and two
digitizing
tablets.
The
main goal of
this course is to
provide
the
55
students with a
general
understanding
of the GIS
concepts, their
main
utilizations, as
well as handson
about
56
collecting,
managing, and
analyzing data
to
produce
information for
better decision
making
and
interpretation.
This course will
57
also serve as a
foundation for
future courses
incorporating
specific
GIS
chapters, such
as our graduate
Advanced GIS
course.
More
58
specific, we will
work
with
ArcMap,
ArcCatalog, and
ArcToolbox
components,
will master the
coordinate
systems
and
59
map
projections, will
work
with
tables, queries,
spatial
joins,
and
map
overlays.
We
will also do
geocoding,
60
basic editing in
ArcMap,
working with
GeoDatabases,
analyzing
networks, raster
analysis,
collecting data
with hand-held
61
GPS
devices,
transferring
GPS data into
GIS software,
working with
specialized
extensions (3D
Analyst,
Geostatistical
62
Analyst,
and
Spatial Analyst.
The
third
proposed
course,
Hydrogeology,
is aiming at
exploring and
studying water
63
resources with
GIS tools, some
of
them
specifically
designed
for
Hydrogeologic
studies
(ArcHydro).
Beside
the
64
fundamental
hydrogeologic
notions
(Darcy’s Law,
global
hydrologic
cycle and its
interrelations
with
climate,
65
soils,
and
vegetation,
physical
properties
of
surface
and
groundwater
flow,
etc.),
students
will
use GIS as a
66
tool to explore
and learn about
natural
processes and
features
affecting water
resources and
how they relate
to humans and
67
human
activities.
Our department
has discussed
the necessity of
introducing a
specifically
designed GIS
68
exercise
(“Geology of
New York”)
into our
Geology Core
laboratories.
Taking into
account that we
teach more than
69
800 non-major
students each
year, we hope
that exposure to
GIS of these
students will
positively
impact their
view regarding
70
the power of
GIS in solving
problems
targeted to the
student’s major.
3. Outcomes.
Mirroring the
71
College’s
Mission
Statement, the
Brooklyn
College
Technology
Plan
defines
three
72
overarching
goals:
a. “To
maintain and
enhance
academic
quality”.
Brooklyn
College will
73
use a wide
range
of
technology
resources to
support and
enrich
learning,
teaching,
research, and
74
communicatio
n.
GIS
technology
now is used in
ALL
disciplines in
which spatial
distribution is
an important
75
factor
(not
only geology,
but
urban
planning,
sociology,
epidemiology,
economics,
geography,
etc.).
The
76
development
of a GIS-based
curriculum
will add to our
ability
to
provide
students
in
such
disciplines, as
77
well
as
students
in
Core classes, a
more authentic
learning and
research
experience.
b. “To assure a
student78
oriented
campus”.
Through
skilled
and
innovative
applications of
technology,
Brooklyn
College will
79
ready
its
students
for
success
in
both
the
present
academic
environment
and their postgraduate lives.
80
Using exciting
and
interactive
learning
technologies,
Brooklyn
College will
develop
students who
81
are
academically
complete,
technologicall
y competent,
and engaged
by
the
learning
process. Core
82
students and
geology
majors
will
receive
training
in
marketable
skills: the use
of
GIS
software
83
packages. It is
important to
note
that
expertise
in
the use of GPS
and GIS is
valuable
in
any
field
where spatial
84
distribution
plays
a
significant
role; i.e., not
only geology,
but
urban
planning,
sociology,
epidemiology,
85
economics,
geography,
etc.
The
nature of a
GPS-GIS lab
requires
students
to
collect,
examine,
86
model
and
present data
that they have
collected
themselves.
Experiential
learning such
as this places
the student at
87
the center of
the
learning
process. We
teach
more
than
800
students in our
core
course
(Geology 8.2)
and about 10
88
students in out
undergraduate
geology
courses. The
number
of
students
enrolled in the
GIS-based
courses will be
89
limited by the
number
of
available
computers
with
GIS
licenses (24).
c. “To become
a
"model
citizen" in the
90
borough
of
Brooklyn”.
At Brooklyn
College
technology
will be used to
create, extend,
and support
collaboration
91
and
partnerships…
The College
will
also
stimulate and
support
research and
development
of academic
92
and
administrative
applications,
enhancing its
ability
to
further
and
contribute to
academic life
beyond
the
93
gates
of
Brooklyn
College. The
new courses
proposed,
when
combined with
the
future
GIS-GPS lab,
94
will
allow
students
to
collect
real,
spatially-based
data within the
local
community
and beyond,
and construct
95
databases that
directly relate
to
our
community
Brooklyn
College
students could
become
involved
96
directly with
field-based
research
in
partnership
with
organizations
such as the
National Parks
97
of the New
York Harbor.
4. Initial
Results.
During
the
Spring
2004
semester,
history
was
98
made
at
Brooklyn
College:
we
taught the first
GIS exercises to
the
undergraduate
students from
the
Honors
99
Academy
enrolled in our
course
“Climate
Change – Torn
Between Myth
and Fact” and
to the graduate
students
100
enrolled in our
“Hydrogeology
”
course.
During the Fall
2004 semester,
our
undergraduate
course
“Hydrogeology
101
” was taught
entirely using a
GIS curriculum.
The Brooklyn
College Faculty
Council
has
approved
the
introduction of
the
102
undergraduate
“Introduction
to GIS/GPS”
course in the
Spring
2005
semester.
During
the
same semester,
our
graduate
103
course
“Map
Interpretation”
will be 100%
GIS-based.
5. Evaluation.
Introduction of
a
GIS-based
curriculum at
104
Brooklyn
College is a
multi-step
process, aiming
at developing
an
interdisciplinary,
interdepartment
al
GIS-lab
105
housed within
the Department
of
Geology.
Accordingly,
success will be
judged in terms
of extent of
development of
GIS-GPS-based
106
lab exercises,
the number of
faculty
who
choose to adopt
GIS exercises,
the
interest
expressed
by
faculty in other
departments
107
regarding
development of
GIS-GPS-based
student
activities, and
of course, the
reaction
of
students to the
exercises
108
(particularly in
regard
to
attitudes toward
science
and
technology).
Each
new
course that will
be introduced
will
be
109
accompanied by
a
feedback
survey.
The
results of these
surveys will be
compiled
by
professional
evaluators
twice: one at the
110
beginning
of
courses
and
another one at
the
end
of
courses,
and
will be used to
formulate
recommendatio
ns
for
111
improvements
to the teaching
and
lab
exercises.
We will also
add a selfwritten
evaluation for
112
students
to
comment on the
use of GIS, and
to
provide
comparison to
show how it
improves
learning-comparison of
113
grades across
GIS and nonGIS
sections.
We will also
provide samples
of work such as
projects
that
shows how GIS
improves
114
student
learning.
Conclusions.
We started a GISbased curriculum
at
Brooklyn
College
by
introducing three
115
new
courses,
using
GIS
exercises in other
courses,
and
creating
the
background for
an
interdepartmental,
inter-disciplinary
116
GIS lab hosted
within
the
Department
of
Geology. It is
expected that the
new curriculum
will be successful
and will offer our
students
new
117
marketable skills
and our faculty
new opportunity
of teaching and
research.
118