• Informative Meetings—Excellent Networking
• Call For Presenters
• Teaching GIS, not “with” GIS, Without Feeling Guilt

At the risk of being self-promoting, the Maine GIS User Group has been putting together some very good meetings lately. Credit goes to a number of people, but most importantly you—the members. We are an informal user group but we have had some excellent and informative meetings lately. I believe we are sharing good projects, offering a chance for users to discuss those always-present technical problems, and (I hope) having some fun.

GIS in Maine is growing.
We are planning the agenda at this time—see the “call for presenters.” We are particularly interested in a natural resources theme. This is also our Annual Business Meeting where you, the members, can recommend topics and agenda for the coming year’s events.

On a personal note, I have had a tremendous pleasure working with the current and past Board of the Maine GIS Users Group. I will be stepping off the Board and am confident that in-coming board members and the returning members will continue the excellent tradition that has been set for MEGUG.

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The Maine GIS Users Group is planning its Annual meeting. We expect an increase in GIS activity and awareness as the Maine Library of Geographic Information gets underway and more and more students are being trained in GIS in Maine. Our theme for speakers is GIS and Natural Resources and we are looking forward to an informative day-long GIS session with "Users helping Users".

We invite you to speak at its 2003 Annual Meeting. Preference will be given to those applications that will be of interest to natural resource applications, but other applications will be considered. Poster presentations are welcome as well. Posters will be available for viewing throughout the day.

We seek presenters to make 20-30 minute presentations that will include time for questions and answers.

If you are interested in making a presentation or have questions please send email to John Holden, jholden@emdc.org. Please include the title of your presentation, a short description of you and your firm\agency, and 2-4 sentences describing the presentation.

Submission Deadline: April 25, 2003

We will accommodate as many presenters as we can. In the event that we have to select presenters , we will select those that 1) Closely follow the theme of the meeting, 2) We believe will have the highest level of interest to the most attendees.

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We all recognize that GIS is multidisciplinary in nature, and that teaching GIS ranges from teaching application software to fundamental research in many different academic disciplines. I have taught GIS since 1998 in a Liberal Art College as an elective course. I teach GIS to students who work in different natural resource fields who wish to use GIS as a tool. It has been a positive experience for me.

GIS Teaching Objectives
My objectives in teaching GIS include:

1. Helping my students understand what GIS technology is: Fundamental GIS concepts are introduced as spatial literacy and thinking. Students learn how GIS technology works and what it does. I use ArcView and ArcGIS to display, query, and analyze environmental and spatial data, tabular data, and create presentation charts and map layouts. The GIS course also includes advanced image editing, online data downloading, and data conversion. Optional GIS extensions, such as 3-D analyst and spatial analyst, are introduced to add new capabilities.
2. Evaluating and working with real-world data online, and integration of local data sets: It is important to guide my students in the analysis of real-world issues, investigating questions about the environment, population, watersheds, natural hazards, water quality, and more. All student projects incorporate what they learn in the class with the real-world data. Our Maine Office of GIS provides us with abundant data for this learning opportunity.
3. Identifying GIS employment needs within student’s areas of interests: This provides students the opportunity to explore and understand their personal interests.
4. Adopting a teaching methodology, or pedagogy, combining public service with structured opportunities for learning: This provides an authentic learning environment for my students and me. This moves our work into connections with community-based groups and agencies in a dynamic way. It is a powerful engagement that extends our teaching and learning.

Teaching GIS instead of teaching “with” GIS
External reviewers of the college curriculum, as well as professionals and agencies employing our graduates indicate, in specific recommendations and surveys, that GIS should be integrated into the broad college curriculum. Until this broad integration occurs, I am teaching a single course in a college with a Liberal Arts foundation. I have come to realize that teaching GIS in even an introductory course requires a great deal of work.

My motivation as a GIS educator is to prepare my students to meet the needs of an educated GIS workforce. I find that while many college faculty members care about teaching with GIS, they do not have the time for training in GIS. At its worst, this can lead to students becoming skeptical and frustrated with the new technology, because their disciplinary professor is not familiar with GIS software and hardware.

My career development and training has been an ongoing process, because GIS software and the needs of society with regards to GIS are growing. My training is conducted in a sustained manner. I have enjoyed my scholarship of engagement in GIS, because it is oriented toward service-based research that addresses issues defined by community participants, while including students in the process.

Conclusion
I have learned that incorporating GIS into a natural resources or general college curriculum requires a great deal of work. The process of building cross-curricular relationships between the many academic fields that can potentially use GIS or study GIS is a huge but important task. I am a computer scientist teaching GIS. I work with students who bring disciplinary knowledge that they can apply toward the solution of real-world problems. This process results in a great deal of payoff to me in regards to skill building, the exploration of new technology, and new ways of teaching and learning.

Do I feel guilty of only teaching GIS; instead of teaching “with” GIS? Absolutely, not!

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Publication Title: Maine Coordinates
Issue Date: March 2003
Statement of Frequency: Occasional
Authorized Organization: Maine GIS User Group
Issue Number: Vol. 7, No. 3
Notice: Mention of specific companies, products, or brand names does not imply support for or endorsement of those mentioned. Similarly, omission of specific companies, products, or brand names does not imply anything either.

© 2006 Maine GIS User Group
All Rights Reserved.
Last Modified: 8 December, 2005