Abstract

Student Reports on GIS Projects - Successes, Failures, and Pitfalls
Track: Educational Research and Teacher Education
Author(s): Patrick Kennelly

As part of Penn State's online Master's level class in geospatial technology project management, students are required to write a report on a GIS project, preferably one in which they were directly involved. Although students deemed most projects a success, reports revealed pitfalls and some failures throughout various projects. This study maps successes, failures and pitfalls to two matrices. In both cases, one axis of the matrix plots when in the life cycle the projects difficulties or successes were experienced. The other axis classifies events into bodies of knowledge important to GIS project management. One is the Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge (GIS&T BoK) developed by the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science. The other is the Project Management Body of Knowledge developed by the Project Management Institute. Results identify critical stages of projects, and the key knowledge areas that are required of GIS managers to succeed.

Patrick Kennelly
Penn State University
45 Avenue B
Port Washington , New York 11050
United States
Phone: 516.299.2652
E-mail: pjk15@psu.edu