Abstract

Integrating Geospatial Education Through Innovative Teaching (I GET IT)
Track: Teaching with GIS in Higher Education
Author(s): Brian Mitchell, George Roedl

The need to develop spatial thinking and problem-solving skills in education is unquestionable. Jones Junior College is committed to providing quality education integrating powerful technologies, including GIS. Over the past several years, we have had the opportunity to be a part of a wide range of geospatial educational opportunities. We've seen impressive successes and some perhaps even more impressive failures. From our perspective, many of the failures we've witnessed are mostly a result of trying from the top down to create a new type of "geospatial professional" when we should be working from the bottom up to equip our traditional professionals with new skills. One advantage to this bottom up approach is that it keeps educational activities directly linked to industry needs. This philosophy guides our approach to delivering geospatial education to our students. Our goal is to integrate geospatial education campus-wide using innovative ways to teach traditional subjects.

Brian Mitchell
Jones Junior College
900 South Court Street
Ellisville , Mississippi 39437
United States
Phone: 601-477-4233
E-mail: brian.mitchell@jcjc.edu

George Roedl
West Virginia University
1476 old hwy 49 east
Hattiesburg , Mississippi 39401
United States
Phone: 304-906-4111
E-mail: groedl@gmail.com