Abstract


No Paper
GIS in the Outdoors: Progressing Fieldwork in Geosciences
Track: Teaching with GIS in Higher Education
Author(s): Kenneth Field

Fieldwork has long been the centrepiece of experiential learning in geosciences. GIS provides a wealth of new tools and technologies to transform traditional approaches to fieldwork and underpin new methodologies. This paper describes the experiences of delivering GIS-based fieldwork to GIS and geography undergraduate students of Kingston University London on a residential fieldcourse to Malta. A wide range of exercises and techniques are explored from consumer grade GPS data acquisition to RTK GPS and mobile mapping (using both ArcPad and Server-based Mobile GIS). The implementation of a GIS approach to delivering fieldwork both enthuses students and captures their imagination. It promotes deeper learning and a more extensive range of work to be undertaken. Kingston University has been delivering cutting edge GIS courses since 1989 and our Mobile GIS fieldcourse is the latest successful addition to our undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes.

Kenneth Field
Kingston University
Penrhyn Road
Kingston upon Thames , Surrey KT1 2EE
United Kingdom
Phone: 00442085477541
E-mail: ken.field@kingston.ac.uk