Creating Environments That Support Teaching and Learning Using GIS

Author: Steven B. Case
Organization: Kansas Collaborative Research Network

2021 L Dole
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045
USA

Phone: 785-864-4471
Fax: 785-864-4149
scase@kancrn.org

Humans have a predisposition to learn in certain domains, and students in particular are engaged in making sense of their world. The Kansas Collaborative Research Network (KanCRN) creates a learner-centered and knowledge-centered virtual research community that supports deep understanding. KanCRN research creates an environment in which GIS is used as a tool to allow students to learn by doing, refine their understandings, and build new knowledge. GIS technology helps learners visualize difficult to understand concepts and allows them to combine their data with a vast array of existing information. In addition, the underpinning cognitive elements of students interacting with a GIS create an interesting field of study between science, geography, and education. It is the intent of this presentation to demonstrate an environment where the current findings of the cognitive sciences, supported by the use of GIS technology, facilitate student understanding.