Very promising approach, especially related to higher level thinking as well as reducing the spatial reasoning gap in girls. Really appreciated the turtle example to understand the kind of questions students address. You indicate it is a cross-curricular program. Who is actually teaching and implementing the program? Did they receive any training? What aspects of the curriculum are the easiest/most difficult for students to understand? Are there any opportunities for students to visit “actual” sites in the community to connect them with the GIS information bases? How are you measuring relational thinking and spatial reasoning skills? How will the new urban sites be different from current sites?

Who is actually teaching and implementing the program? Did they receive any training?
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The curriculum is taught and implemented by classroom teachers who receive training the summer before the intervention and support through the implementation.

The curriculum is cross-curricular with a focus on ecological and historical themes, but it heavily relies on set theory and other foundational mathematical skills. We include narratives and non-fictional information sheets that students reference throughout the activities and then ask them to share what they learned and how they learned it in closing writing activities. This allows for easy alignment to skills and standards in the Common Core ELA.

What aspects of the curriculum are the easiest/most difficult for students to understand?
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Students generally do very well with the the mechanics and buttonology of the software itself. Students also generally do very well with the problem solving aspects, using the resources we provide to answer questions. Some students struggle with the concept of “difference,” a GIS tool and element of set theory that is required at the end of most of the activities. Still other other students are weary to progress independently and seek out their teacher’s affirmation before completing every step. We have found that many of these challenges are mitigated by pairing students and encouraging students to consult other pairs of students throughout the process.

Are there any opportunities for students to visit “actual” sites in the community to connect them with the GIS information bases?
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Each teacher can bring to the curriculum what they wish to, but it is not a requirement of our curriculum that students physically engage with actual sites in the community. Our curriculum does work on a largely local level for students in Illinois (where each implementation has been to this point). Students start by exploring spatial issues outside with the sun and shadows. Then students explore space in their classroom by creating a classroom map. This is followed by an activity using GIS to solve a problem on the grounds of the Illinois Capitol Building. The Box Turtle example shown asks students to explore their own county and the state of Illinois.The final module places students in Utah. This creates a steady progression from the immediately local to the remote.

How are you measuring relational thinking and spatial reasoning skills?
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Relational reasoning is a constellation of higher-level reasoning processes in which individuals reflect their ability to make connections between and among the ideas. So far, we examined the following relational reasoning processes, (1) analogical reasoning, in which students use an idea they are familiar with to introduce a new idea that they want others to understand; (2) multi-step reasoning, in which students explain a cause and effect relationship between two or more elements or ideas; (3) counterargument, in which students consider alternative perspectives to the topic at hand; (4) systems thinking, in which students combine a number of system (e.g., ecology, economy, health, etc.) in the construction of an answer; and (5) spatial thinking, in which students reference elements of space in the process of solving a problem. We hope to explore other relational thinking processes with the new data sets that we will soon be working with.

How will the new urban sites be different from current sites?
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We have worked in three sites including an urban school district. The children and teachers in the urban sites were excited to learn GIS technologies. The teachers did an excellent job integrating the GIS lessons into their existing curriculum. We believe that the level of engagement and excitement that we have seen will continue to flow and will be replicated in the new sites.

Very interesting! Have you experienced any barriers to engagement as a result of the necessity to learn a challenging GIS software? Do you scaffold exposure to the software, or utilize specialized tutorials for this age range?

Very cool! What is an example of an introductory activity you may have students do in order to get them familiar with GIS and how it works?

Thanks for this robust discussion that digs into the approach and the rationale for your work. Do your students have opportunities to make formal connections between what they are doing and careers that require the use of GIS? Female role models? Is there any evidence that the teachers of the program incorporate and extend any of these concepts into other aspects of their teaching?

We are working on making formal connections with mentors in careers using GIS. For now, members of our research team provide details about GIS in our careers, but we hope to add additional mentors and community resources next year. We support teachers hoping to expand GIS usage via our website resources and individual consultation.

Have you connected with other NSF projects that are working with GIS? If so, which ones and how do you share experiences?

I’d be curious to hear more about how Venn Diagrams are applied in GIS technology. What types of sets would students be working with when working with GIS data?

That is impressive!! Do you have any links to sample assignments or lesson plans? I’d be curious to see what a layer comprises and perhaps some example layers – I imagine there might be a storm layer, an endangered species layer, etc. – and what a geo-processing function might look like.

What are some questions others have about this project or about GIS in general?

Thanks for a rich discussion. I learned a lot.