Fostering Student Success in Geospatial Technology

This project is focusing on the development, implementation, and assessment of five core courses in Geographic Information Science (GISc), which are building the foundation for the future development and implementation of a full-scale GISc program at the CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College. The PIs have engaged appropriate expert assistance from nearby CUNY Hunter College, and also are working with representatives from the National Center for Geospatial Technology (NGTC), other two-year and four-year institutions, local private industries, and federal, state, and city agencies to develop, adapt, and implement exemplary educational materials and key pedagogical strategies in GISc. The short-term activities are aimed at creating, adapting, and disseminating new learning materials and teaching strategies to reflect advances in geospatial technology, and the project is serving the dual purpose of preparing students for entry level employment in a variety of industries and facilitating student transfer to local baccalaureate degree programs in Geographical Information Science (GISc). The project is also attempting to increase critical thinking and problem solving skills among students in addition to improving their geospatial literacy. This is being done through the innovative use of emerging technologies, cases studies, and hands-on instruction and in-class research. These instructional methods build upon and extend in new ways research already being undertaken by the NGTC's network of community colleges. The GISc courses that are being developed by the project are significantly enhancing student learning in a large urban area and are providing a new pool of highly trained technicians able to join and enhance the local and regional workforce. Likewise, the instructional methods and strategies being developed by the project PIs have the potential to become a national model suitable for replication in other urban areas and at institutions serving groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the STEM disciplines.