Impact of a place-based educational approach on student and community members’ experiences and learning within a post-secondary GIS course

Details

• Journal Title:
  Journal of Geoscience Education
• Personal Author:
  Soucy, Alyssa R. ; Rahimzadeh-Bajgiran, Parinaz ; De Urioste-Stone, Sandra ; Eitel, Karla ; Jansujwicz, Jessica ; Brownlee, Matthew
• NOAA Program & Office:
  Sea Grant
• Description:
  Students develop personal connections to local places and build critical thinking skills as they engage in meaningful problem-solving rooted in place. At the same time, when students work within local communities, they can contribute to increased community technical capacity and well-being. In this case study, we sought to explore student and community perceptions of a place-based activity integrated within a college-level GIS course in Maine, USA. We partnered with a local conservation organization to develop place-based activities to address our partner’s geospatial needs. We drew on multiple data generation methods including pre-/post-test student responses within a quasi-experimental design, student reflections, and a group interview with community partners to illuminate the diverse benefits and challenges of place-based education (PBE). Our findings indicate that while quantitative results did not detect differences between the place-based, technologically-mediated place-based, and campus-based approaches, qualitative results – such as student reflections and community partner perceptions – depicted complex reciprocal gains resulting from education rooted in local community. Community partners benefit from PBE by increasing their GIS capacity and engaging on a personal level with students. We conclude with implications for GIS instructors seeking to incorporate place-based approaches within their college-level courses, such as the need to engage community partners thoughtfully and transparently, think critically about measurement and assessment of learning outcomes, and remain flexible to student needs.
• Source:
  Journal of Geoscience Education (2024)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2024.2379194
• ISSN:
  1089-9995 ; 2158-1428
• Format:
  pdf
• Publisher:
  Informa UK Limited
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• License:
  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Rights Information:
  CC BY-NC-ND
• Compliance:
  Library
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c0c14c40fe7742ab3b75770b2c02f398acdcf15f341bc48de50e313a544dcd9050f6f6bda10645587c2ee2f825ee6933d271c12a2ab998f49c0a4a43299b97a8
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/68853/noaa_68853_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.27 MB ]