Course syllabi in GIS programming: Trends and patterns in the integration of computer science and programming

Abstract

• Courses in GIS programming have variant design, structure, and format. • While three general themes of course content are identifiable, course design and function are very uneven. • Curriculum and course development work to build evidence-based computer science and programming instruction is a major research need. Understanding of fundamentals of computer science and abilities in programming are becoming more important components of the GIS practitioner's skillset. As the frontiers of GIS expand into areas of inquiry and modes of operation which require such domain capabilities, teaching and instruction in GIS must begin that shift as well. And while the knowledge, skills, and practices of the GIS practitioner have always been in flux, the range of potential topics from computer science and programming to integrate into GIS instruction is a major pedagogical challenge. This paper examines a range of syllabi from variant GIS programming courses to explore the landscape of programming coursework. Through content analysis, these syllabi reveal three general themes: courses built on learning scripting with Python, courses built on learning fundamentals of WebGIS, and courses built on learning fundamentals in geodatabase design and management. While each of these focus areas are impactful skills for GIS learners to explore, there is by no means any consistency or cohesion in how GIS programming courses operate, nor does there seem to be any general resources or approaches to unify course design. More work is necessary among GIS instructors to begin building evidencebased practices in GIS programming instruction.

Geographic Information Science education at Esri Development Center institutions

“…We decided that if the curriculum required core classes such as Intro to GIS, Remote Sensing, GIS Programming, Spatial Analysis, and WebGIS, as well as offering their electives in a way that the student would be required to take mostly other upper‐level GIS courses, then the degree in question would fit into our GIS degree sample. We based this selection of courses on topics of interest from previous research on course design and professional preparation (Bowlick, Bednarz, & Goldberg, 2020; Hong, 2016; Wikle, 2015), established competency and content models (DiBiase et al, 2007, 2010), and the topics and courses emphasized on DC pages.…”

A collaborative GIS programming course using GitHub Classroom

“…The benefits of utilizing GitHub Classroom when delivering programming related courses are summarized in Table 1. Bowlick et al (2019) investigated 40 syllabi on "GIS programming" courses with a component either in Python scripting, spatial databases or web-based GIS. Half of the syllabi investigated rely on projects as the instruction method, and eight of them require students to work in groups.…”

“…What kind of projects could be assigned in a GIS programming course? Possible answers range from writing scripts to doing spatial analysis on GIS software (Bowlick, Bednarz, & Goldberg, 2019). Yet, there is a lack of research evidence on the effectiveness of plugin development .…”

Introduction to the special section: Teaching critical GIS | Teaching GIS critically

“…These authors occupy a common space that Joseph Holler (2019), drawing from Wilson (2009), refers to as contested borderlands inhabited by both technology insiders and critical outsiders. Holler and Bowlick et al (2020) both provide updated curriculum and syllabi reviews in their papers; little has demonstrably changed since Wikle and Fagin's assessment in 2014. In order to move forward and “shake the binary,” the authors in this special section borrow freely from both sides of the equation, exposing the critical in the technological and investigating how the technological can enhance critical geographic understanding.…”

“…It is probably safe to say that at the borderlands between critical outsider and technology insider, the insider standing at the farthest edge of inside would be the GIS programmer analyst, indeed often more associated with computer science than geography. Bowlick et al (2020) boldly disrupt this positionality in their examination of the role of computer programming and cyberGIS from a critical stance. Tracing the interlaced rise of, on the one hand, cyberinfrastructures that support increasingly ubiquitous web mapping and cloud computing, and on the other, voices articulating "the light and the darkness of GIS" through the lens of critical GIS, Bowlick and his co-authors argue that more attention must be given to how programming and computer science concepts are integrated into GIS instruction.…”