Student Attitudes and the Impact of GIS on Thinking Skills and Motivation

Abstract

The value of GIS within school curricula seems well perceived but ill-substantiated. This paper discusses the role of GIS in the development of higher order thinking skills and in motivating student learning. It then reports on attitudinal surveys undertaken before and after student exposure to GIs-related tasks. The tasks formed part of four subjects within three year levels. Data were collected from 109 students from two schools. Individual survey items were evaluated using a t-test for paired means and a two-tailed test for significance. Weighted average responses for the five constructs being surveyed were calculated. Attitudinal improvements were found in three of these: perceived usefulness of computers, perceived control of computers and behavioural attitude to computers. The weighted average declined for the remaining two constructs: attitude to subject and affective attitude toward computers. These data suggest that GIS influences student ability to utilise higher level thinking skills within a context of enhanced relevance.

The Influence of Geoinformation Systems Using on the Geography Perception

“…Autoři uvádějí pozitivní vliv GIS na postoje a úspěšnost. O pozitivním vlivu GIS na motivaci se učit se zmiňuje ve své studii West (2003) [16]. Kromě výše uvedeného má dle autora GIS ještě i vliv na lepší prostorové uvažování u žáků.…”

Using Geographic Information Systems in science classrooms

“…GIS empowers students to solve problems independently and to use computers as a professional tool. GIS encourages better resolution of issues and a feeling of greater success, which translates into greater intrinsic motivation (WEST, 2003). GIS investigations were found to illicit a positive and significant change in self-efficacy scores and technology attitudes and students reported higher attitudes towards making personal decisions based on scientific data (BAKER; WHITE, 2003).…”

“…(BRODA;BAXTER, 2003, p.159). In terms of spatial thinking, GIS provides a much broader range of scales than standard classroom methods (West, 2003) GIS has been found to foster curiosity and a sense of idealism for students (BRODA;BAXTER, 2003). Using GIS allows students to manipulate much larger volumes of data and a wide range of real--world data that can describe both cultural settings and environmental settings.…”

“…Several studies have shown an increase in student motivation and attitude because GIS increases relevance and encourages more focused thought (WEST, 2003). GIS empowers students to solve problems independently and to use computers as a professional tool.…”

GIS as an educational tool: Mapping cultural sites in greek space-time

“…In order to teach "thinking geographically" many organizations and individuals promote the use of GIS in K-12 geography education (Baker and White 2003;Ludwig et al 2000;West 2003) According to Baker (2005), the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in schools could be a solution. GIS, as an instructional technology, has been used not only in the formal but also in informal education all over the world for more than fifteen years as well, in order to be approached significances such as the ecosystems, the demographic characteristics of places, the immigration, the natural destructions, etc.…”