Teaching ethics when working with geocoded data: a novel experiential learning approach

Abstract

Research ethics are not the favourite subject of most undergraduate geography students. However, in the light of increasing mixedmethods research, as well as research using geocodes, it is necessary to train students in the field of ethics. Experiential learning is an approach to teaching that is potentially suitable for teaching ethics. The aim of this article is to discuss how the experiential learning process in a course on Ethics & GPS-tracking contributed to the ethical awareness of third-year undergraduate geography students. We conducted a qualitative study in which we held four focus group discussions with two cohorts of students (2016 and 2017). We explored the students' views on the learning environment in relation to ethics in GPS-based and mixed-methods research. Our findings show how an informal learning environment and collaborative learning in a small group contributed to deep understanding of research ethics. These aspects of the learning environment are tied to an ethical framework that consists of three dimensions: (1) the ethics of collaborative research between staff and students; (2) the ethics of privacy raised by the geo-technology adopted in this research case study; and (3) the ethics of the research process with respect to informed consent and data storage.

‘It’s one of the first times I’ve felt fully engaged’: developing student engagement using blogging as a form of assessment

“…There is less agreement about what student engagement is (Mandernach, 2015;Boekaerts, 2016), who it benefits (Buckley, 2018), and how to measure it effectively (Fredricks, Pedagogical innovations designed, at least in part, to foster active learning and engagement have occurred across the entangled spectrum of spaces in which learning now takes place. Thus we have heard much about the relative merits of flipped classrooms (Graham, McLean, Read, Suchet-Pearson and Viner, 2017), virtual laboratories (Mui, Nelson, Huang, He and Wilson, 2015), peer learning (Nicholson, 2011), experiential learning (Sim & Marvell, 2015;van den Bemt, 2018), and Web 2.0 technologies (Rourke & Coleman, 2009;Smith, 2010;Zawilinski, 2009) to name but a few. Geographers have occupied a central position in these debates having long been concerned with understanding and creating teaching spaces that encourage active and experiential learning (Krakowka, 2010;Whalley, Saunders, Lewis, Buenemann and Sutton, 2011).…”

Technology to Improve Autonomy and Inform Housing Decisions for Older Adults With Memory Problems Who Live at Home in Canada, Sweden, and the Netherlands: Protocol for a Multipronged Mixed Methods Study

“…Further, there have been limited attempts to use technologies to assist older adults with memory problems to stay at home longer, and data from such devices have not been used to inform housing decisions. This study builds on our current work [ 27 , 28 ].…”

Applying Social Media Research Methods in Geography Teaching: Benefits and Emerging Challenges?

“…This has also involved collecting social media data using specific GIS software; collecting geo-tagged social media data can assist in mapping urban functions (Stefanidis, Crooks, and Radzikowski 2013;Croitoru et al 2015;Shelton 2017b). Academics have often deployed and reflected on the use of GIS software within the pedagogic context, for example through geocoding of data (van den Bemt et al 2018) and adopting qualitative approaches within QualGIS research (Battista and Manaugh 2018). However, this has been criticized as providing simplistic arguments around space within human geography; situated analyses of geo-tagged data (for example by unpacking key words from Twitter tweets) is needed to construct more relational and multidimensional understandings of space within digital platforms (Shelton 2017b).…”