{"id":670512,"date":"2024-05-24T15:47:38","date_gmt":"2024-05-24T22:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=arcuser&#038;p=670512"},"modified":"2024-05-24T15:47:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T22:47:38","slug":"why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool","status":"publish","type":"arcuser","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool","title":{"rendered":"Why GIS Is a Powerful Classroom Tool"},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[171,25032,476882],"tags":[489182,266522],"arcuser_issues":[489062],"class_list":["post-670512","arcuser","type-arcuser","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-education-2","category-geographic-approach","tag-spatial-literacy","tag-teaching-with-gis","arcuser_issues-spring-2024"],"acf":{"short_description":"Lehigh University first introduced a dedicated geospatial technology course for science and environment in 2008. ","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":670522,"file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Lehigh University has a long history of using geospatial technology, including GIS, to prepare future K\u201312 educators to teach their students analytical thinking and problem-solving skills. The private research university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, first introduced a dedicated geospatial technology course for science and environmental educators in 2008.\r\n\r\n\u201cFor 15 years we have taught versions of that class for educators across disciplines,\u201d said Tom Hammond, associate professor of instructional technology and teacher education at Lehigh University.\r\n\r\nCurrently, the Lehigh University College of Education offers the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Program, which focuses on teaching future educators how to align technology with standard curricula to create an innovative learning environment. The university also offers a shortened version of the program within its two graduate certificate programs.\r\n\r\nThe program is designed to meet educators where they are in their learning journey. Through a combination of coursework and field studies, it empowers them to teach with technologies such as GIS in the context of their expertise, Hammond explained.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhether it is understanding global issues like climate change or local issues like fast food <em>[restaurant]<\/em> density and redlining policies over time, geospatial tools are an incredibly powerful tool for understanding these complex issues,\u201d said Hammond. \u201cWe include GIS in our teacher education programs to help educators learn the technology and give them the skills to incorporate a geospatial component in their curriculum.\u201d\r\nAligning GIS with K\u201312 Curricula in the Community\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s that commitment to providing teacher education and bringing technological tools into more K\u201312 classrooms that led Lehigh faculty and others to start the Environmental Literacy and Inquiry Working Group (eli.lehigh.edu). Funded through the National Science Foundation, this collaborative organization brings together Lehigh faculty and students from the university\u2019s college of education and college of arts and sciences to educate local K\u201312 teachers on how to improve their classroom with technologies like immersive virtual reality (VR) and GIS.\r\n\r\nThis program has brought these technologies to seven high schools to teach subjects that include robotics, computer science, physics, and social studies. The curriculum is built on inquiry-based learning activities that use dynamic interactive mapping applications to analyze data patterns and relationships. The various topics include climate change, energy, land-use change, tectonics, and socioenvironmental science investigations. Students are encouraged to collect data in their community by using ArcGIS Field Maps and then later manage, query, and analyze the data using ArcGIS Online.\r\n\r\nFor example, in one participating biology class, students took what they learned about macromolecules (proteins, fats, and carbohydrates) and used GIS to explore a public health issue. They identified local fast-food restaurants where people could be consuming those macromolecules and compared those locations with places where they could burn them off, like gyms. The research added a real-world context to their studies. They mapped their data to find trends and make suggestions to the community, including where to offer fresh food or places to exercise.\r\n\r\n\u201cSpatial thinking isn\u2019t a part of standard curriculums but is an essential skill set that is cross-disciplinary and helps someone really understand something, especially if it is meaningful or if it\u2019s something that they are invested in and can get excited about,\u201d said Hammond.\r\n\r\nLehigh\u2019s Teaching, Learning, and Technology Program and the Environmental Literacy and Inquiry Working Group received an Esri Special Achievement in GIS Award in 2020 for their innovative use of mapping and analytics technology as well as thought leadership in the field of GIS education.\r\n<h3>Helping Expand the Use of Geospatial Technologies Across the Nation<\/h3>\r\nThe success of previous projects allowed the Lehigh University College of Education not only continue pursuing other research grant opportunities but also expand its education programs to enhance high school students\u2019 geospatial skills and boost their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) knowledge.\r\n\r\nIn April 2020, the National Science Foundation awarded $2.85 million to Lehigh\u2019s College of Education and two other universities for geospatial technology research-practice partnerships across three regions of the United States. For the past three years, project leaders worked with teachers at two high schools in each region to develop socioenvironmental investigations that fit within the students\u2019 curriculum.\r\n\r\nDoug Leeson, a former English teacher and now a doctoral candidate at Lehigh University, worked with the grant team and designed the research studies around GIS in K\u201312 classrooms. He said the work highlighted the value of honing spatial thinking in formal education. A student project is used to propose changes to the school's campus to make it more ecologically sustainable.\r\n\r\n\u201cSpatial literacy has so much value because it helps students grasp the context of what is happening outside of a textbook. When you present a lesson using maps, they can see the patterns and relationships and understand how these systems work in a digestible way,\u201d Leeson said.\r\n\r\n\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":670562,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"As part of his doctoral work, Leeson helps high school teachers develop their understanding of GIS and fit it into their classrooms. In one case, Leeson helped incorporate geospatial technology into an exercise testing soil properties as part of the lab work in a chemistry class. He had students take their samples from different areas around campus and use ArcGIS Field Maps to track their location.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt was great because the students checked the box of what they needed to do for the curriculum by learning how to test for pH, phosphorous, nitrogen, and potassium. But then they analyzed that information with the maps and could see correlations like, \u2018OK, we have high levels of this here because of runoff from cars or from trash,\u2019 and use geospatial reasoning to answer why there are differences in the samples,\u201d said Leeson.\r\n\r\nIn another instance, Leeson worked with a social studies teacher to study historical redlining boundaries around Philadelphia and see the changes and trends in neighborhoods over time. \u201cNo matter the context or academic level, we have found there is a place for GIS to be used,\u201d said Leeson. Some students have expressed an interest in pursuing environmental engineering or going to college to study GIS because they were exposed to GIS.\r\n\r\nAlthough Lehigh\u2019s grant funding ends in 2024, Leeson is optimistic about GIS in K\u201312 curricula expanding as well as the plans to empower participating teachers to involve their colleagues. Leeson noted that anyone with the ArcGIS for Schools Bundle can incorporate GIS in their classroom.\r\n\r\n\u201cYou don\u2019t need a professional or university team of researchers to come into your classroom to teach you about it. You just need that initial introduction and just a little spark of curiosity, and I think from there, <em>[anyone can]<\/em> figure it out,\u201d said Leeson.\r\n\r\nWhile there are constraints to incorporating GIS in the classroom, the key to successfully bridging these gaps is meeting educators where they are and within the context of their needs.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe key to incorporating GIS in our classrooms is ensuring it serves the curriculum and meaningfully enhances it."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lehigh University teaches with GIS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lehigh University, a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is teaching teachers how to align GIS with standard curricula.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why GIS Is a Powerful Classroom Tool\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lehigh University, a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is teaching teachers how to align GIS with standard curricula.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Esri\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2024\/05\/lehigh_banner.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Esri\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Lehigh University teaches with GIS\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2024-05-24T22:47:38+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Lehigh University, a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is teaching teachers how to align GIS with standard curricula.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Why GIS Is a Powerful Classroom Tool\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Esri\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Esri Newsroom\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/82e5143bcdebadf8fd64d84e503ca468\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Monica Pratt\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/MonicaMug_agol2.jpg\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/MonicaMug_agol2.jpg\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Monica Pratt\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"description\": \"Monica Pratt is the founding and current editor of ArcUser magazine, the executive editor of ArcNews magazine, the editor of Esri Globe and head of the Publications team at Esri. She has been writing on technology topics, specializing in GIS, for more than 30 years. Before joining Esri in 1997, she worked for newspapers and in the financial industry.\",\n\t            \"sameAs\": [\n\t                \"https:\/\/x.com\/ArcUser\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"url\": \"\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lehigh University teaches with GIS","description":"Lehigh University, a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is teaching teachers how to align GIS with standard curricula.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why GIS Is a Powerful Classroom Tool","og_description":"Lehigh University, a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is teaching teachers how to align GIS with standard curricula.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool","og_site_name":"Esri","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2024\/05\/lehigh_banner.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Esri","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool","name":"Lehigh University teaches with GIS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-05-24T22:47:38+00:00","description":"Lehigh University, a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is teaching teachers how to align GIS with standard curricula.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/why-gis-is-a-powerful-classroom-tool#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why GIS Is a Powerful Classroom Tool"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/","name":"Esri","description":"Esri Newsroom","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/82e5143bcdebadf8fd64d84e503ca468","name":"Monica Pratt","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/MonicaMug_agol2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/MonicaMug_agol2.jpg","caption":"Monica Pratt"},"description":"Monica Pratt is the founding and current editor of ArcUser magazine, the executive editor of ArcNews magazine, the editor of Esri Globe and head of the Publications team at Esri. She has been writing on technology topics, specializing in GIS, for more than 30 years. Before joining Esri in 1997, she worked for newspapers and in the financial industry.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/ArcUser"],"url":""}]}},"sort_order":"17","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/arcuser\/670512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/arcuser"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/arcuser"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/arcuser\/670512\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670512"},{"taxonomy":"arcuser_issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/arcuser_issues?post=670512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}