Advancing Geospatial Skills in Science and Social Studies (AGSSS), Track 1, is a project to enhance spatial thinking skills of Fellows, Teachers, and Students through instruction in geospatial technologies and related educational experiences. It is a collaboration among geoscientists and other spatial science faculty at Texas A&M University, College Station (Texas) Independent School District, and Texas Education Agency's Educational Service Center VI.
Intellectual Merit: Spatial thinking is defined as a constructive amalgam of concepts of space, tools of representation, and processes of reasoning that uses space to structure problems, find answers, and express solutions. Spatial thinking is not an explicit part of K-16 science or social science curricula. This is in spite of evidence that spatial thinking is essential to success in mathematics, science, and some social science disciplines. AGSSS develops a program to prepare and connect geospatially skilled Fellows with science and social studies Teachers to collaborate on developing Students' spatial thinking and problem solving through geospatial technologies such as GIS, GPS, and RS. AGSSS provides Teachers and Fellows with the knowledge and skills to conduct teacher-research to assess and measure the success of their efforts to promote Students' spatial thinking and mastery of geospatial technologies. AGSSS builds on proven educational programs (Community Atlas, Mission Geography, ISS EarthKAM, Pathfinder Science) to expand the cadre of Teachers who develop students' spatial thinking and who use geospatial technologies and observational science with their students.
Broader Impacts: This project creates, uses, and evaluates materials and strategies that enhance spatial thinking. This is important because it is clear that society cannot afford to relegate some students to a lesser position simply because they do not innately know how to think spatially. Spatial thinking is an emerging field of interest with broad implications for a number of domains, including school-to-workforce issues. It is critically important to develop spatially literate Fellows, Teachers, and Students.
This project is receiving partial support from the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences.
