The Geospatial Education Collaborative (GEC) project is advancing geospatial technology education and workforce preparedness, and is also increasing community awareness of geospatial technologies (GST) and their potential applications. The project is developing community college and university level general education courses in GST; promoting and expanding workplace internships for college students in governmental agencies, environmental consulting firms and non-profit community organizations; and providing outreach to K-12 schools by developing and providing GST exercises that meet educational content standards. The project is providing an opportunity for a community college and a university to collaboratively develop new general education courses that are exposing students to geospatial technologies and encouraging them to pursue educational and career opportunities in the geospatial field. The general education courses are demonstrating the potential for geospatial technologies to address contemporary concerns such as sustainable economic development, public health and environmental degradation. Geospatial projects with a community focus are bringing to the local and regional levels many of the global concerns that are being addressed by the general education courses. Students and the community are benefiting from projects that are building geographic databases, improving local planning efforts and facilitating communication through both hardcopy and interactive map products. Student interns are also developing essential workplace skills via exercises and projects that require data development, project workflow analysis, and quality control assessment. A strong formative evaluation model is helping to refine various activities ensure that students are effectively learning through the various experiences provided, and a summative evaluation is tracking the number of students who enter the GST program and ultimately enter the GST workforce.
The Geospatial Education Collaborative undertook to increase awareness and expand opportunities in geospatial technologies. Geographic information systems, global positioning systems and a variety of consumer applications have transformed the lives of people around the world and are increasingly important in business and government. The GEC project developed initiatives to expand curriculum and internship opportunities through the collaborative efforts of Shasta College, California State University, Chico and employers in far northern California. With the goal of expanding awareness of geospatial technologies, new courses in geospatial technologies were developed to meet general education requirements for Associates and transfer degrees. Collaboration on curriculum development between Shasta College and CSU, Chico helped to gain approval of courses at both schools and for California State University System general education. The pilot offerings of the courses showed that students find geospatial technologies engaging when applied to real-world issues and problems in a general education context. Such general education exposure serves to encourage students to enroll in skill-centered GIS courses and certificate programs. In addition to developing new geospatial awareness courses, existing GIS course content was evaluated using the U.S. Department of Labor’s Geospatial Technology Competency Model for articulation and improved alignment to industry-defined skills. The GEC project expanded internship opportunities and placement for students at worksites that employ GIS and other geospatial technologies. Establishing new employer opportunities and formalizing internship outcomes were facilitated by the GEC project. In addition, several community GIS projects were undertaken in which GIS employers and students worked together. One example is the Community Well-being Atlas which mapped health and well-being indicators for community access and improved decision making. The atlas was disseminated in hardcopy format and as webmaps on the FarNorCalGIS regional GIS server (farnorcalgis.org). The GEC provided key support for the launching of FarNorCalGIS, a regional effort to host webmaps and data, as well as provide information on local events, careers, jobs, education and related GIS links. Increasing interest and awareness of geospatial technologies at the college level requires exposure for students in high school and earlier grades. The GEC project provided geospatial curriculum and activities that meet California education standards in science and social studies for grades 5-12 and conducted class activities for approximately 15 school classes during the grant period. Shasta College GIS students also assisted in hosting GIS and GPS activities for community events and workshops, including the Whole Earth Watershed Festival, Whiskeytown Environmental School Anniversary, and the Map It-Manage It-Sustain It Workshop. The Geospatial Education Collaborative project provided resources for an number projects and programs that are continuing after the end of the grant period. New general education geospatial courses are now part of the curriculum at Shasta College and California State University, Chico. On-going relationships with other ATE-funded programs such as the national GeoTech Center serve to further cooperation and development of industry-relevant education. Opportunities for work experience in far northern California have been expanded through internships, community projects and the FarNorCalGIS website. Meanwhile students and community members are learning about the revolution that geospatial technologies are bringing to our world, setting the foundation for an educated and workforce-ready population for the future.
