William A. Dando DUE 9553694 Indiana State University FY1995 $ 300,000 Terre Haute, IN 47809-0001 Advanced Technological Education Title: Advancing Geo-technology Education: Providing GIS Remote Skills for the Workforce of the Twenty-First Century The Department of Geography and Geology of Indiana State University, is introducing twenty-five community college instructors to the principles of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), one of the fastest growing employment fields in the 19990s. Designed to promote the adoption of GIS as an integral part of numerous technically-oriented instructional programs in two-year colleges, this model program is taking the needed first step in supplying the workforce in the Midwest with technicians educated in the use of this rapidly growing technology. Working in teams of two or three community college instructors from the same institution, participants are acquiring the basic principles of GIS in two 3-week summer institutes and in one continuing education class. They are learning of the many ways in which this technology is used today in business, government, and industry. The immediate aim of this project is to give participants sufficient familiarity with GIS principles and knowledge of software and its utility so that they can return to their campuses with enough expertise to begin to incorporate this technology into existing courses. The long-term aim envisions participants establishing discrete GIS- education programs at their institutions. To ensure realization of project goals, consultants from two-year colleges with successful GIS programs are advising in organizing all instructional programs and are part of the summer institutes' teaching teams. A two-year college faculty member is serving as project evaluator. Close cooperation of the Robinson, Illinois campus of Illinois Eastern Illinois Co mmunity Colleges and the Terre Haute campus of Indiana Vocational Technical Institute is assured with the inclusion of faculty teams from those two institutions receiving GIS instruction in the summer institutes and by providing them with hardware and software to help facilitate employment of GIS into their existing courses. Development of introductory courses in GIS and integration of GIS into existing courses at these two institutions is a primary aim of the project.
