Spatial Perspectives on Analysis for Curriculum Enhancement (SPACE)

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

Social Science-Other (89) SPACE is a three-year program to achieve systemic change within undergraduate education in the social sciences, with extension to the environmental sciences. Our approach is based on the value of spatial thinking, and associated technologies (geographic information systems, tools for spatial analysis), as the basis for greater integration among the social science disciplines, greater motivation for students, greater relevance to societal problems, greater integration of technology into undergraduate instruction, and greater employment prospects for graduates. The program is centered on a series of professional development workshops, with extensive follow-on activities; and features additional programs designed to leverage these workshops, to achieve high rates of participation among traditionally under-represented groups, and to bridge the gap between research and teaching in the social sciences. It is managed by a consortium led by the University of California, Santa Barbara, and includes The Ohio State University (PI, Mei-Po Kwan) and the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (PI, Arthur Getis), a consortium of over 60 institutions with strong commitments to the principles on which SPACE is based. The program is building on the successful experience of the Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science (CSISS), a project funded by NSF since 1999 under its program of support for research infrastructure in the social sciences. CSISS organizes workshops for graduate students and young faculty, to introduce them to GIS and spatial analysis as research tools. SPACE is a major new initiative to teach the teachers, and move the focus from research to undergraduate learning. SPACE focuses on providing undergraduate instructors with basic skills in GIS and spatial analysis and some of the latest techniques, software, and learning resources. SPACE is also organizing sessions at major conferences to provide instructors with basic introductions to using spatial technologies in the classroom, to maintain engagement with participants in the national workshops, and to reach wider audiences than the workshops. The project is in the process of developing an extensive set of Web resources to facilitate the sharing of materials and assessment instruments among undergraduate instructors.