GIS Education Weekly: New Year, New Names

Where in the World?

Cast photo, season four via Wikipedia

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first airing People Magazine shares 10 Reasons Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Was the Best Educational TV Show Ever. Yes, I was a fan and became a bigger fan of Rockapella as the years passed.

Names Change

This discussion of seven public places in American that were renamed to be more "hospitable" in 2015 is an interesting topic for students.

More Names Change: AAG = 

The AAG ‏(@theAAG) tweeted:

Happy New Year! AAG has a new DBA (doing business as): American Association of Geographers. We'll be updating the name in coming weeks.

Geo folks should be sure to tell their copyeditors about the change!

GIS Education Weekly: MapLift, GeoAcademy, Programming Languages

MapLift: Enhance your Resume and Do Good

This summer, we want your help in building maps for Wikipedia! Join mapmakers from around the planet for the first ever MapLift, organized by NACIS and the FixWikiMaps Project. From August 28th through September 4th, our collection of volunteers will be contributing their skills to upgrade existing Wikipedia maps and make new ones. It’s a great way to celebrate International Map Year!

This sounds like a great project for individuals, classes and others to use to enhance skills and help make Wikipedia maps better. Details of who, what, when etc. are on the NACIS project page.

Subscribe!

If you'd like to receive the GIS education news weekly via e-mail, sign up here! And, please share the link with others involved in GIS teaching and learning! To my knowledge this is the only resource of its kind.

Top Programming Languages

The IEEE Spectrum offers a list of the current top programing languages based on data from GitHub, CareerBuilder and eight other sources. Among the top ten are C (1st), Python (4th) and R (6th). There's also a Web app (99 cents) that will change the weightings and offer filters for specific uses/industries.

One in Four Americans Holds an Alternative Educational Credential

The Census Bureau reported today (press release) that some 1/4 of U.S. adults hold a credential that's not a tradition college degree. The Census cites a professional certifications, licenses or educational certificates as examples. The data is from fall 2012 and is detailed in a report titled Measuring Alternative Educational Credentials: 2012 (pdf).

Money does come with these credentials.

Among full-time workers, the median monthly earnings for someone with a professional certification or license only was $4,167, compared with $3,433 for one with an educational certificate only; $3,920 for those with both types of credentials; and $3,110 for people without any alternative credential.

But, if you have a bachelors degree, adding on one of these does not significantly change income.

Two findings are relevant to geography and GIS leaners and workers.

About three-quarters of professional certifications and licenses were required for the current or most recent job. 

That's not something we see (yet?) in our field. It's a rarity when a professional certification is even noted in a job posting and in most U.S. states, there is no licensing of GIS users.

More than 90 percent of these credential holders took training or courses and had to demonstrate on-the-job skills or pass a test or exam in order to earn them.

This is also something not common in the U.S. geography/GIS market. However, with the current work on a test for the GISCI GISP credential, there may be some movement in this direction.

The main finding of this data for me is this: Educational institutions, educators, learners and hiring managers should open their eyes to these alternative credentials. They are here to stay.

The Story Behind Elmhurst College's Online AP Human Geography Certificate Program

Dr. Rich Schultz, Ph.D., C.P.G., OTC is an Associate Professor in Geography & Geosciences, Director, Elmhurst College Online GIS Certificate Program and Director, Online AP Human Geography (APHG) Graduate Certificate Program at Elmhurst College in Illinois. I contacted him in that last capacity to learn more about the APHG program. I wrote about it last week and Dr. Schultz left a detailed comment. In the interview below, he answers a few specific questions about the history and impetus for this new certificate.

Ignite Education (IE): What was the spark for the development of this certificate program? How did evolve from that point to the current rollout?

Dr. Rich Schultz (RS): AP Human Geography (APHG) teachers' demands are the impetus. They need professional development because many are asked to teach APHG on a whim to keep up with the rising demand for offering AP courses at high schools. They are provided with little notice (almost none in some cases) to develop and teach APHG in future terms. Many of these teachers have never taken geography classes in their educational past, so they are left scrambling. Our idea is to educate the teachers so they can properly educate their students. If the teachers develop a real interest in geography and spatial concepts, their passion will be contagious and we are hopeful their students will become excited about geography as well, especially in terms of a future career.

IE: I see that National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) members receive a special discount when pursuing the certificate; that’s great. How was NCGE involved with the development of the program? Will it be in the future? Do you have/are you looking for other partners? 

RS: NCGE declined to be involved in the initial stages of development, and rightly so because they felt they could not give adequate attention to it with the likes of the Geography Standards, 2nd ed., rolling out and the RoadMap Project under their auspices. So, Dr. Joseph Kerski (then NCGE President and the real impetus for this initiative) and I took the ball and ran with it. NCGE has partnered with us most recently to provide their support and we are thankful for their involvement. We are seeking other partnerships as the APHG teachers need all the support they can get. We aim to bring these teachers the best possible experience in learning how to teach APHG and to infuse spatial concepts into their teaching.

IE: How are AP Human Geography instructors typically (currently) trained? 

RS: If they have a traditional background from taking geography courses in college/universities, that is their "training". Many are social studies teachers or history teachers and their knowledge in geography comes from that. However, some APHG teachers have never taken a geography course before, which is where we, as a professional development program, step in.

IE: What indicators convinced Elmhurst there would be demand for such a certificate in the short and long term? For example, is demand for the AP Geography exam rising? Are more schools planning to offer APHG? 

RS: Some of our Advisory Board and faculty members in the program are heavily involved with the College Board and noticed that the trend was very clear that APHG was increasing in demand and more and more schools nationally are offering it, at least over the last eleven years (2001-2012). However, our real encouragement came from the APHG teachers themselves. They really want to learn how to properly teach APHG. They are a passionate group!

Why is Elmhurst College Offering an AP Human Geography Teaching Certificate?

Today I learned that Elmhurst College, a small liberal arts school outside of Chicago, will be offering a five course, fully online graduate certificate aimed at instructors of Advanced Placement Human Geography (APHG). High school advanced placement courses prepare students for exams that can be used for college credit and/or to skip ahead in college.

I've been watching the proliferation of online and residence GIS certificates and masters degrees over the past few years. I could easily tie the schools' decisions to offer them to the Dept of Labor's (DOL) statement about the need for more geospatial practitioners. I'm aware of public, private, and for-profit schools offering such GIS programs and virtually all are aligned with either entry level career opportunities or advancing one's career within geospatial technology.

That's why I'm a bit perplexed at Elmhurst's new program. While teachers are in short supply in various parts of the United States and the world, I can't say I'm aware of excess demand for AP Human Geography teachers. Instead, the demand for English, STEM and special education teachers at the K-12 level seems especially high, at least here in the Massachusetts.

Elmhurst's collateral on the program does not have the punch of DOL statistics quoted for virtually every GIS certificate or degree program. Instead, it states:

More than 96,000 students took the AP Human Geography exam in 2012 and it is estimated that there are 3,200 AP Human Geography teachers nationwide. As demand for APHG exams increase, so will the demand for qualified teachers.

For comparison, Wikipedia reports "In May 2011, the AP U.S. History Test was taken by 402,947 students worldwide." I agree that as more students want to take the geography exam, demand for teachers will increase too.

Is there data suggesting more students want to take the exam this year or in the coming years? Are there changes in educational policy at the local, state or federal level that will cause demand for the APHG exam to rise?

Is it possible that The Geography is Fundamental (TGIF) Act will pass? Is it possible there will be a concrete reaction to the recently released (but not yet publicized) National Science Foundation funded geography road map reports? Or, perhaps there are other initiatives of which I'm not aware that will push geography back into the high school and college curriculum? And, maybe there is funding coming from foundations or other sources? I hope one or more of these possibilities turns out to be true.

A Look at American Sentinel University’s New Geospatial Information Systems Graduate Certificate and Masters Degree

During the last week in September American Sentinel University announced two new online graduate offerings: a five course Geospatial Information Systems Graduate Certificate and a 12 course Master of Geospatial Information Systems. The school has offered a B.S. and A.S. in Geographic Information Systems since 2006.  Do note that the undergraduate degrees are in Geographic Information Systems and the graduate credentials are in Geospatial Information Systems. I asked the school about the difference and heard back from the GIS Program Chair, Dr. Stephen McElroy:

Although GIS is the principal geospatial technology, it is only one of the broader sets of tools available. Other geospatial technologies include GPS, airborne and satellite remote sensing, terrestrial lidar, close-range photogrammetry, virtual visualization, statistical-based analysis and modeling. We chose the term “geospatial” to represent our programs because it embraces this broader set of tools and techniques.

Geospatial Information Systems Graduate Certificate 

The graduate certificate, like most offered by other schools, is aimed at individuals who have a bachelors degree and are looking for a structured basic program in GIS. The school notes the program can be completed in between six and 12 months. Each of the five courses takes eight weeks. The tuition (no fees, books, etc.) totals $6,300.

I was pleased to see that the school details the learning objectives. Graduates of the graduate certificate will be able to:

• Develop an understanding of geospatial principles and practices.
• Develop a working knowledge of ArcGIS and other GIS related tools used in developing and implementing geospatial strategies.
• Collect, store, access and use geospatial data across multiple disciplines.
• Develop an enterprise-level geospatial strategy.
• Understand the ethical and legal issues associated with the use of geospatial data.
• Understand similarities and differences in geospatial strategies between specific disciplines. 
• Present geospatial information in a clear and professional manner.
• Present their ePortfolio as evidence of academic achievement.

Also noteworthy is the school’s statement of its unique approach:

Unlike many GIS certificates, American Sentinel’s graduate certificate does not focus solely on the technology and software behind GIS. Our cross-disciplinary program is ideal for individuals who seek the analytical skills needed to incorporate geospatial tools and strategies into the modern-day working environment and enhance critical decision making and problem solving.

Master of Geospatial Information Systems

The masters degree requires a bachelors degree and the core 12 courses run $15,120 (tuition only). The program has two paths to completion. One, the course track, is more course focused, while the other, the project track, centers around a workplace project.Those who select the course track will take “electives that provide experience across the major geospatial industry categories as defined by Esri.”  Those are listed elsewhere as health care, business, government, defense and public safety, and environment and natural resources. Esri's list of industries is far longer.

Those who select the project option must follow the Esri Professional Services Framework (detailed on the Esri professional service page):

• Strategy and planning 
• Requirements analysis
• Design Development Deployment Operations and maintenance.

The school lists four items in its program that are unique:

• Project track (described above)
• Application across industries (described above)
• ArcGIS (site license) 
• Geospatial Learning Lab – “provides access to a geospatial community, Esri educational materials, tutorials, online GIS resources and more. Students completing activities with the Geospatial Learning Lab can receive competency-based badges to add to their ePortfolio.”

I requested more information about the Learning Lab. Dr. Stephen McElroy responded:

The online learning lab is similar to a learning commons. It is an area that brings together resources and materials in a way that facilitates the development of an active learning community. This resources will be deployed for internal use by American Sentinel students. The competency-based badges will be developed by our Academics team.

The learning objectives for the masters degree are the same as for the certificate expect that

• Understand similarities and differences in geospatial strategies between specific disciplines.

is replaced with:

• Design, develop and complete a GIS project. Depending on the program track chosen (course or project), this project may be in-depth or more limited in scope, based on the student’s project design and objectives.

NGA Provides GEOINT Edu Grant to Historically Black College

Early in August Fayetteville State University (FSU) received a five-year $443,000 research grant from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to develop a Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) certificate to be offered to students pursuing undergraduate degrees in geography, computer science, and intelligence studies (press release). The four recipients of the grant are part of the university's Center for Defense and Homeland Security (CDHS).

I didn't realize FSU was a historically black college or university (HBCU) until another educator pointed it out. The certificate will be the first of its kind at an HBCU and FSU intends for its work to become a template for other schools interested in pursuing such offerings (press release).

The two year grant with three one year add-ons has several goals:

• develop courses for the GEOINT certificate 
• establish a geospatial teaching laboratory 
• obtain certificate accredited from the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) 
• develop an online component for the program 
• expand the certificate to include allied programs such as Political Science

Currently, the university offers a B.A. and a minor in Geography and has three faculty members in the department. That said, the list of geography courses (which fall under History and Government) is quite long. I count four that deal with computer cartography and GIS. There's one remote sensing, course, too.

FSU, I have learned, is the second-oldest public institution in North Carolina., part of the University of North Carolina System. It serves about 6,000 students and offers 60 undergraduate and graduate degrees. Trajectory Magazine (from the USGIF) reports that the GEOINT program lead, Dr. Rakesh Malhotra, is a member of the USGIF Academic Advisory Board. Several other members of that board are involved in GEOINT programs at other universities.

The NGA includes HBCU grants among its academic research program, but does not cite this grant anywhere on its website, at least not yet.

Jeremy Crampton, at his Open Geography blog asks a number of questions about grants in general in the context of this announcement:

Would you take $443,000 from the government to build a Certificate Program? What about from a government intelligence agency?

This grant and the program it creates support a number of firsts for HBCUs, geospatial, NGA, USGIF, GEOINT and geo education. Many eyes will be watching its progress.

Kingston University Closes First Bachelors GIS Program

Kenneth Field (@kennethfield) writes on Twitter:

News reaches me that Kingston University London have closed the world's first Bachelors GIS course after 23 yrs. Words fail me.

He was there until joining Esri not long ago. He follows up:

@andnewmanGEO @jeremy_morley @osbornec someday I may post a long essay I wrote on what went on & what went wrong at KU...still too soon tho

I have no particular insight into this program or university, but I have been doing some work detailing new GIS degree and certificate programs in the United States. One conclusion I drew from my limited data was that there are new two year GIS certificate and associates degrees and masters degrees but no new four year bachelors degrees. There are few GIS bachelors degrees in the U.S.; off the top of my head I can think of just the one at American Sentinel, a for profit school, but I'm pretty sure there are few others. Somehow that degree package has not been popular here. Why not?

I think some geography programs were not comfortable with GIS leading geography. So degrees are conferred in geography but with a specialization in GIS. That's how my alma mater Penn State does it.

The current economic downturn and the push for more career focused learning has but students in the drivers' seat. They are demanding shorter programs that can get them into real jobs faster. Hence a two year certificate or two year associates degree can be a shortcut to a good paying job. The new masters programs I see are not academic masters, but rather professional masters aimed at adding skills to those of a currently working professional. Again, the goal is workforce enhancement.

Mr. Field suggests other factors may be at play at Kingston, but at some level its following the pattern I'm seeing here in the U.S.

GIS Certificate: $2,400 and Four Saturdays

If I read this press release and this website correctly, you can get a GIS certificate from Cal Poly Pamona for just $2,400. Students take four classes at $600 each; two are required and two are electives (though only two electives are available, as I write this). Each one is taught on a single Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm. The required courses use Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop and the electives use Getting to Know ArcObjects, Programming ArcGIS with VBA (?) and the Esri Virtual Campus resources.


I appreciate that Cal Poly Pamona is straightforward about what the short program can and can't do.

This certificate program is intended for prospective non-specialist GIS users in a variety of professional settings. The certificate is not intended to prepare full-time GIS specialists, but rather to impart useful and necessary GIS skills to analysts, planners and managers in the wide range of fields that require location or planning decisions, resource management/allocation decisions or spatial optimization of networks, routes or systems.

I'm pleased so many schools are offering GIS courses, certificates and degrees. I think having a variety of face-to-face, online, hybrid and other ways to teach and learn are key to getting the word out to as many potential practitioners as possible. The variety of options means that both students and hiring managers need to do their homework.

Students need to remember that old adage, "if something looks too good to be true..." In short, a program that is short and inexpensive may not deliver the same content, teach the same skills or have the same impact on a hiring manager. That said, I think such offerings can be great introductions and/or stepping stones to further self-study or more formal study of GIS.

The real challenge for those on the hiring side is to be sure distinguish between the kinds of skills acquired and degrees conferred by such programs. A "GIS certificate" may be open to anyone and hus is taught to address those with a variety of backgrounds. The Cal Poly Pamona program falls into this group. A "post baccalaureate certificate" means a bachelor's degree is a pre-requisite and the courses are aimed at individuals with that level of educational experience. Some programs even count such coursework towards a Masters (Penn State and Denver for two).