Geospatial Teaching Across the Curriculm

About GEOSTAC

Geospatial Teaching Across the Curriculum (GEOSTAC) is a professional development opportunity for Language Arts, Math, Social Science and Science high school teachers.  Funded by the National Science Foundation division of Advanced Technological Education and is supported by Lane Community College and Lane ESD,  GEOSTAC addresses important needs to improve geospatial education and community college program recruitment by creating a pathway between the community college, high school teachers, and their students.
GEOSTAC will provide professional development in eight after-school workshops to: (1) understand the growing prominence of geospatial thinking (2) learn how to employ geospatial thinking in each discipline, (3) learn about geospatial technologies, (4) develop a Web-based GIS lesson.

GEOSTAC will work with high school students to: (1) promote an understanding of the importance of geospatial technologies and careers in future job markets, (2) teach how to use Web-based GIS to solve real-world problems.  After completing the teacher developed lesson, students and their teacher may choose to visit the community college GIS lab and experience using desktop GIS.

The GEOSTAC project

• Eight two-hour teacher workshops (beginning late fall 2009 and finishing early in 2010). Tentatively workshop times: 4:30 to 6:30 on Wednesday evenings - Lane Main Campus

• Approximately 16 hours of self-directed activities over the course of the workshop and lesson implementation
• Five 45 minute webinars with GEOSTAC team members.  Tentative webinars times: Mondays 3:45 to 4:30
• Classroom implementation of teacher-designed lesson with GEOSTAC team members
• Approximately six hours of instruction. This includes the pre-post student survey, Introduction to GIS (by GEOSTAC team), Web-based GIS tutorial, and teacher developed lesson.
• End of year program assessment dinner. Tentative assessment dinner June 2010

Participating teachers will receive:

GEOSTAC Lessons:

During the eight-week workshop, teachers will develop a lesson that will be implemented in their classes sometime in late winter or spring 2010. These lessons can be a short 40 minute exploration to more involved inquiry supported research. The scope of the lesson and its application will depend on each teacher's specific curricular need. For example:

• A language arts teacher can use Web-based GIS to  evaluate human trafficking as a foundation for research prior to writing a paper.
•  A math teacher can use Web-based GIS to focus on global demographics to teach central tendency.
• A history teacher can adapt a Web-based GIS lesson about Japanese Internment to support a unit covering World War II.
•  A global studies teacher can use the Web-based GIS site to focus research about refugee sending and receiving countries.
• A biology teacher can adapt a Web-based GIS lesson related to gray whale migration along the Oregon coast.

To Apply:

Additionally teachers will need to have: a letter of support from their principal, and have access to the school computer lab for the Web-based lessons; be able to attend the workshops and webinars.

For more information contact:

Lynn Songer, Ph.D.
GIS and Geography Instructor
Lane Community College
4000 East 30th Ave.
Eugene, Oregon 98405
songerl@lanecc.edu
541-463-5493