GIS in the Non-GIS Classroom: Using Student Mapping Assignments to Incorporate GIS in Traditional Lecture Classes

The role of geographic information systems (GIS) in education is vital. Geospatial skills have been shown to correlate with improved performance of general spatial thinking (Lee and Bednarz 2009) as well as specific geography-related content (Hall-Wallace and McAuliffe 2002). As students are exposed to more GIS, they gain skills that are desired by a growing number of employers. This is not a flash-in-the plan approach of describing the utility of GIS; even forward-looking projections by the US Department of Labor are certain of the rosy future of geotechnology's applications for decades to come (Gerwin 2004). This article suggests lesson-based solutions to an important research question: how can interested teachers present GIS lessons in a typical classroom setting, without incurring major expenses or disrupting the syllabus calendar? In other words, how can teachers introduce GIS into a "non-GIS" classroom?