Offering “Introduction To Geographic Information Systems”, Including Laboratory Sessions, Using A Combination Of Distance Learning And Distance Teaching Techniques

The primary objective of this project was to teach sophomore engineering students the fundamental concepts of geographic information systems (GIS), but with the teacher and students in different locations. Introduction to Geographic Information Systems is a 2 credit half semester course with 6 contact hours including 3 hours of laboratory work. At a weekly scheduled time and place, the students asembled to listen to a 1 hour pre-recorded (with audio) PowerPoint lecture. The lecture was followed by a 15 minute chat session, featuring live audio/video, to answer questions and clarify concepts. Homework and laboratory reports were completed by the students outside the class room, on their own time, and submitted to the instructor via e-mail, graded and returned the same way. Blackboard, e-mail, and the telephone were used as communication devices. Analysis of homework and lab grades indicates that 3 out of 4 course objectives (see figure 1) were comfortably met. Grades associated with the fourth objective, involving a term project, showed that the attainment of objective 4 was uncertain. The students indicated that breaking down the term project into manageable parts would have been helpful. Overall, considering student and instructor evaluations, considerable learning did take place.