Exploiting the Power of GIS to Enhance Spatial Thinking in STEM Areas

利用 GIS 的力量增强 STEM 领域的空间思维

• 批准号: 7941783
• 负责人: Amy Lobben
• 金额: $ 49.76万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-30 至 2012-09-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7941783
• 关键词: Address; Adult; Architecture; Area; Communities; Complex; Computer software; Data; Data Analyses; Development; Discipline; Education; Educational Curriculum; Empirical Research; Employment; Engineering; Evaluation; Evolution; Foundations; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Future; Geographic Information Systems; Goals; Health Services Accessibility; Laboratories; Learning; Location; Mainstreaming; Maps; Mathematics; Methodology; Methods; National Research Council; Neurologic; Oregon; Plant Roots; Play; Population; Preventive Medicine; Process; Public Health; Publications; Recruitment Activity; Reporting; Research; Research Activity; Research Design; Research Personnel; Role; Schools; Science; Staging; Students; Tactile; Technology; Testing; Thinking; Time; Touch sensation; Underemployment; Unemployment; Universities; Validity and Reliability; Vision; Visual impairment; Washington; base; behavior test; blind; catalyst; design; efficacy evaluation; flexibility; haptics; instrument; public health relevance; response; sight for the blind; skills; statistics; theories; tool; usability; visual feedback; volunteer; way finding

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this project is to develop and evaluate a theory-driven pedagogic minimal Geographic Information Systems (mGIS) interface to enhance spatial thinking, analysis, and learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines by students who are blind or low vision. Spatial thinking represents a type of powerful and pervasive thinking as important as mathematical or verbal thinking. The importance and potential impact of spatial thinking on STEM competencies has been addressed recently in a National Research Council's report (2006), Learning to Think Spatially. In that publication, the NRC unabashedly states that spatial thinking not only underpins National Standards for Science and Mathematics, but also permeates scientific discovery and understanding by providing a catalyst to conceive, identify, develop, and solve scientific problems. Geospatial technology and data are not the future; they are the present. As a result, spatial thinking plays, and will continue to play, a key role in the current and future information-based economy. But unfortunately, as the NRC report illustrates, the K-12 curriculum is woefully negligent in addressing the need to enhance spatial thinking, in spite of its importance in STEM education. The proposed research design is grounded in current spatial thinking and geographic education theory. Project deliverables include an mGIS as well as enhanced theory for spatial thinking and learning across STEM for all students (not just mainstream). A haptic (touch) soundscape (audio) minimal Geographic Information System (mGIS) will provide educators a first-ever pedagogic tool designed to enhance analytical spatial thinking (a building block of STEM competency). Currently, no such tool exists for students who are blind or low vision. The project builds on a large stable base of preliminary data, which informs the development of the mGIS, the haptic-soundscape interface, as well as spatial thinking skills and their effect on STEM competencies. Project activities will focus on three specific aims. Specific Aim 1 is to develop a framework for expanding and deepening spatial thinking theory. We will not only build on existing classroom-based empirical research, but also test a methodology for expanding the empirical research approach. Our methods include combination of robust behavioral testing and fMRI data gathering. Specific Aim 2 is to develop a haptic soundscape mGIS interface for promoting spatial thinking in STEM education for students who are blind or low vision. The mGIS will be developed as a pedagogic tool, not a fully-functioning GIS. While research has shown that GIS can be an effective approach to geospatial analysis, inquiry, and learning, researchers and educators have not investigated how GIS can be applied to the curriculum of students who are blind or low vision, nor what spatial thinking tasks are appropriate for enhancing spatial thinking in STEM related academic fields. These skills have been identified by previous researchers as well as through the PI's current ongoing research. The skills are built on the five levels of spatial concepts, beginning with spatial primitives of identity, location, magnitude, space/time then deriving more complex concepts. The pedagogic mGIS interface will be simplified, removing many of the advanced data analysis capabilities (and buttons) from the interface (i.e. a minimal GIS). Specific Aim 3 is to evaluate the efficacy of the mGIS. Formative evaluation of the educational efficacy of the mGIS will take place throughout the development process. The mGIS will be built on the empirical results of theory-driven research, conducted iteratively. The efficacy evaluation activities will involve recruitment and testing of blind or low vision students from local universities and project partner schools for the blind. Public Health Relevance: This project will develop, deliver, and evaluate the efficacy of the first-ever theory-driven pedagogic minimal Geographic Information Systems (mGIS) interface designed to enhance spatial thinking, analysis, and learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines by students who are blind or low vision. The project will also contribute to the theoretical understanding of student spatial thinking skills.

描述（由申请人提供）：该项目的目标是开发和评估理论驱动的教学最小地理信息系统（mGIS）界面，以增强科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域的空间思维、分析和学习) 盲人或弱视学生的纪律。空间思维代表了一种强大而普遍的思维，与数学或语言思维一样重要。最近，国家研究委员会的报告（2006 年）《学习空间思维》阐述了空间思维对 STEM 能力的重要性和潜在影响。在那份出版物中，NRC 毫不掩饰地指出，空间思维不仅是科学和数学国家标准的基础，而且通过为构思、识别、开发和解决科学问题提供催化剂，渗透到科学发现和理解中。地理空间技术和数据不是未来；他们是现在。因此，空间思维在当前和未来的信息经济中发挥着并将继续发挥关键作用。但不幸的是，正如 NRC 报告所表明的那样，尽管 K-12 课程在 STEM 教育中很重要，但它在满足增强空间思维的需求方面却严重疏忽。 所提出的研究设计基于当前的空间思维和地理教育理论。项目可交付成果包括 mGIS 以及针对所有学生（不仅仅是主流学生）跨 STEM 的空间思维和学习的增强理论。触觉（触摸）音景（音频）最小地理信息系统 (mGIS) 将为教育工作者提供有史以来第一个旨在增强分析空间思维（STEM 能力的组成部分）的教学工具。目前，还没有针对盲人或弱视学生的此类工具。该项目建立在大量稳定的初步数据基础上，为 mGIS、触觉-声景界面以及空间思维技能及其对 STEM 能力的影响的开发提供信息。 项目活动将集中于三个具体目标。具体目标 1 是开发一个扩展和深化空间思维理论的框架。我们不仅将建立在现有的基于课堂的实证研究的基础上，还将测试扩展实证研究方法的方法论。我们的方法包括稳健的行为测试和功能磁共振成像数据收集的结合。具体目标 2 是开发触觉声景 mGIS 界面，以促进盲人或弱视学生 STEM 教育中的空间思维。 mGIS 将被开发为一种教学工具，而不是一个功能齐全的 GIS。虽然研究表明 GIS 可以成为地理空间分析、探究和学习的有效方法，但研究人员和教育工作者尚未研究如何将 GIS 应用于盲人或弱视学生的课程，也没有研究哪些空间思维任务是合适的增强 STEM 相关学术领域的空间思维。这些技能已被之前的研究人员以及 PI 当前正在进行的研究所确定。这些技能建立在空间概念的五个层次上，从身份、位置、大小、空间/时间的空间基元开始，然后派生出更复杂的概念。教学 mGIS 界面将得到简化，从界面（即最小 GIS）中删除许多高级数据分析功能（和按钮）。具体目标 3 是评估 mGIS 的功效。 mGIS 教育功效的形成性评估将在整个开发过程中进行。 mGIS 将建立在反复进行的理论驱动研究的实证结果之上。功效评估活动将涉及从当地大学和盲人项目合作学校招募盲人或低视力学生并进行测试。 公共卫生相关性：该项目将开发、交付和评估第一个理论驱动的教学最小地理信息系统 (mGIS) 界面的有效性，旨在增强科学、技术、工程和领域的空间思维、分析和学习。盲人或弱视学生的数学（STEM）学科。该项目还将有助于学生空间思维技能的理论理解。