Browsing by Subject "educational materials"

The role of geographic thinking is essential in tackling topical challenges such as climate crisis, biodiversity loss and sustainable production of food. One powerful tool that helps to model and analyze these complex geographic phenomena is geographic information systems (GIS). Using GIS as part of geography high school education has many benefits when it is applied intentionally. However, many teachers still struggle to implement GIS in long-term classroom use even if they have gotten previous GIS training and have access to internet-based GIS, easy-access data and easier to use software. There is still a need for further research on how teachers can be supported in GIS education on a practical level. This thesis research aims to find solutions to this need. The research is conducted as design-based research that consists of problem analyses and a cyclic development process where a design solution, a GIS learning activity, is created. Problem analyses showed that combining new and existing knowledge, using multimodal learning environments, and supporting motivation and development of metacognitive skills are important to take into consideration in designing the learning activity. They also examined features that lead to successful GIS teacher training. Conducted interviews revealed that the biggest challenges with GIS education relate to scarcity of time, insufficient technical skills, and training that does not provide practical value. Teachers wished for very practical level support that is efficient timewise and offers them learning materials that are ready for easy classroom use. Based on these findings, a GIS learning activity was designed to answer the common challenges. The practical was tested consecutively by two geography teachers from a collaborative high school. Feedback revealed that the first teacher faced some challenges relating to time management during the lesson but found the activity useful. The second teacher tested the activity after some modifications had been made and the testing was overall successful. Both teachers expressed interest in using the material and the GIS software again in the future. The findings suggest that providing teachers this research-based GIS learning material has potential to support them in GIS education and to remove many common challenges. Some advantages of the practical were offering teachers a web-based GIS with simple user interface, preprocessed data already included in the service and a ready practical that can be completed in one lesson. The theme also supported the national core curriculum which is very valuable in creating new GIS materials for educational use. This study showed that relevant and inquiry-based GIS activities are still needed in high school geography education. It also serves as the first opening for new LUMA Taita -project that promotes international science education collaboration and brings research into schools in an inspiring way.