Estimates range between 20% to 80% of students in higher education will experience mental health concerns during their undergraduate years (1, 2). It’s a concern in my discipline (3), yet despite the widespread prevalence of mental health issues in graduate school (4) – meaning that faculty should be aware of the problem – it still…
Category: GIS Education
Just in Time Teaching with GIS: an experiment in teaching
(Note: This post is more of a confession than a scientific article. Any factual, useful, researched information that you take away from it is purely accidental and should be viewed with a healthy skepticism.) I recently completed my tenth year as an instructor in front of a college classroom. I’ve taught at community colleges and…
Urban Heat Island Visualization 2017
This is a video generated by my research student, Joseph Reynolds, on the heat island effect at a microscale in Denver over two weeks in March 2017. The data was collected in my Spatial Databases class from Thermochron iButton sensors, interpolated, and then animated.
Call for Proposals: Sponsors for Customized ArcGIS Desktop Python Toolboxes
Call for Proposals: Sponsors for Customized ArcGIS Desktop Python Toolboxes This is a Call For Proposals for Sponsors for Customized ArcGIS Desktop Python Toolboxes. The MSU Denver GIS Programming Spring 2018 class is seeking businesses, agencies, non-profits, and other groups who have a need for a customized toolbox in ArcGIS Desktop version 10.2 through…
Teaching with OpenStreetMap – Bringing crowd-sourced mapping into the classroom
I doubt that anyone who wanders into this page is unaware of OpenStreetMap, the crowd-source mapping platform detailing the world’s locations since 2005. I’ve been using, studying, and most importantly, contributing to OpenStreetMap since 2010. As a platform, it hosts a tremendous amount of vector-based data about the world that has largely been created by…
Student Portfolios from Spatial Modeling Class, Fall 2017
We had some great examples of portfolios made in our Spatial Modeling class! Austin B. – https://austinbingham.wordpress.com/ Jared B. – https://brantleyportfolio.wordpress.com/projects/ Byron C. – https://byronclayton.wordpress.com/ Shauna E. – https://shaunaewald.wordpress.com/ Joseph F. – https://josephfischer91.wordpress.com/ Joshua G. – https://joshgasser.wordpress.com/gis/ Haley H. — haleyhampstead.wordpress.com  Ross H. – https://rhattel.wordpress.com/ Todd J. – http://jacobusgeospatial.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ Jen M. – https://gisjen.wordpress.com
Web Mapping Projects from Fall 2017
In the fall of 2017, we introduced a web mapping class at MSU Denver. For a final project, each student had to create a webmap using the Leaflet.js library and include some specific types of interaction. Below are the projects that the students created. Check it out! Ally A. – Bus Routes Around Denver -Â …
What I learned about GIS resumes from the Career Development Academy
I’m always curious about what type of advice students get on the job hunt. At the 2017 GIS in the Rockies conference in Denver, I sat in on the panel for the Career Development Academy led by Cerian Gibbes from UCCS. After the panel session, attendees offered their resumes for review, and I spent a…
Intro Python w/ ArcGIS March 24-25; Advanced Python w/ ArcGIS March 26-27 in Denver, Colorado
I’ll be teaching (through Geospatial Training Services) two Programming ArcGIS with Python courses in Denver this March. Programming ArcGIS with Python Workshop – March 24th – 25th – University of Phoenix, 8700 Turnpike Dr., Westminster, CO 80030 This is our introductory level ArcGIS programming class, and will include the following modules: Chapter 1: Python Basics…
Texas State Geographic Spring 2014
I’m very pleased to present the inaugural issue of Texas State Geographic, a journal of undergraduate student writing and research in geography. You can read the issue at Scribd. I want to congratulate the authors whose work is presented here. I also want to appreciate those students who submitted articles. Overall, the quality of the…
Story Maps
For my Intro to GIS, my students created Story Maps using ArcGIS Online. Story Maps allow creators to tie images, videos, and maps together with a story line that anyone can follow. Here are some samples (best viewed in Firefox or Google Chrome): Eat San Antonio by David Parr Come and Visit Costa Rica by…
Teaching students to schedule project work
Dan Ariely recently had an “Ask-Me-Anything” (AMA) session on Reddit, and one of his experiments he discussed had results that I think directly relates to my experience with student’s final projects in Intro GIS: [–]bobby_g3 275 points 1 day ago What has been your favorite social experiment to try on a college campus and which experiment has changed…
Intro GIS Class Project: Writing a Magazine Article
As a class project this semester, I’m having my students write a three to four page magazine article about a GIS project. Here’s my example.