Mapping Your Educational Research: Putting Spatial Concepts Into Practice With GIS

Session Type: Professional Development Course

Abstract

This course introduces geographic information systems technology (GIS) as a means to help researchers investigate the spatial context of education. Education has spatial context because schools are located in areas of metropolitan regions and neighborhoods that influence learning and teaching. This course provides a basic overview of GIS concepts, presents unique features of spatial data, demonstrates methods to analyze spatial relationships, and discusses online and desktop solutions for developing maps to analyze data and visualize research results. Course surveys concepts and definitions of census geography, and reviews geodemographic data resources available from federal agencies for use in educational research. Participants will use online and mapping software in hands-on exercises with their laptops to investigate demographic, geographic, educational, and administrative data.

Sub Unit

• Professional Development and Training Committee

Instructors

• Mark Hogrebe, Washington University in St. Louis

• Douglas E. Geverdt, U.S. Census Bureau

• Joseph Kerski, Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.