Spatial information technologies - Integrating the tools with the curricula

摘要

Spatial information technologies are being used more and more in forestry and natural resources management and research. Our long-term goal is to expose students to these technologies from the moment they enter school until they graduate. We present a sample class and laboratory sequence in which students used geographic information systems, global positioning systems, and statistical sampling techniques to estimate forest basal area. Our plans include integrating spatial information technology into other courses in the curricula, and using more rigorous assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach.