Internet Mapping Education: Curriculum Technology and Creativity - Maps for the Future Children Education and Internet - page 119

debate on how to education students for an ever-changing world. The crux of this
debate is focused on program knowledge verses generic skills. University as a
whole identify that the principle task is education student to communicate, problem
solve, analysis, integrate and creatively think. The argument is on how to achieve
this. One approach is to focus on this skill specifically and have all students master
these generic skills in assignment courses (Harvey 1993 ; Gash and Reardon 1998 ;
De La Harpe and Radloff 2000 ). Others have argued that only through effective
disciplinary education do students learn and apply these generic skills (Boyatzis
et al. 1995 ; Kemp and Seagraves 1995 ; Diamond 1998 , and Drury and Taylor
1999 ). This two extreme in curriculum approaches have been bridged but neither
side seems to like the option (Gash and Reardon 1998 ). Ideas like tacked-on,
afterthought bolt-on (Bowden et al. 2000 ; Pearson and Brew 2002 ) and check list
are seen as failing to delivery acceptable educational outcomes.
The later approach does have appeal at both at the program and course outcomes
level. In a closely related context the efforts by DiBiase et al. ( 2007 ) to review and
establish the merits of the Geographic Information Science and Technology Body
of Knowledge (GIS&T BoK) (AAG, 2006) shows a exhaustive set of disciplinary
skills that students should learn and master. These skills are closely related to Web
Mapping and one might think that all of web mapping is covered in the GIS&T
BOK. But as Dibiase et al. ( 2007 , p. 119) say “that disruptive new technologies,
innovative sciences, imaginative applications, and the dynamics of human and
physical landscapes that give rise to the GIS&T field in the first palace, will
continue to drive changes.”
In the field of Information Systems Gorgone et al. ( 2003 ) developed a compre-
hensive curriculum of undergraduate programs. The curriculum like the GIS&T
BoK was a discipline outcome focused approach. This middle ground approach to
curriculum development focuses on assessment of market demands for graduate.
This special consideration for the need of the employment market does focus a
program to continually update is educational system. However one can argue that
this approach will only develop time sensitive vocational skills and graduates will
be ill prepared to handle changes in the work place.
Designing a course focused on Web Mapping technologies how does the faculty
member approach this education. Web Mapping requires some very specific skill
sets. By choosing a development environment vocational training looms and
universities are quick to say they are not vocational by nature in the USA. One
approach is to use a wide variety of development environments. In this environment
student are forced to learn not a system but a method of problem solving. Hear the
student must create a knowledge set that says how do I do this in this new system.
An example would be how do I declare a variable type. In every programming
language declaring variable is a basic concept. So by switching environment
multiple times within the course student will develop a method for learn the next
system. This problem-solving outcome fits nicely in all three learning outcomes.
Yet this outcome result is extremely difficult to achieve. It takes a long time do
develop this knowledge even for professional in the field for decades and many
times professionals really never develop this skill.