Collaborative Research: Graduate Ethics Education for Future Geospatial Technology Professionals

该项目将定期举办研究生研讨会，在俄勒冈州立大学、明尼苏达大学和宾夕法尼亚州立大学三个著名的地理学研究生课程中严格探索地理信息科学和技术(GIS&amp；T)的伦理影响。由专业伦理学家和地理信息系统与技术教育工作者组成的团队开发的示范研讨会课程将被开发并免费传播给美国及海外的地理信息与技术教育界。该项目涉及的事实是，地理信息系统与技术是一个大型和快速发展的多学科领域，涉及从地理空间技术衍生的信息的性质、使用和社会影响。全球定位系统(GPS)、卫星遥感和地理信息系统(GIS)等技术使分析人员能够跟踪人和牙齿，评估自然资源和监测土地使用，确定最佳地点和路线，并针对需要进一步调查或干预的地区。因此，伦理问题涉及：1)个人隐私和将地理空间技术用作监视工具；2)将使用这些方法收集的数据适当用于决策；以及3)由于对地理空间工具和派生数据的偏见获取而产生的不平等后果。将召集一个由伦理学家和教育工作者组成的小组来开发一个研讨会课程，让学生参与伦理学的哲学基础，评估和加强道德推理能力的技术，以及与地理信息系统和技术相关的伦理问题，学生与地理信息系统和技术专业人员的互动将被用来开发案例研究，阐明实际情况和专业人员对它们的反应。该课程将通过美国地理学家协会和巴黎州立大学的虚拟研讨会广泛传播。

This project will institute regularly-offered graduate seminars that rigorously explore ethical implications of geographic information science and technology (GIS&T) within three prominent graduate programs of geography at Oregon State University, the University of Minnesota, and Pennsylvania State University. A model seminar curriculum developed by a team of professional ethicists and GIS&T educators will be developed and disseminated freely to the GIS&T education community in the U.S. and overseas. This project addresses the fact that GIS&T is a large and rapidly-growing multidisciplinary field concerned with the nature, use, and societal impacts of information derived from geospatial technologoes. Technologies such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), satellite remote sensing, and geographic information systems (GIS) enable analysts to track people and tehings, to evaluate natural resources and monitor land uses, to identify optimal sites and routes, and to target areas for further investigation or intervention. As such, ethical issues related to: 1) privacy of individuals and use of geospatial technologies as surveillance tools; 2) appropriate use of data collected using these methods for policy decisions; and, 3) consequences of inequities that arise through biased access to geospatial tools and derived data. A panel of ethicists and educators will be convened to develop a seminar curriculum that engages students in the philosophical foundations of ethics, in echniques for assessing and strengthening moral reasoning ability, and the ethical issues associated with GIS&T. Student interactions with GIS&T professionals will be used to develop case studies that illuminate practical situations and professional responses to them. The curriculum will be widely disseminated through the Association of American Geographers and through virtual seminars at PSU.