Collaborative Research: Graduate Ethics Education for Future Geospatial Technology Professionals

该项目将在俄勒冈州立大学、明尼苏达大学和宾夕法尼亚州立大学三个著名的地理研究生项目中定期举办研究生研讨会，严格探讨地理信息科学与技术（gis&t）的伦理含义。由专业伦理学家和gis&t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和海外的gis&t教育界。这个项目解决了这样一个事实，即地理信息系统是一个庞大且快速发展的多学科领域，涉及地理空间技术衍生信息的性质、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物，评估自然资源和监测土地利用，确定最佳地点和路线，并确定目标区域进行进一步调查或干预。因此，伦理问题涉及：1)个人隐私和使用地理空间技术作为监视工具；2)适当使用这些方法收集的数据进行政策决策；3)由于对地理空间工具和衍生数据的偏见获取而产生的不公平后果。将召集一个由伦理学家和教育工作者组成的小组，制定一个研讨会课程，使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gis相关的伦理问题。学生与gis&t专业人员的互动将被用于开发案例研究，以阐明实际情况和专业应对措施。该课程将通过美国地理学家协会和PSU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.