Geographic Information Systems Laboratory for Undergraduate Instruction and Research

该项目正在通过增加一个功能齐全的地理信息系统(GIS)实验室设施来改善本科生的教育。这些改进是通过购买计算机硬件和软件并将其置于地理信息系统专业人员的管理之下进行的。这些设施整合和补充了学院已经发展完善的技术基础设施。这所学院由爱达荷州负责，提供与北爱达荷州经济状况相关的教育和培训，非传统学生也可以进入。这些学生包括美洲原住民、单亲父母、失业工人、第一代大学生，以及那些只能在没有其他机构提供服务的地点或时间上学的人。北爱达荷州的经济依赖于自然资源行业，包括农业、林产品和矿产，以及监管这些行业的政府机构。所有这些雇主在决策时都严重依赖空间数据。目前，所有自然科学专业的学生都接受以技术为基础、面向领域的指导。在地理信息系统的背景下对空间数据的操作和分析正规化是对这一教育理念的逻辑补充。地理信息系统实验室使学院能够提供正式的地理信息系统课程，在许多学科的其他课程中使用地理信息系统，将地理信息系统纳入学生研究项目，并让学生参与专业的地理信息系统活动。所有这些好处不仅适用于校园内的学生，也适用于学院远程教育项目所服务的地点和时间有限的学生。地理信息系统设施本身将为该学院现有的网络基础设施增加数据服务能力。融入地理信息系统的教育本质上是跨学科的，使学生接触到现实世界的问题，积极地让他们参与学习，并使他们接触到该地区主要雇主使用的技术。

This project is improving the education of undergraduate students by adding a fully functional geographic information systems (GIS) laboratory facility. The improvements are being made by purchasing computer hardware and software and placing them under the administration of a GIS professional. These facilities integrate and complement the already well-developed technological infrastructure of the college. This college is charged by the state of Idaho to provide education and training that is relevant to the economic situation of North Idaho and that is accessible to nontraditional students. These students include Native Americans, single parents, displaced workers, first-generation college students, and people who can only attend school at places or times not served by other institutions. The economy of North Idaho relies on natural-resource industries including agriculture, forest products, and minerals, and the government agencies that oversee them. All of these employers rely heavily on spatial data in their decision-making. All natural-science students currently receive technology-based, field-oriented instruction. Formalizing the manipulation and analysis of spatial data in the context of GIS is a logical complement to this educational philosophy. The GIS lab enables the college to offer formal courses in GIS, to use GIS in other courses across many disciplines, to incorporate GIS into student research projects, and to engage students in professional GIS activities. All of these benefits are available not only to students on campus, but also to the place- and time-bound students served by the college's distance education projects. The GIS facility itself will add data-serving capacity to the college's existing network infrastructure. Education incorporating GIS is inherently interdisciplinary, exposes students to real-world problems, actively involves them in learning, and exposes them to technology that is used by the major employers of the region.