This page provides resources for educators seeking to begin a new geospatial program or expand and sustain an existing program.  While every college and its service region have unique needs, many of the steps and resources necessary to start and nurture a successful program are similar. We have collected the most essential recommendations and resources here on this one page to guide you through the process.

 

Geospatial curriculum results from a time-proven methodology of analyzing your local workforce needs and designing an academic program to educate the workforce for skills needed in your local area. On this page we provide you a step-by-step guide to assess you own needs and design an exemplary program around those needs.

 

Developing a Geospatial Program

Use this whitepaper to help guide you through the process of creating and improving a two year college geospatial technology program. The whitepaper includes step by step logic model flowchart and recommendations. Written by former Esri Higher Education manager, Ann Johnson, for the GeoTech Center.

 

Model Certificate and Course Descriptions

The GeoTech Center, a National Science Foundation (DUE 1304591) grant to support geospatial programs at two-year colleges, developed Model Courses focused on building the skills, competencies, and abilities needed for entry-level occupations in the geospatial industry. Competencies covered in the Model Courses were identified using the Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM) and outcomes from multiple DACUM (“Developing a Curriculum”) events.  A panel of geospatial education experts parsed the competencies into the Model Courses for the Certificate.  All material is distributed freely under a Creative Commons license and can be used with attribution to GeoTech.  In order to track the use of the resources, we require you to login to view the full content for each Model Course but you can see the Syllabus and short Description for each course.

 

Meta-DACUM Job/Occupation Analysis for GIS and Remote Sensing

 

GTCM Model Program Content Tool (with Rankings)

This worksheet is designed to help educators participating in the GTCM Course Workshops identify what skills and competencies should be included in a curriculum for entry level geospatial programs (Technician/Technologist) based on the Meta-DACUM outcome and the Department of Labor's Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM). This spreadsheet contains the RESULTS of previous GTCM workshops and represents a CONSENUS value that each competency should be covered in similar courses. Matrix rows list key competencies and critical work functions identified by the Meta-DACUM expressed in a modified Bloom's taxonomy format.  Columns represent the array of courses and other formal educational experiences included in a Model geospatial curriculum.  Educators can enter the value (based on scale of 0 to 4) representing whether that competency should be included or not included in a specific course.  No course or program will address all competencies. Last updated June 10, 2014.

 

GTCM Program Assessment Tool (Blank)

This worksheet is designed to help educators assess how their geospatial curricula align with workforce needs in the geospatial industry. The worksheet consists of a matrix corresponding to one of the five tiers of the Department of Labor's Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM). Matrix rows list key competencies and critical work functions identified by workforce analysts and geospatial professionals. Columns represent the array of courses and other formal educational experiences included in a curriculum.  Educators can enter into the matrix how and to what degree a particular course addresses each competency based on the Mastery Level Definitions listed on the Definitions tab of this worksheet. Entries selected from drop-down lists will be displayed graphically to provide a qualitative visual of course/program strengths, weaknesses and gaps. Quantitative measures are also calculated indicating overall alignment with the GTCM (percent of competencies addressed) at both the course and program level. No course or program will address all competencies.
 
The worksheet is not limited to assessment of academic curricula. It can also be utilized for other purposes such as self-assessment or employee assessment. Last updated: September 1, 2014.

 

Model Certificate and Course Descriptions with Tools for Program Development

 

Model Course and Certificate Development

Ann Johnson provides a narrative on the steps used to create the GTCM Model Courses and Certificate from the original GTCM to Faculty Development workshop

 

Model Course and Certificate Development Process Explained

Ann Johnson provides a narrative on the steps used to create the GTCM Model Courses and Certificate from the original GTCM to Faculty Development workshops.

 

Department of Labor GIS Technician Occupation Description

The Department of Labor provides occupation descriptions on their O-Net website.  This link provides you the current DOL occupation description for GIS Technician.  You will find John Johnson's article much more detailed in actual technician knowledge, skills, and tasks.

 

What GIS Technicians Do

A consolidation of 8 DACUM Job Analyses for GIS Technicians from across the United States published in the URISA Journal Volume 22, Issue 2, 2010. Includes supplemental tables. Identifies 55 common task categories, 35 knowledge and skill categories and 27 behavior categories which are itemized, ranked and documented. This information can serve as the basis for new job descriptions, curriculum resources for education and training, criteria for inter-institutional program articulation, and requirements for professional certification.