GIS and Place Mary Fargher Institute of Education University of London m.fargher@ioe.ac.uk GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Presentation Overview Research Focus & Aims Research Approaches ‘The Literature’ Empirical Study: Exemplar Preliminary Findings Summary Discussion Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Processes involved in teaching and learning about place …..with GIS Research Focus Processes involved in teaching and learning about place …..with GIS Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Place lies at the heart of geography...... Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

How does GIS influence how we 'know' place? Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

‘How does GIS influence how students construct knowledge about place? Research Aims To explore this research question: ‘How does GIS influence how students construct knowledge about place? Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

subdivided as….. How does GIS influence how students conceptualize place? How do teachers make sense of and mediate GIS in their teaching? How do students make sense of and mediate GIS in their learning? Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Research Approaches Interpretive….focusing on deconstruction of processes involved in :‘GeographyPedagogyTechnology’ Bricolage (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000) observe, describe, ask, read, reflect, explain Transformative….focusing on praxis through which we ‘make the world’ (Lather, 1991) Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Theoretical approaches to place Theoretical origins of GIS ‘The Literature’ Theoretical approaches to place Theoretical origins of GIS Critical GIS: A more progressive research agenda? Geo-visualization as the ‘fourth r?’ (Goodchild, 2006) Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Examining theoretical approaches to place Place and space as disputed but central concepts and territories for many geographers( Hubbard et al; 2004) Plurality of approaches (e.g. regional geography, spatial science) Specific elements of each approach Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Specific elements of each approach Era Essence Influence Advocates Legacy Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Figure 1 THE DIVERSITY OF THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO PLACE AND SPACE IN GEOGRAPHY ‘Social Justice and the City’ (Harvey, 1973) ‘Spatial divisions of labour’ Harvey (1969, 1973) Smith (1971) Peet (1977) Massey (1984) MARXISM 1960S- RADICAL GEOGRAPHY ‘Sense of Place’ ‘Placelessness’ ‘Locale’ ‘Place as human experience’ ‘Lived world’ Tuan (1974) Relph (1976) Agnew (1987) Entrikin (1991) Buttimer (1976) Cresswell (2004) PHENOMENOLOGY EXISTENTIALISM SUBJECTIVE PEOPLE-CENTRED PLACES 1970s - HUMANISM Hagerstrand (1982) Golledge SPATIAL SCIENCE COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY OBJECTIVE POSITIVIST SCIENTIFIC SPACE 1970s- BEHAVIOURAL GEOGRAPHY GIS ‘Locational Analysis’ Frontiers in Geographical Teaching’(Chorley& Haggett, 1965) ‘Geography:A Modern Synthesis’ (Haggett, 1975) ‘Remodelling Geography’ (MacMillan, 1989) Gregory (1963) Chorley (1965) Haggett (1975) Berry (1967) Tobler Abler et al; 1971) Harvey (1969) MacMillan POSITIVISM EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY STRUCTURALISM SCIENTIFIC QUANTIFICATION OF SPACE MODELLING 1960s/70s - Systematic regional classification ‘Natural Regions’ ‘Principles of Human Geography’ (Vidal de la Blache, 1921) Mackinder (1887) Herbertson (1910) Vidal de la Blache (1921) Davis CLASSICAL GEOGRAPHY EXPLORATION DESCRIPTIVE /IDIOGRAPHIC PLACE Late19thcentury-Mid-1970s REGIONALIST GEOGRAPHY Human-environment relationship Geography’s ‘Social Darwinism ?’ ‘Influences of Human Environment’ ( Semple, 1915) Ratzel Semple(1915) DARWINISM INDUCTIVE REASONING Late 19th/early 20th century ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM LEGACY ADVOCATES INFLUENCES ESSENCE ERA APPROACH Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009 ‘Geographies of difference’ ‘Relational analyses of place and space’ ‘Non -representational theory’ ‘Geography of event’ Soja (1989) Doel (1999) Crang (2000) Thrift (2003) Latham (2003) Massey (2005) POSTMODERNISM SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED PLACES SPACES AS RELATIONS NOT STRUCTURES SPACES & PLACES AS OPEN & CONNECTED ‘Situated knowledges’ Foucault Lefebvre (1991) Soja ( 1996, 1985) Haraway(1991) POST-STRUCTURALISM SPACE AS PROCESS ‘New Models in Geography’ (Peet & Thrift eds; 1989) (partial) theorizing of ‘Regionalization’ ‘Becoming of a place’ Harvey Giddens Pred (1987) MARXISM STRUCTURATION THEORY CRITICAL GEOGRAPHIES ‘Locality’ ‘Substantive geographies’ ‘Geographical imaginations’ Urry (1981) Sayer (1985) Gregory (1985) SPACE & SOCIAL RELATIONS 1980s - REALISM ‘Social Justice and the City’ (Harvey, 1973) ‘Spatial divisions of labour’ Harvey (1969, 1973) Smith (1971) Peet (1977) Massey (1984) 1960S- RADICAL GEOGRAPHY Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Theoretical origins of GIS Origins – Quantitative revolution of the 1960s & 70s – Geography as a ‘bona fide science?’ (Unwin, 1992) Designed with ‘spatial science in mind’ Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Subsequent criticisms…. Positivist origins – Designed (only?) to locate, identify, predict, problem-solve? Questionable ethics behind the technology- Commercially-orientated, dubious military applications, non-participatory? ‘Ground Truth : The Social Implications of GIS’ (Edited by John Pickles, 1995) Limitations to thinking geographically? Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Mary Fargher IoE London 2008 ‘GIS was by implication, a means of limiting the proliferation of epistemologies in geography.’ (Schuurman, 2000, pg. 580) A technology that could quantify but not qualify? Mary Fargher IoE London 2008 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Critical GIS: A more 'progressive' research agenda? Fuller analysis of how GIS represents people, space and environments (O’Sullivan, 2006) Participatory GIS (PGIS)- ‘GIS for the people?’ e.g. ‘Worldfish’ (Aceh, Indonesia, post-tsunami) Mary Fargher GTE 2009  Mary Fargher GTE 2009

‘This is not technical knowledge but rather deep knowledge which places cultural values on land and place which is manifested in fuzzy, emotional and holistic terms (McCall and Minang, 2005) and which may not fit neatly into the spatially precise demands of a GIS.’ (Dunn, 2007, pg 623) Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Geo-visualization as the fourth ‘r’?* Virtual globes – Google Earth, Worldwind, ArcExplorer, Virtual Earth etc. Multi-source/Holistic GIS – e.g. Koravec on hurricanes (3 years prior to ‘Katrina’) * (Goodchild, 2006) Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Empirical Study: Exemplar Ongoing data collection in school Year 9 students & their teachers Lesson observation & interview Studying Places with GIS - Based around the South Asia tsunami (2004) Using : ArcGIS 9 Google Earth ‘Multi-source/Holistic GIS’ Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

ArcGIS 9 Geo-visualization ‘Traditional’ Cartesian GIS Enquiry-based – event as: ‘disaster’, ‘tectonic hazard’, ‘aid role-play’ ‘globally interdependent’ Spatial Analysis via maps, tables, calculations Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Example Using ArcGIS to teach about the South Asia tsunami (2004)............................ *Following images from Dascombe, ESRI Australia (2005) Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009 22

Mary Fargher IoE London 2008 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Brett Dascombe ESRI Australia 2005 Mary Fargher GTE 2009 24

Brett Dascombe ESRI Australia 2005 Mary Fargher GTE 2009 25

Google Earth Geo-visualization ‘Fly-to-technology’ Enquiry based – event as ‘disaster’, ‘tectonic hazard’, ‘aid role-play’, ‘globally interdependent’ Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Multi-source/Holistic GIS Geo-visualization (ArcGIS/GE combined) Enquiry based – event as ‘disaster’, ‘tectonic hazard’, ‘aid role- play’, ‘globally interdependent’ Selected social phenomena (Vid/podcast, wiki, flickr, etc; kml- enabled) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/2004_Ind onesia_Tsunami.gif Students create ‘My Place’ of 2004 S.Asia tsunami http://apps.develebridge.net/usiotws/15/Grant_WorldFish_Fis heriesAquaculture.pdf Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Mary Fargher GTE 2009

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Preliminary Findings How digital GI about place is constructed matters Students respond significantly differently to place when using 'traditional GIS (e.g. ArcGIS) as opposed to virtual globes When students 'construct' their own places in GIS, they appear to develop a deeper knowledge of place which is not solely 'location-orientated' Teachers respond positively to a wider pedagogical discussion about GIS and place Mary Fargher IoE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Research Summary Focus on processes involved in teaching and learning about places with GIS ‘GeographyPedagogyTechnology’ Via interpretive approaches Using ‘traditional GIS’, Virtual Globes & Multi- source/Holistic GIS In contribution to a wider critical debate about the role of GIS in schools Mary Fargher IoE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

References Dascombe, Brett, (2005)http://gis.esri.com/industries/education/arclessons/ Denzin, Norman K; Lincoln, Yvonna S; Eds. ( (2002) ‘Handbook of Qualitative Research.’ Second Edition.Sage :Thousand Oaks. Dunn, C.E. (2007). ‘Participatory GIS – a people’s GIS?’ Progress in Human Geography 31 No. 5, 616-637 (2007) DOI: 10.1177/0309132507081493 Goodchild (2006) ‘ The Fourth R? Rethinking GIS Education’- ESRI ArcNews http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/fall06articles/the-fourth-r.html Korevec, N. (2002). ‘GIS Assessment of the Vulnerability of a Core Tourist Area in New Orleans to Impacts of Flood Inundation During a Hurricane Event.’ Trends in Cultural Geography GEOG 7911 Cultural Landscapes, Spring 2002. Lather (1991) ‘Getting Smart: Feminist Research and Pedagogy With/in the Postmodern.’ Routledge : New York O’Sullivan, D. (2006). ‘Geographical Information science : Critical GIS’ Progress in Human Geography , 30, (6). Pickles ed; (1995) ‘Ground truth: The social implications of geographic. information systems.’ Routledge: New York Schuurman, N. (2000). ‘Trouble in the heartland : GIS and its critics in the 1990s’ Progress in Human Geography 24, 4 (569-590) Unwin (1992) ‘The place of geography’ Longman:Harlow. Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009

Thank you for listening…. Any questions? m.fargher@ioe.ac.uk Mary Fargher GTE 2009 Mary Fargher GTE 2009