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Australia: Inquiry Learning with GIS to Simulate Coastal Storm Inundation

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International Perspectives on Teaching and Learning with GIS in Secondary Schools

Abstract

With the development of a new national curriculum, the opportunity exists to examine the role of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the teaching and learning of geography education in Australia. This chapter notes that the use of GIS within geography classrooms is variable due to reasons such as a reliance on individual educators and inadequate training of teachers at the tertiary level. Despite this there are numerous examples of effective implementation of GIS within geography classrooms and these are outlined, including a project undertaken by students at The King’s School, Sydney, requiring them to simulate storm inundation scenarios along a Sydney beach. The chapter concludes with recommendations including more flexible curriculum development, formalized professional development programs for teachers, more effective training of young teachers at the tertiary level, and a need to focus upon GIS-based pedagogies that enable the potential of GIS to be realized in the classroom.

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Correspondence to John C. Kinniburgh .

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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

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Kinniburgh, J.C. (2012). Australia: Inquiry Learning with GIS to Simulate Coastal Storm Inundation. In: Milson, A., Demirci, A., Kerski, J. (eds) International Perspectives on Teaching and Learning with GIS in Secondary Schools. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2120-3_2

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