Malaysian University Students’ Awareness of Geographic Information Systems

Abstract

This chapter investigates the levels of GIS awareness and education of Malaysian university students. The objectives of our survey were to: (1) gauge students’ knowledge of GIS and (2) gauge students’ interest in GIS. The authors asked five questions to 96 students at Universiti Putra Malaysia. These students were from various faculties (Environmental Studies, Science, Computer Science & Information Technology, Biotechnology & Biomolecular Science, Medicine & Health Science, Modern Languages & Communication). Most students, regardless of their year of study at the university, were not familiar with GIS, possibly because they had not taken any GIS course. A high percentage of the students (senior students, 94–100%; junior students, 89–98%) responded negatively to questions about their familiarity and knowledge of GIS. However, a majority of students showed high interest and had a positive opinion of GIS, i.e. as many as 74–80% of the junior students and 50–80% of the senior students answered “yes” to questions about their interest or usefulness of GIS. This study provides a clear indication that Malaysian university students are of the opinion that geospatial learning is interesting and important, which means the future of GIS in the country is bright.