Assessing the depth of geographical information systems for teaching and research within the undergraduate geography curricula of three South African Universities

Abstract

Geographical Information Systems (commonly known as GIS) is a concept that was coined around the 1960s, firstly as a computer system needed to make accurate, fast and automated measurements from maps and a tool that would be able to carry large numbers of disparate data sets (Goodchild, 2013). It evolved worldwide into a software application that was adopted widely, which has now become a multidisciplinary research tool applied in many research projects that involve a spatial component (Cilliers, 2013; Coppock & Rhind, 1991; Goodchild, 2010; Longley, Goodchild, Maguire, & Rhind, 2011). This research report deals with the use of GIS for teaching and research within undergraduate geography curricula of three different universities, namely, University of Witwatersrand, University of Limpopo and University of North-West. A different approach is used by all three universities under study that use the teaching of GIS within their curricula. Generally, the use of GIS is not entirely to prepare students for a vocational skill and this should be a concern to most universities taking into cognisance the prevailing need of graduates with GIS skills. Again, it is to the benefit of geography as a discipline if GIS can be regarded as one of the catalysts in making sure that the geography discipline remains relevant and competitive in the modern eras characterised by an increase in the use of information technology. While it is acknowledged that to date GIS has developed into a separate discipline called Geo-Informatics, it remains to be seen if the integration of GIS within geography could be regarded as something of the past that has now become obsolete. This is so because GIS has always been a natural partner to geography and both influence the growth of each other in an insurmountable way (Zietsman, 2002: 30; Longley, 2000). This study has contributed to this debate by emphasising that indeed geography and GIS are intrinsically related to one another. Attempting to teach GIS alone as a technology is inadequate, since it may only prepare students with the technical application of the tool but fails to provide students with sufficient knowledge that can underpin the geographical knowledge such as spatial thinking, spatial variability, spatial connectivity, spatial relationship of objects and all other geographical aspects which are essential for highlevel GIS analysis. While accepting the debate that geography is a logical home for GIS (Hill & Nell, 1996: 150, Society for South African Geographers [SSAG], 2003: 109), the challenge however becomes the manner in which a GIS curriculum is designed and taught within the discipline of geography. There is little doubt that the demand for GIS has increased worldwide, but the challenge is the quality of output which geography graduates possess after completion of their studies. The majority of geography graduates are seen to be ill prepared to perform various GIS functions in the work place. It is clear that GIS has the power to unify both physical and human environmental aspects using geographical analytical methods. The reality that in the 21st century, there is advancement of technology, GIS had made it easy to perform some geographical processes such as environmental impact assessments, pollution analysis and mapping, et cetera. In accentuating the preceding argument, scholars argue that there should be a balance between research on GIS concepts and principles as well as the GIS applicability in solving practical problems (Nellis, 1994:37). Kemp et al. (1992:189) argued, though, that a geography curriculum development at institutions of higher learning should provide for a clear consensus on content or an appropriate pedagogical approach; including provision of details on the content, sequence, clarification of course objectives as well as striking a balance between education, training and technology. This is lacking in South African geography curricula. This research uses both qualitative and quantitative research approaches in order to complement the weaknesses associated with each method when used separately. The multi-institutional case study approach supported by a snowballing sampling approach was used for data collection. The standardised questionnaire was developed to collect Likert-scale data from students in three different universities under study. The study also relies on the use of thematic study on content analysis. In doing so, lecturers were asked a set of interview questions aimed to solicit answers intended to validate the responses given by students. The approach proved useful for this study because answers from open-ended questions were analysed and triangulated to verify the similarities and differences. The course outline of each GIS module was also analysed to establish aspects that were covered. The literature review (in this case, studying of course contents) helped to validate the responses given by students on the standardised questionnaire. Although the study has its inherent limitations which include lack of representativeness due to having a varying number of students from all participating universities, the findings are of paramount importance.The study has revealed many challenges across three universities; such as lack of resources to teach GIS, lack of sufficient time to conduct practical work, lack of GIS lecturers, high number of student enrolment that makes it difficult to teach GIS within geography, lack of teaching GIS on other geography modules. While these challenges are concerning, the study established some positive outcomes, wherein it was found that University of Limpopo which was a previously black university is performing well on some aspects of GIS compared to the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of North-West. Students in three universities proved to be familiar with the use of GIS software packages, although they raised concerns about their limited exposure. Students from all three universities showed a strong desire to work in the field of GIS as well as to pursue GIS research. This revelation, therefore, calls for a revision of geography curricula in order to broaden aspects of GIS teaching in South African universities. Again, in South Africa, a GIS job entry requirement is a National Qualifications Framework (NQF) 7 which is a Bachelor's degree, Advanced Diplomas, Post Graduate Certificate and Bachelor of Technology. So, it is important that universities take advantage of GIS market needs in order to train students appropriately. Funding is another challenge that needs to be addressed by universities to ensure that geography degrees take advantage of GIS in order to continue attracting more students as well as to remain a subject of choice to many.