Item No. 1 of 1

INVESTIGATOR: Tesfaye, S.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY
JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI 65101

DISSEMINATING GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY KNOWLEDGE TO K-12 EDUCATORS AND YOUTH

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Geospatial information science and technology (GIST) is a fairly new discipline that is rapidly evolving and in high demand in the labor market. GIST has become an integral part of our modern day society, for example, in transportation, in agriculture (precision farming), in spatial information dissemination, etc. While GIST education is conducted at post-secondary level in colleges and universities, it is noticeably lacking from the K-12 curriculum. There probably are multiple reasons for this absence; however, the primary culprit is the lack of integration of geography in the high school curriculum. Another plausible explanation could be that K-12 educators may not be well versed in GIST. Since K-12 students are not introduced to the concept of GIST early on it becomes a foreign concept to them when they first encounter it in college. This lack of exposure to GIST in the K-12 is hindering students from pursuing the discipline in college and/or as a career. To address this lack of GIST exposure in the K-12 curriculum and reach a larger audience this proposal is targeting K-12 educators. A summer workshop will be conducted for the K-12 educators where they will be offered a crash course in geographic information system, global positing system, remote sensing, and small unmanned aerialsystems. More importantly, these educators will be provided with laboratory exercise modules in the various aspects of GIST that they can successfully communicate to their students with the resources that they have at their schools.

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this proposal is,(a) disseminate geospatial information science and technology (GIST)knowledge to K-12 students through their educators and raise their level of awareness in the discipline and (b)provide incentives to Lincoln University (MO) undergraduate students to be involved in the GIST program.The objectives of this proposal are three fold: 1) To increase the level of awareness and geospatial information science and technologyknowledge of K-12 educators.2) To expose K-12 students to GIST through workshop participants (educators)by providing grade appropriate hands-on laboratory exercises.3) To educate the next generation of agriculture and environmental science undergraduates at Lincoln University (MO), particularly minorities, who upon graduation would adequately be versed in GIST skills.

APPROACH: Evaluation and assessment will be made throughout the life of the project. The tasks performed to achieve the objectives will be measured against the set goals. In this regard:Summer workshopparticipants' (K-12 educators) knowledge and understanding of geospatial technologies will be assessedSummer workshopparticipants' (K-12 educators) who can effectively lead advocacy efforts for geospatial technology career pathways will be assessedThe number of K-12 educators who participated in the workshops will be assessedThe number of students recruited to minor in GIS will be assessed

PROGRESS: 2020/03 TO 2021/03
Target Audience:The primary target audience of this project is Missouri K-12 Educators and Lincoln University-MO students. Changes/Problems:Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 3rd and final, K-12 Educators GIS Workshop planned for July 26-31 was not held. As a result, a 1-year, no-cost extension of the grant has been requested. The plan, as of February 2021, is to hold the last K-12 Educators GIS Workshop during July 25-30, 2021. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A graduate student, supported by this grant, completed his master's studies in Environmental Science. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Hold a 5-day face-to-face GIS summer workshop in July 2021. If the COVID-19 situation is under control. Recruit undergraduate students to the GIS Minor program in the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.

IMPACT: 2020/03 TO 2021/03
What was accomplished under these goals? In lieu of the 5-day hands-on GIS workshop, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a 1-day online GIS workshop was held for Missouri K-12 educators.Six educators took part in the workshop and showed interest to participate in the summer 2021 face-to-face 5-day workshop if held as planned.

PUBLICATIONS (not previously reported): 2020/03 TO 2021/03
Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Investigating Rapid White Oak Mortality and Emerald Ash Borer Infestation in Central East and Southeast Missouri Using High Spatial Resolution, Multispectral Satellite Imagery