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| GeoCommunity Mailing List |
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| Subject: | GISList: Ouch! What timing.... |
| Date: |
11/20/2002 09:29:55 AM |
| From: |
Anthony Quartararo |
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This came out this morning...
http://www.cnn.com/2002/EDUCATION/11/20/geography.quiz/index.html
Not very high marks for the country where the world's leading GIS
vendors are based, and to be released on "GIS Day", ouch. Strange that
the NGS would release this today, given their involvement with GIS Day,
but perhaps it is strategic in nature, attempting to draw attention to
the need for even more education in geography (while not necessarily
GIS). Granted, rattling off the names of all 50 states and their
respective capitals is not a very high standard for understanding
geographic issues, the article makes the point that given the current
global environment (and future likely trends), not knowing about basic
geographic fundamentals can truly be harmful. The only consolation is
that no country received and "A", but that's not really a consolation
now is it. Albeit, the survey's population of 300 people ranging in age
from 18-24 and from various countries is not exactly rock-solid social
science, but even anecdotally, this is a dismal showing. My guess is
that without the continued efforts of the major GIS vendors involved in
education in one form or another, these numbers would be even more
distressing. All the more reason to nix "social studies" and
reinstitute "geography" as required curriculum throughout K-12 and
undergraduate programs.
Regards,
Anthony
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