Cognitive Geomatics - Teaching and learning about sense of place
The awareness of space ("sense of place") is considered to be a requirement for one’s orientation in action space, but differs from one culture to another. This raises questions about the nature of the interplay between the way we think about and perceive physical space (our mental maps) and the use of geomatics methods for measuring, analyzing and visualizing our environment (in the virtual world). For this purpose, we are developing digital teaching and learning resources together with students, using Germany, South Africa and Kenya as case studies, and we are exploring how to involve students of all three countries in this through virtual means. The project is part of the Baden-Württemberg-STIPENDIUM for university students – BWS plus, a programme of the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung, and runs from March 2022 to February 2025.
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We aim at supporting geo(infor)matics towards the desired digitization of teaching by developing building blocks for blended learning. We do so by testing and proving a design for a cooperation focused on an exchange that is feasible under the new conditions of restricted/limited travelling, which delivers results to be of benefit for all project partners in the long term and is usable in different cultures. The approach is based on working together with students on the conceptualization, development and completion of the materials with the involvement of both target groups – lecturers and students. We chose to follow a phased approach, where the three universities take turns with leading, each responsible for a different sub-topic.
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For more information about the project, see here.
The Project Member Countries
Baden-Württemberg is the most southwestern state of Germany, bordering France and Switzerland. It promotes itself as a European technology and innovation region. The city of Karlsruhe is the capital of the Baden region and known as Germany's 'judicial capital' because it hosts all major courts. Founded 300 years ago, it was originally set-up in the shape of a fan with a castle at its centre. The city is placed in the Rhine Valley between the Black Forest to the East and the Palatine Forest and Alsace region to the West.
Kenya is part of eastern Africa and shares borders with Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania. It is referred to as an African developing country with a stable democracy. Nairobi is its largest city and the capital of Kenya, known also as the „Silicon Savannah“. It is placed in Central province, 76 km east of the Rift Valley and 143 km south of the equator.
South Africa is the most southern country in Africa, bordering Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Lesotho. It is commonly referred to as an emerging country on the African continent, i.e. it is leading in regard to economy, society, politics and education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Pretoria is known for the purple Jacaranda trees and serves as administrative capital of South Africa. It is situated in the Gauteng province between the Highveld and Bushveld regions, just 55 km away from Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa.
The Project Member Universities
Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (HsKA) is among the largest of its kind in Baden-Württemberg, known for application-oriented education, which leads to readily employable graduates. Approximately 6,700 students, 200 professors, and 660 staff are distributed across six faculties, offering 28 Bachelor and 20 Master study programmes in engineering and economics. For its applied research, the university was able to obtain 12 Mio € of third-party funds in 2021. The Faculty of Information Management and Media (IMM) has particular strengths in the integrated application of geographic information systems, remote sensing and visualization, e.g. in the environmental field. The faculty is proud of having been labelled as an Esri Development Center.
The University of Nairobi (UoN) is the only Kenyan university among the 10 top-ranked universities in Africa. 1,500 lecturers/ researchers care for 84,000 students, together with an additional 3,500 staff members. Distributed across 10 campuses, 326 academic programmes are offered by 11 faculties. UoN is a leading research-intensive university in East Africa and Kenya. Department of Geospatial and Space Technology (GST) dedicates its research to web mapping and remote sensing. In teaching, more of free open-source software is used but not exclusively.
The University of Pretoria (UP), together with five other South African universities, is ranked among the top 10 universities in Africa. Approximately, 55,500 students and 1,700 lecturers / researchers (70% with a PhD) are hosted on seven campuses. They form nine faculties and one business school, which offer 1,175 study programmes (145 at Bachelor-level). UP is a leading research-intensive university in Southern Africa. The project partners are involved in research on spatial infrastructures, addressing, geovisualization, and land use dynamics. At the Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology (GGM), free open-source software is used in teaching.