Fact or Fiction?

Scenario-based group projects using open data with ArcGIS 10.2 in GEOG 3P98: Niagara’s Changing Economic Geography

Jeff Boggs Jeff Boggs Associate Professor Department of Geography

What was the problem?1. Pedagogically, needed a course that

integrated economic geography and GIS.2. Professionally, I lacked highly-qualified

personnel (HQP) with familiarity using GIS to examine local economies.

3. Pragmatically, Statistics Canada’s 2011 National Household Survey debacle produced statistically-unreliable publicly–available local economy data.

What did I want?1. Collaborators in designing scenarios

supported by available open data. 2. Technical assistance in designing,

sequencing & delivering labs to provide skills needed to analyze the scenario.

3. Projects that required students to combine or overlay data from multiple open data sources, not just Statistics Canada’s Community Profiles.

The solution? Fact-or-fiction scenarios

Each scenario contains:

Arguable claim

Data sources

Keywords

Taken together, a scenario provides “breadcrumbs” to follow.

Fact-or-Fiction exampleCLAIM: Niagara’s biggest problem is its loss of talented youth to Alberta.

SOURCES: Statistics Canada National Household Survey 2011; Statistics Canada Long-form Census 2006, 2001.

KEYWORDS: Brain-drain; migration; human capital; returns to education; residential choice; life cycle.

Fact-or-Fiction exampleCLAIM: In Niagara, ‘neighborhood is destiny’ when it comes to school test scores. SOURCES: Education Quality Assessment Outcomes http://www.eqao.com/results/ Ministry of Education School Finder http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/sift/Statistics Canada Community Profiles 2011 KEYWORDS: neighborhood; neighborhood effect; strong ties vs. weak ties; student achievement; culture of poverty.

How did Brock’s data & map librarians help?

1. Co-developed scenarios so they were local, doable and geographical.

2. Located appropriate open data.3. Provided weekly technical assistance in

designing labs. 4. Designed and delivered lab on geocoding.

Impossible task without librarians’ help.

Thank you!