Integrated teaching and assessment of GIS/LIS in geomatics for improving student performance

Over the last three years, the authors have developed and made improvements on a Geographic/Land Information Systems (GIS/LIS) course offered in the Surveying Engineering Technology (SET) program at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Previously, the assessment of skills in the LIS course was largely done by a final summative test consisting of randomly selected multiple choice, short answer, true or false, and essay type questions. In the new offering, both the laboratories and course work were fused during assessment. The study presents initial findings of this innovative mode of course delivery and assessment in Geomatics. We compare student performance and satisfaction in subsequent years for the same GIS/LIS course. The redesigned course offering includes focused multimedia resources and Moodle Learning Management System (LMS) for content delivery, and uses integrated formative assessment to provide feedback during learning. The results indicate that students perform better in the redesigned course which, although similar in content, leaves students with more positive attitudes towards the course content and their future learning. The results suggest that innovative modes of course content delivery and assessment that combines both theory and laboratories, when implemented on an LMS, can have large positive implications for learning courses in Geomatics.