Near In the City (NIC) – an exercise package for
GIS studies on urban environment
PhD Virpi Hirvensalo, Department of Geography and
Geology, University of Turku
Project in a nutshell
NIC in a nutshell
• A website, which focuses on urban environment.
• Familiarizes users with various kinds of places in a city and methods to become acquainted with them.
• Contains current and interdisciplinary themes: – personal and place identity – active citizenship – safety in public spaces– urban sustainability – local effects of climate change, etc.
Near In the City (NIC)
Near In the City (NIC)• Flexible toolkit for courses of geography,
sustainable development and environmental education in Finnish.
• Intended for students from the level of secondary school to institutes of higher education, including also subject teacher education.
• Encourages to make field trips.
Near In the City (NIC)
• User-friendly and inspiring contents.
• Linked with PaikkaOppi, which is a web-based learning environment for GIS studies in Finnish upper secondary schools.
Spaces and places as premises for an active
citizenship
City and its various places are in the focus of learning
The aim is that a student discerns more clearly places in a city, and considers his/her personal relationship to them. That strengthens:
– students place identity. – skills to participate in public discussion of urban
development and planning. This improves premises for an active citizenship.
Spaces create premises for learning
Spaces can be seen as ”intellectual prostheses”, which help learners to achieve information and to develop something new: reports, maps, videos, memos, models...
Cf. Paavolainen & Hakkarainen (2007): Triangular learning: dialogue between participant actors, cultural resources and shared objects of activity.
Spaces activate senses and provide possibilities to study and act creatively. They also enable interaction between actors.
(Smeds, Krokfors, Ruokamo & Staffans 2010)
Environmental competence
The skill to take advantage of spatially diverse environments and ability to find scopes for action from them.
A task of school institution in the future is to strenghten that.
Smeds, Krokfors, Ruokamo & Staffans 2010
How does NIC look like?
STREET – NEIGHBOURHOOD – BROWN FIELD – PARK – CITY CENTER
STREET
•What is a street?
•Living street
•Street as a public space
•Frightening street
•Street as a space of presentation
Descriptions of places
Texts, photos, video & audio clips, links to other web pages, hints of additional literature, excercises, etc.
Photo-documen-
tationObservation
Interactive map Photo-gallery
METHODS for studying places
Word association -
game
Orientation to a subject matter
Research in a field
Presentation of results
Sensory walkInterview
Web page / news paper
analysisConcept map
Mental mapping
Video / audio presentation
Participative planning tool
Personalizing a picture
Three toolkits with varying extents
Small toolkit: ”Learn the terms”
Medium toolkit: ”Familiarize yourselfwith places”
Large toolkit: ”Grab the study”
½ -1 hours. Learn concepts related to urban surroundings by reading texts, listening audios and watching videos. Do a short excercise in a classroom.
4 hours. Study materials in NIC, choose the suitable method(s) for your excerciseand realize it in a classroom or outdoors.
20 hours. With your small group, carry out a mini research project basing on a model of a progressive inquiry.
An example how to use NIC: grab the study
Practicing field research by sensing, observing, interviewing…
A case study: living in Rantakylä neighbourhood in Joensuu, Finland
Results of small groups as a map presentation of PaikkaOppi
Thank you!
Contacts:
Virpi HirvensaloDepartment of Geography and Geology,
University of Turku, Finland [email protected]
Some more information about the project: http://users.utu.fi/vijoke/blogi