We appreciate your interest in our presentation and we hope that you enjoy the journey into the  realm of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and get a glimpse of some of the work we do with our students at New York City College of Technology.

We present work developed in a National Endowment of the Humanities grant titled The Cultural History of Digital Technologies, which uncovered and explored the roots, based in mathematical tools, underlying key current computer-based technologies.

In this presentation we  explored Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and performed visual analyses over time as well as space of the spread of public health epidemics. The real-life project assignments, developed by the grant, highlight projective geometries and statistical analysis tools used in showing relative magnitude in both 2D and 3D maps.

In the project that focuses on the Coronavirus this semester the students develop the skills to begin producing their own citizen maps. This enhances our ability to monitor and identify the causes of diseases.

Great ideas and comprehensive video :-) 

Great ideas and comprehensive video :-) 

Very interesting. The concepts became easy to understand with examples related to COVID-19. 

Excellent, was able to follow and obtain a basic understanding.

Excellent, was able to follow and obtain a basic understanding.

Finding Patterns in Data: GIS Explorations of Pandemics, is a refreshing and timely study as we play catch-up with COVID-19---it should help us not only catch the virus but to get in front of and control it.

Giving students opportunities to work with data and software is hugely important. These experiences make them better thinkers, and better thinkers make a better society.

Giving students opportunities to work with data and software is hugely important. These experiences make them better thinkers, and better thinkers make a better society.

This is very interesting. How were the students recruited? What was their major? And am also wondering about prerequisites for students to take on this interesting course/study.

So very relevant.  We hope that improved understanding of students about disease models  and their influence on public policy will be generalized to other math model based science predictions, like (a) the transport of invasive species [actually the SARS-CoV-2 is just another very impactful invasive species, but will students now appreciate better the impact of invasive species when the "victims" are other organisms besides people? and (b) models for climate change.  The math models for COVID-19 yielded accurate predictions (within a range of error, but clearly had an impacts even on some of the most resistant politicians).  Can they now understand better how climate models are not just "made up" but are based on real data and reasonable mechanisms?  Impacts of invasive species are parts of the education program we provide students at the Belle Isle Aquarium in Detroit. STEM for ALL Showcase video.  At the lower grade levels at which we work, we are not using such sophisticated math models, but conceptual models such as food webs serve a similar purpose.

This is fantastic! This video provides a great introduction to GIS for people unfamiliar with it and gives new ideas about how to incorporate it into our classes to those of us who knew more before watching this.

This is an excellent video.   It highlights, among other things,  the various strands of mathematics that come together when real-world problem gets analyzed. 

Excellent content. Not only does it give a valuable introduction into GIS and how it applies to Covid-19, it also demonstrates that when learning is relevant and rooted in conceptual/ historical understanding, it is more fulfilling for students and leads to increased progress. 

This is a very timely and urgent topic. I've seen firsthand how student learning is impacted by application and deeper contextualization, and I appreciate the emphasis on study of real-world situations, multi-disciplinary faculty, and historical data.

How has participating in the project impacted the instructional design and approaches of your faculty? And what types of projects have the students done for this course? 

Very comprehensive research using GIS.

Wow, your research is SO timely. Do you have any resources to share that I can tell my intro statistics students about?

It is great to hear that students are gaining access to internships and other enriching experiences through this program.

Great video! Fantastic opportunity for students to learn about GIS.

Great video! Fantastic opportunity for students to learn about GIS.

Great video! Fantastic opportunity for students to learn about GIS.

Finding Patterns in Data: GIS Explorations of Pandemics is a very timely STEM project that promotes interdisciplinary collaboration and this is something that we should all greatly encourage and support. In fact, as an applied mathematician, I would love to join their project and add to their contributions with more geospatial data analysis and GIS visualizations of the COVID-19 pandemic as I obtained an extensive dataset with geospatial COVID-19 data from around the world. They also make a great point in their video that it would serve a good pedagogical purpose to fully replicate the geospatial data analysis and create GIS visualizations of past epidemics and pandemics. One example of this could be the GIS analysis done by Dr. Snow during the cholera outbreak in London in 1854, which is mentioned in the video. I also have Dr. Snow’s original data and I would love to contribute to their project by replicating Dr. Snow’s GIS analysis using modern technologies.

 Excellent video showcasing a project, which approaches mathematization in a way that situates the research question in the history of ideas, and current social issues. Such an approach is extremely valuable as it widens the student horizon for important issues in the world, and for the interconnections of events and disciplines. Such projects can potentially reengage students and heighten their interest in STEM as they can show that STEM are relevant, and can help answer real-life questions in a powerful way. A wonderful project ! 

 Excellent video showcasing a project, which approaches mathematization in a way that situates the research question in the history of ideas, and current social issues. Such an approach is extremely valuable as it widens the student horizon for important issues in the world, and for the interconnections of events and disciplines. Such projects can potentially reengage students and heighten their interest in STEM as they can show that STEM are relevant, and can help answer real-life questions in a powerful way. A wonderful project ! 

Really nice to see a project based on current events.

Very creative, reverent and insightful.  Great job.

Interesting and informative.

A great and very apropos curriculum.  Looking forward to hearing more about how this impacts learning with your student populations.