The Geospatial Semester: How might you make spatial decisions in your school?

Through a unique dual enrollment program between James Madison University and high schools across Virginia, students learn geospatial technologies from their home campus while earning college credit. Created by Dr. Bob Kolvoord and Ms. Kathryn Keranen, The Geospatial Semester engages seniors in their final semester of high school by learning how to apply cutting-edge GIS analysis to local issues. Though the Geospatial Semester may not be unique in its attempt to connect students and their community through technology, it has quickly grown from its inception in 2005 with four participating schools to more than 30 schools in  Fall, 2025. To date, more than 9,000 students have earned college credit.

While there are many qualities that have earned this program both awards and international recognition for how students learn and use these technologies to solve real life problems, the Geospatial Semester is anchored by three fundamental traits: its relevant, adaptable design; its flexible, creative instructors; and its involvement of higher education. 

Flexible Design

Unlike the often rigid structure of many high school classes driven by standardized tests, The Geospatial Semester (GSS) encourages variation from school to school. While there are common components that you will find in each of its classrooms, the GSS structure is designed to be flexible to accommodate the many needs and designs of different learners, classrooms, schools and divisions.

At its most basic level, students learn GIS and GPS technologies in their classes on their home campus and how these tools might be applied in a variety of fields. This is punctuated by monthly visits from James Madison University (JMU) professors and two formal assessments. The first is a midterm exam where students apply analysis techniques to solve a standard problem or scenario. The second is a final presentation and exam where a student or pair of students choose a topic or issue of interest in which they use geospatial tools to investigate or synthesize a solution. In each exam, students participate in a brief oral defense before JMU professors where they answer a variety of questions about the interpretation and meaning of their projects.

As a dual enrollment course, students are earning JMU credit for Geographic Science 161-Geospatial Tools and Techniques and/or ISAT 181—Student Research. On their own campus, students are enrolled in whichever course the district or sometimes the school has decided the GSS best aligns with in their program of studies: a Career and Technical Education (CTE), social studies/civics or most often a science course. This provides schools both content and scheduling autonomy. Participating teachers can gear their instruction more science, STEM or civics applications. In many cases this alleviates (or can eliminate) the restrictions often accompanied by subject pacing guides. Teachers gear their instruction towards content relevant topics and in the case of ‘electives’ they further explore the interdisciplinary applications of GIS and GPS. In all cases, the frequency of class sessions over the course of a semester or year determines the number of credits the students earn from JMU. The GSS has developed relationships with a variety of colleges and universities so that the credit earned by participating students easily transfers to their school of choice.

Relevant Topics

A primary element that allows the Geospatial Semester to be so flexible is its relevance to topics of student interest, and how the students interact with their surroundings. Certainly the students need to learn the software. There is a specific level of competency students need to reach with the software and this can be done in a variety of ways including direct instruction, miniature labs, and tutorial books. GIS is inherently “transferable”—it can be utilized in an increasingly broad array of fields and professions—and JMU emphasizes and strongly encourages schools and classrooms to broaden their focus beyond software skills for skill sake alone to embrace the application of analysis techniques as they explore pertinent topics and issues. For this reason, there is no intrusive pacing guide for the GSS. Instead, teachers and JMU professors look for evidence of software competency in the labs, projects and exams the students complete. Ultimately this approach reinforces the flexibility different schools and districts need to run a course in different subject areas; the classes can pursue meaningful uses of the technology that allow teachers and students to explore their curriculum and content.

“When I signed up for the class, I thought it would be just another science class that our school would try to put a 'fun' spin on, but this class is one of the most exciting classes I’ve ever taken. It makes you think, it challenges you to be innovative, but it’s something you can use. It makes the work more meaningful when you know you’re doing something that affects your life.” –Julie, Fairfax County

By design, there are many ways the GSS keeps the classwork meaningful to the students. A primary emphasis is on ‘Problem Based Learning’. Students get the chance to explore problems and issues in a way that breaks through the typical barriers of a traditional classroom. Students not only embrace, but they excel given the opportunity to explore issues that are applicable to them. Teachers and students often choose topics or issues that are pertinent to current events, personal interests, or their school or community. Rather than perform a stock or previously solved lab, students get to address real issues such as mapping and evaluating patterns of crime in their community; identifying the best locations for relocating bears in a national park given the proximity to food sources and hiking trails; or analyzing the optimal location of solar farms in the northeastern states. In each of these cases, students got to tackle complicated, real-world issues that don’t necessarily have a “right” answer.

A final element that allows the Geospatial Semester to stay current with the students (and ultimately flexible) is the understanding that technology and curriculum constantly change.  Students have access to software that matches or sometimes exceeds what can be found in the professional workplace. Schools can share new Trimble Juno GPS devices that allow them to record data in the field and differentially correct it like professional surveyors. Students operate ArcGIS Pro or ArcGIS Online on their classroom computers. Staying current with the ever-changing technology allows classes to regularly update their techniques and their curriculum. Ultimately, this not only prepares students for the next steps in their education, potential internships and jobs, but it keeps students challenged, creative and interested.

 Core Beliefs of Geospatial Semester

• Be Flexible in Integration and Application
• Utilize Problem Based Learning—Be Relevant
• Keep Evolving

The Instructors

In any class a primary determining factor of success or failure is the instructor. The Geospatial Semester has a variety of teachers, most whose core training is in something other than geographic information systems: biology, earth science, geosystems, chemistry, world history, U.S. history, digital imaging, and CAD to name a few. In all of these cases, the teachers weren’t selected for their content specialty but rather for their ability to succeed and function within the core design of the GSS.

The most successful teachers share a combination of traits. A vital quality is a willingness to work outside one’s comfort zone. For some, that means relinquishing a sense of ‘control’ and exploring new aspects of the software alongside the students. Adolescents are technophiles by nature and explore the software in unanticipated ways. When teachers embrace this exploration, everyone’s skills, including the instructor’s, get better. A desire for continuing improvement is often more important than initial expertise.

Strong teachers also keep their students engaged by staying creative. Encouraging and pursing new project ideas and forming partnerships with groups outside of the classroom keep learning dynamic and students involved. When Geospatial Semester classes have mapped out cell phone coverage on school campuses, analyzed school bus routes, and partnered with groups like the US Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy, students stay engaged and learning is both relevant and engaging.

Core Characteristics of GSS Instructors

• Receptive. Willing to Work Outside of Comfort Zone
• Progressive. Looking Forward and Staying Creative
• Connected. Actively Looking for Partnerships and Applications

The Partnership with Higher Education

Every high school dual enrollment program requires a relationship with an institution of higher education to function. However, the heart of the Geospatial Semester’s growth and success is James Madison University’s active involvement and collaboration with participating high schools on many levels. Without this type of support in today’s educational climate, schools would be unable to sustain the observed level of performance due to cost, personnel and required experience.

From an organizational level, JMU has committed substantial resources. Through a partnership between its Schools of Integrated Science and Technology (SIS) and Outreach and Engagement (SPCE), JMU makes it possible for faculty members to make monthly visits to each of the participating classes. These visits serve several functions. The visiting faculty observe, teach lessons, or work with students, groups and teachers. The visits provide JMU with a regular opportunity to monitor the rigor and quality of the classes, and they allow JMU faculty to serve as ‘instructor on record.’ This gives K-12 administrators the ability to insert this course where it best fits in their program of studies, and it prevents individual schools or districts from needing to certify or hire specifically GIS-endorsed instructors, ultimately saving them money.

JMU faculty also play an important supporting role between visits by providing technical, data, and project support to GSS students and teachers. Technical problems often derail GIS implementation in K-12 classrooms and the JMU support helps surmount these problems. In addition, the JMU faculty help shape student projects from interesting ideas into viable efforts. Few teachers have the broad knowledge of data sources and analytical techniques to support the range of projects that develop in their classrooms.

“True engagement happens when there is reciprocity.”—Jim Shaeffer

The economics of dual enrollment vary between districts. In some districts, students pay the tuition themselves. In other districts, the cost is shared and in some instances, the district pays the entire cost. For all students, the tuition is steeply discounted from normal, on-campus rates.

From the university perspective, the value of the GSS goes beyond simple economics. The GSS offers a unique opportunity to recruit students to Geography or other GIS-intensive disciplines on campus. While not every student will develop a passion for GIS, the opportunity to build strong relationships with constituent high schools has considerable value.

Jim Shaeffer, the former Associate Vice Provost for Outreach and Engagement at JMU, pointed out that the value hinges on two key components: flexibility and engagement. First, the university must realize that it is serving students other than those directly on campus. While institutions usually have very strict processes and guidelines, the system needs to be able to adapt to high schools’ uniquely different circumstances such as course start and stop times, and registration/payment processes. The second key component is the recognition that that engagement requires reciprocity. Schools have a need for dual enrollment in desirable areas such as STEM. JMU doesn’t simply implement a rigid program; it partners with schools by recognizing that everyone brings something to the table. A successful dual enrollment program is a collaborative experience.

Key Roles of Higher Education

• Dual Enrollment
• Supporting Quality Instruction & Provide Training
• Think Out of the Box. Be Flexible and Engaging

The Geospatial Semester is an effort to explore “mentored” dual enrollment, where university faculty work hand-in-hand with K-12 faculty to bring students the opportunity to engage with cutting-edge technology and apply it to local problems of interest. The inherent applicability of GIS to a broad array of fields and problems engages students in ways that high-stakes tests never can and never will. The GSS was originated to help high school students remain engaged and working hard through their final semester, in part so that they were ready to begin college or work a few short months later. More than twenty years later, the founders of the GSS see this engagement in every school they visit and GSS students have regularly produced remarkable work.

For more information, contact a member of the Geospatial Semester team.