Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

In this article, we present a study focused on developing students' understanding the ecology through participation in a technology-supported urban planning simulation—specifically, 11 high school students in Madison, Wisconsin acted as urban planners to redesign a local shopping street using a Geographic Information System (GIS) model. This experimental design was situated within the theory of pedagogical praxis, which suggests that modeling learning environments on authentic professional practices enables youth to develop a deeper understanding of important domains of inquiry (Shaffer, 2004). Results presented here suggest that through participation in the project students: a) developed an understanding of ecology; and b) developed this understanding through the urban planning practices and the features of the GIS model used during the project. Thus, we propose that this augmented by reality learning environment modeled on the professional practices of urban planners extends the theory of pedagogical praxis into the domain of ecology and offers a useful method for developing ecological understanding through participation in simulations that incorporate the authentic tools and practices of urban planning.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adams

P. C.

(1998). Teaching and learning with SimCity 2000. Journal of Geography, 97(2), 47–55.

Alberti

Marzluff

J. M.

Schulenberger

Bradley

Ryan

, & Zumbreunnen

(2003). Integrating humans into ecology: Opportunities and challenges for studying urban ecosystems. BioScience, 53(12), 1169–1179.

Allen

P. M.

(1996). Cities and regions as evolutionary complex systems. Geographical Systems, 4, 103–130.

American Planning Association. (2003). Urban and regional planning career information. Retrieved January 5, 2004 from http://www.planning.org/careers/field.htm

Batty

(1995). Planning support systems and the new logic of computation. Regional Development Dialogue, 16(1), 1–17.

Broda

, & Baxter

(2003). Using GIS and GPS technology as an instructional tool. The Social Studies, 94(4), 158–160.

Burrough

P. A.

(1986). Principles of geographic information systems for land resources assessment. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Chalupsky

, & MacGregor

(1999). STELLA—A Lisp-like language for symbolic programming with delivery in Common Lisp, C++ and Java. Proceedings of the 1999 Lisp User Group Meeting. Berkeley, CA: Franz Inc.

Chawla

, & Heft

(2002). Children's competence and the ecology of communities. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 22, 201–216.

10.

Cronon

(1991). Nature's metropolis: Chicago and the great west. New York: Norton & Company, Inc.

11.

Dewey

(1916). Democracy and education. New York: The Free Press.

12.

Eiser

(1991). Learning to save the environment. Teaching & Learning, 11(6), 18–26.

13.

Environmental System Research Institute (ESRI). (2003). ArcMap. [Computer software]. Redlands, CA: ESRI.

14.

Feiner

S. K.

(2002). Augmented reality: A new way of seeing. Scientific American, 286(4), 48–55.

15.

Glaser

B. G.

(1978). Theoretical sensitivity advances in the methodology of grounded theory. Mill Valley, CA: The Sociology Press.

16.

Horelli

(1997). A methodological approach to children's participation in urban planning. Scandinavian Housing & Planning Research, 14, 105–115.

17.

Horelli

(2001). Young people's participation in local development: Lip service or serious business? In Helve

& Wallace

(Eds.), Youth, citizenship and Empowerment (pp. 57–71). Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Co.

18.

Horelli

, & Kaaja

(2002). Opportunities and constraints of ‘internet-assisted urban planning’ with young people. Journal of Educational Psychology, 22, 191–200.

19.

Klopfer

, & Squire

(in press). Developing a platform for augmented reality gaming. Educational Technology Research & Development.

20.

Latour

(1983). Give me a laboratory and I will raise the world. In Knorr-Cetina

K. D.

& Mulkay

(Eds.), Science observed(pp. 141–170). London: Sage Publications, Inc.

21.

Lemke

J. L.

(2000). Across the scales of time: Artifacts, activities, and meanings in ecosocial systems. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 7(4); 273–290.

22.

Lincoln

, & Guba

(1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

23.

Maguire

D. J.

(1991). An overview and definition of GIS. In Maguire

D. J.

Goodchild

M. F.

, & Rhind

D. W.

(Eds.), Geographical information systems (pp. 9–20). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

24.

Maxis. (2003). SimCity. [Computer software.] Redwood City, CA: Electronic Arts Inc.

25.

Resnick

(1994). Turtles, termites and traffic jams. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

26.

Sanger

(1997). Sense of place in education. The Journal of Environmental Education, 29(1), 4–8.

27.

Shaffer

D. W.

(2004). Pedagogical praxis: The professions as models for post-industrial education. Teachers College Record. 106(7), 1401–1421.

28.

Simpson

(1997). Towards the participation of children and young people in urban planning and design. Urban Studies, 34(5–6): 907–925.

29.

Strauss

, & Corbin

(1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory, (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

30.

Starr

(1994). Seductions of sim: Policy as a simulation game. The American Prospect, 5(17), 19–29.

31.

Teague

M. G.

, & Teague

G. V.

(1995). Planning with computers: A social studies simulation. Learning and Leading with Technology, 23, 20–25.

Augmented by Reality: The Pedagogical Praxis of Urban Planning as a Pathway to Ecological Thinking

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References