BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//pretalx//talks.osgeo.org//foss4g-2026//talk//XS3JNT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:JST BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20000101T000000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=1 TZNAME:JST TZOFFSETFROM:+0900 TZOFFSETTO:+0900 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-foss4g-2026-XS3JNT@talks.osgeo.org DTSTART;TZID=JST:20260902T170000 DTEND;TZID=JST:20260902T173000 DESCRIPTION:In recent years\, demand for geography education using GIS has been growing among junior and senior high school teachers. Since 2022\, th e compulsory geography curriculum in Japanese senior high schools has emph asized the use of GIS in classrooms. QGIS has attracted attention because it is freely available and enables advanced spatial visualization and anal ysis. However\, the implementation of QGIS in education for junior and sen ior high school students remains limited compared with GIS education in un iversities. In this study\, we conducted educational events for high schoo l students to examine three aspects: students’ ability to operate QGIS\, their understanding of spatial data concepts and processing\, and their i nterpretation of geographical features across multiple layers.\nThe exerci ses were conducted as part of one-day or half-day educational programs int roducing various GIS applications. The events were held eight times betwee n 2018 and 2025. Although the teaching topics varied slightly across event s\, each QGIS-based exercise was consistently implemented using the same i nstructional content. At the beginning of the events\, we delivered a 20 –30 minute lecture introducing fundamental GIS concepts. The exercises\, which lasted 60–75 minutes\, required each student to operate QGIS indi vidually. During the exercises\, we focused on teaching basic GIS operatio ns and spatial thinking by processing data related to the Kyodo River allu vial fan in Yamanashi Prefecture\, Central Japan.\nThe QGIS-based exercise component consisted of five steps. In the first step\, the students impor ted a 5-m resolution DEM (Digital Elevation Model) into QGIS. At the begin ning of the session\, the educator briefly explained basic PC terminology and the topographic characteristics of an alluvial fan. In the second step \, the students attempted to identify the Kyodo River alluvial fan using t he default DEM display\, in which elevation values were represented from b lack to white. In the third step\, they edited the DEM color settings base d on cell values to enhance the visualization of the alluvial fan. In the fourth step\, they created a slope map\, a hillshade map\, a 5-m contour m ap\, and a 3D visualization to interpret the apex\, middle\, and toe areas of the alluvial fan. In the fifth step\, they added land-use data to QGIS to examine the relationship between topography and land-use distribution by overlaying multiple layers. Finally\, students attempted to complete tw o assignments to assess students’ learning outcomes: (A) whether they un derstood GIS operational procedures\, and (B) whether they could interpret the geographical relationship between the alluvial fan and its land use. Assignment A was to answer “How should the raster dataset be styled in Q GIS to display the rivers more clearly? Please include the following terms in your answer: elevation values\, color allocation\, hillshade\, and lay er overlay.” Assignment B was to answer “Explain the geographic charac teristics by analyzing the relationship between orchards and man-made stru ctures such as buildings and roads.” \nAt the end of the exercises\, we asked the students to submit their assignment answers and complete a quest ionnaire. The survey was conducted only after obtaining the students’ co nsent to participate. The questionnaire consisted of two items: (a) simpli city of the exercise and (b) moments of difficulty or stumbling during the exercise. Item a was evaluated using a five-point Likert scale\, where 1 indicated “complex” and 5 indicated “simple.” Item b consisted of seven options: “difficulty in following the instructor’s GIS operation s\,” “understanding computer terminology\,” “communicating with ed ucators when asking questions\,” “importing and saving GIS data\,” “typing on the keyboard\,” “other\,” and “none.” Students were allowed to select one or more options.\nWe collected responses from 167 s tudents for Assignment A and from 150 students for Assignment B. To assess students' understanding of GIS processing and the features of DEM data\, Assignment A was scored based on whether their responses included the four terms: “elevation values\,” “color allocation\,” “hillshade\, ” and “layer overlay.” The results show that approximately 80% to 95 % of the students answered correctly\, regardless of grade level. On the o ther hand\, the overall correctness rate for Assignment B was 47.3%\, whic h varied by students' grades. Over 75% of 11th- and 12th-grade students su bmitted correct answers\, compared to 30%–40% of 7th- to 10th-grade stud ents. To examine whether the distribution of correct and incorrect respons es differed among grade levels\, a chi-square test of independence was con ducted for Assignment B. The result indicated a significant association be tween students’ grade level and achievement levels (χ² = 21.78\, df = 5\, p < 0.001). The following types of incorrect responses were observed: descriptions that focused solely on agricultural areas or building areas\, and misinterpretations of the GIS maps or the characteristics of an alluv ial fan. Another criterion for Assignment B was whether they could identif y elevation or slope values from the GIS data\; however\, only three senio r high school students included elevation or slope values in their respons es. Most participants expressed general representations such as “this ar ea is a steep slope\,” “gentle slope\,” “high elevation\,” or “low elevation.” \nIn the questionnaire survey\, 181 students responde d to Item a and 142 to Item b. The perceived simplicity of the exercise wa s distributed as follows: 35 students (19.3%) selected “complex\,” 75 (41.4%) “relatively complex\,” 34 (18.8%) “neither\,” 26 (14.4%) “relatively simple\,” and 11 (6.1%) “simple.” For Item b\, no sing le difficulty was reported by more than 50% of respondents. The most frequ ently selected option was “following the instructor’s GIS operations\, ” selected by 46 students (32.4%). Approximately 20% of respondents sele cted “understanding computer terminology” and “none.”\nThe results indicate that geography education using QGIS is feasible for junior and s enior high school students. While most students understood basic GIS opera tions and spatial data concepts\, many\, particularly younger students\, s truggled to interpret their maps from a spatial thinking perspective. Thes e findings highlight the importance of strengthening existing map-reading education in schools. In addition\, adopting self-directed learning approa ches that allow students to practice GIS operations step by step may be mo re effective for some students than simultaneous lecture-based instruction . DTSTAMP:20260717T234900Z LOCATION:Cosmos2 SUMMARY:Implementation and evaluation of geography education using QGIS for Japanese high school students - Hiroyuki Yamauchi URL:https://talks.osgeo.org/foss4g-2026/talk/XS3JNT/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR