Summary of Models of Surveying Curricula around the
World
by Julian "Jud" Rouch
Key words: curricula, assessment, competencies, trends.
Abstract
1. Introduction
Commission Two, Working Group Three is University
Curricula – Content, Trends, Assessment and Competencies. In the
process of collecting information for the report that we plan to have
ready by the end of 2001 we have had paper presentation sessions at a
Commission Two symposium held at the Wuhan Technical University, China
in October, 1998 and at the 1999 FIG Working Week at Sun City. There
will be additional papers adding to the information pool during the
FIG 2000 Working Week in Prague and at a planned Commission Two
symposium to be held in Rosario City, Argentina in October 2000. I
would expect that the area would be further explored in papers
presented at the FIG 2001 Working Week in Korea.
2. Present Status
We are finding that surveying education curricula
is dictated by the norms of practice in each country. Different
discipline areas from one country to another conduct the various
elements of the profession. We see that the education of surveying
practitioners needs to follow that of the various disciplines involved
in the total arena. These areas of surveying education are in a rapid
state of change. The education models of the past and even those in
current use do not necessarily fit the evolving future of our
profession. So we must look at and analyze the past, present, and
conceivable future education models, their problems and the various
potential solutions to these problems.
3. Future Requirements
Practitioners in the surveying and mapping fields
are moving rapidly from being collectors of data to being managers of
both data and business. They will continue to make intricate
measurement and evaluate boundary evidence, for which they will need
sound technical education, but they will also have to exhibit superior
management skills. The advent of Geographical Information Systems
technology and the development of new tools and methods such as global
positioning require intensive study to encompass theoretical,
practical, and management skills necessary to operate productively in
today’s environment. We need to encompass curricula that are
adaptable to the ever-changing requirements of the information age
that we are now progressing into. This puts a new level of importance
on our curriculum design and assessment. As new methods of teaching
strategies are designed and implemented, the assessment of their
effectiveness must be undertaken. We must continue to change our
scheme of education as the profession that we are preparing graduates
to enter evolves to fit the changing requirements of society.
Professor Julian "Jud" Rouch
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock
2801 South University Avenue
Little Rock
AR 72204
USA
E-mail: jsrouch@ualr.edu
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