Recent spatial_ucsb_smppr items

Spatial Thinking across the College Curriculum, Position Papers

Mon, 31 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

More than 40 position papers were prepared by participants prior to meeting in Santa Barbara. The objective was to explore from a multi-discipline perspective the potential values and challenges of formulating curricula to advance the role of spatial reasoning in undergraduate education.

The authors consider the following general questions:

• What are best current practices in spatial education at the college level?

• What role do technologies, such as geographic information systems and virtual environment technologies, play in developing spatial thinking skills?

• Can we identify a set of general spatial skills that are relevant to spatial thinking across several disciplines?

• Are spatial skills best trained in the context of a discipline or in a domain of general knowledge? For example, if a student is taught to imagine cross sections in the context of a geology course, does this skill transfer to imagining sections in engineering or biology?

•...

Future Directions in Spatial Demography, Position Papers

Mon, 31 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

More than 40 researchers participated in a 2-day meeting on future directions in spatial demography (Santa Barbara, Dec. 2011). Each participant prepared a position paper that addressed such questions as the following:

• How are demographers measuring place and the interrelationships among places?

• How can demographers harness emerging developments in the generation of geospatial data (e.g., volunteered geographic information and crowd-sourced data)?

• How can new measures be validated for use in neighborhood and contextual research?

• What visualization and spatial analytical methods make up the current tool kit of the spatial demographer?

• What new methodological developments in spatial analysis are possible in the next five years and how might these be integrated into mainstream demographic research?

• What are the training challenges to the enhancement of future research in spatial demography?

• What research priorities will best...

Spatio-Temporal Constraints on Social Networks, Position Papers

Mon, 31 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

In advance of the meeting, 34 researchers prepared position statements on the following kinds of questions:

• What is the current state of knowledge with respect to spatiotemporal constraints on social networks and informationflows, particularly from a meta-network perspective?

• How can theories of social network interaction be extended to incorporate the constraining effects of space, time, theInternet, and mass media?

• Can probability distributions be developed for networks or network metrics that are parameterized by spatial andtemporal separation?

• What rich sources of data can be found to calibrate and parameterize these new models?

• What new metrics and models can be developed for assessing critical nodes, groups, and trails in and throughnetworks that take spatio-temporal constraints, the Internet, and mass-media effects into account?

• Can we develop novel methods for visualizing the operation of spatio-temporal constraints and...

Spatial Discovery Expert Meeting, Final Report

Mon, 10 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This report summarizes a two-day expert meeting on “Spatial Discovery,” organized jointly by the Library and the Center for Spatial Studies of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), and held on June 16–17, 2015 at the Upham Hotel, in Santa Barbara. The 24 participants contributed expertise in Library Science, as well as knowledge pertaining to spatial information and relevant research on data-seeking behavior. Five keynote addresses as well as several plenary and break-out discussions explored the challenges, best practices, and potential strategies associated with the cross-platform discovery of spatial data in the context of modern libraries.

Volunteered Geographic Information, Introduction and Position Papers

Wed, 8 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This flier provides a brief description of a workshop hosted in Santa Barbara on volunteered geographic information (VGI). Discussions focused on citizen motivations to provide information in the public domain, methods to validate such information, and ideas about the potentials and limitations to VGI. More than 40 position papers on these challenges are presented.

Spatial Search, Final Report

Fri, 3 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This specialist meeting on the theme of spatial search provided a platform for exploring research frontiers at the interface of computer science, cognitive science, and other disciplines, especially in the context of geographically referenced information. This report reviews the discussions among 36 experts from academia and industry over two days, and draws attention to research gaps that will require broad interdisciplinary efforts over the next five to ten years.

Spatial Information for Human Health, the 2015 Spatial Unconference, Call for Proposals

Wed, 1 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

A call for proposals to participate in the Spatial Unconference on Spatial Information for Human Health. The unconference takes place in Santa Barbara, CA, 9-11 December 2015. The deadline for submitting proposals is May 31, 2015.

Spatio-Temporal Constraints on Social Networks, Final Report

Tue, 3 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This report features summaries of plenary presentations by invited experts and identifies the key issues raised in small-group discussions on the impact of the Internet on human communication and the organization of social networks. Primary conclusions relate to the formulation of a research agenda that adresses the following issues:

1. Data access and data discovery

2. Synthesis of social network data

3. Human motivations and behaviors underlying social networking

4. Analysis and modeling of social networks

5. Representation and visualization of social networks and spatial data from the combined social networking, geospatial, computational, and visualization perspectives

6. Spatial and temporal considerations in social networks

7. Interaction between different networks

8. Ethics: privacy and equity

9. Potential applications, especially in time-critical situations

Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, Position Papers

Tue, 3 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000

The idea for this specialist meeting (Santa Barbara, December 2008) originates in discussions over the potential of integrating design more fully into GIS, and over the development of curriculum in spatial thinking. The central question might be posed as "To what extent are the fundamental spatial concepts that lie behind GIS relevant in design?" or "To what extent can the fundamental spatial concepts of design be addressed with GIS?" or perhaps "Is it possible to devise a curriculum designed to develop spatial thinking in both GIS and design?" The position papers from participants address these questions.

Spatial Thinking across the College Curriculum, Final Report

Wed, 25 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This report summarizes the major conclusions from a 2-day meeting of educators and researchers from more than a dozen disciplines that regard spatial thinking as a core activity that warrants consideration for a more prominent role in the education of undergraduate students.

To make the case for space in the curriculum, the meeting concluded that basic research must come to a more fundamental understanding of what is meant by spatial thinking, including different varieties of spatial thinking across the college curriculum, and identifying what is common to spatial thinking across disciplines. At the same time there is a need to continue to develop methods of teaching spatial thinking. Additionally, there is a need for research on teaching spatial thinking, including assessments of what is learned from programs that aim to teach spatial thinking. Finally, there is a need to document and demonstrate where and how spatial thinking prepares students for academic success and...

Future Directions in Spatial Demography, Final Report

Mon, 23 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000

The “Future Directions of Spatial Demography” specialist meeting (Santa Barbara, 2011) brought together 41 specialists from multiple disciplines to discuss the future of spatial demography. Whereas the majority of attendees were geographers and sociologists, many other disciplines were represented, including anthropology, economics, epidemiology, health economics, and political science.

This report outlines the primary outcomes of the meeting, including recommendations about training-related activities and cross-site collaborations, and activities that promote spatial demography within the wider academy. The report follows the structure of the meeting, focusing on:

1. The state of the science in spatial demography2. Emergent geospatial data and measurement issues3. Spatial statistical methods4. A synthesis of challenges

Advancing the Spatially Enabled Smart Campus, Final Report

Fri, 20 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000

The meeting on Advancing the Spatially Enabled Smart Campus (Santa Barbara CA, 11-12 Dec 2013) yielded four principal outcomes:

First, it brought together experts from diverse fields (e.g., sustainable development, building information management systems, geographic information systems, library information science, computer science, geography, spatial cognition, and education), providing opportunities to build collaborative relationships that, beginning with this report, will encourage publications that advance our understanding of the technological, institutional, and social aspects of sustainable smart campus innovations.Second, the establishment of a repository of ongoing smart-campus projects is encouraged, highlighting best practices that emphasize spatial perspectives on the implementation of smart campus initiatives in support of sustainability. This began with the posting of position papers and presentations from this specialist...

Advancing the Spatially Enabled Smart Campus, Position Papers

Fri, 20 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This 2-day specialist meeting in December 2013 was conceived and organized by The Center for Spatial Studies (spatial@ucsb) at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).The meeting combined “thinking big” (asking what will make campuses smarter in the future) with “acting small” (focusing on specific organizational and technological measures and their evaluation). Making our daily environments smart through technologies has been on research and political agendas for more than three decades, featuring a primary interest in the outdoor environments of cities. Smart city projects are now found throughout the world, focusing on environmental sustainability, e-governance, transportation, health, and other public goods by deploying innovative technologies for sensing, social networking, and knowledge integration. To some extent, campuses can be seen as “small cities,” raising similar concerns for their unique populations. Additionally, smart campuses have their own challenges...

Spatial Search, Position Papers

Fri, 20 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000

The Spatial Search specialist meeting in Santa Barbara (December 2014) brought together 35 academic and industry representatives from computational, geospatial, and cognitive sciences with interest in focused discussions on the development of an interdisciplinary research agenda to advance spatial search from scientific and engineering viewpoints. The position papers from participants represent the shared expertise that guided discussions and the formulation of research questions about processes of spatial search and about the conceptual ideas, infrasturctures, and tools needed to enhance the search experience in both physical and virtual spaces. The call for position papers is included.