About SpatiaLABS

Welcome

Esri Press SpatiaLABS are standalone activities designed to promote spatial reasoning and analysis skills. Covering a wide variety of subject matter useful in standard computer-lab sessions and longer term projects, SpatiaLABS illuminate relationships, patterns and complexities while answering provocative questions like "How might visibility have affected political boundaries in ancient civilizations?" or "Is there a connection between ethnicity and exposure to industrial toxins?" or "How worried should I be about the stagnant pond a quarter mile away?"

SpatiaLABS and GIS

So what's the role of geographic information systems, GIS, in SpatiaLABS? GIS is merely a tool for revealing those illuminating relationships, patterns and complexities. Students will undoubtedly develop GIS and cartography skills while performing SpatiaLABS, but these are secondary outcomes. SpatiaLABS concentrate on introducing, developing and reinforcing spatial reasoning and analysis skills.

Levels of labs

SpatiaLABS are written to three broad levels, which can be used in a variety of disciplines in the arts and sciences. Level 1 (engagement) labs expose students to collecting, preparing, analyzing, and visualizing data, even apart from GIS software. Level 2 (development) labs grow spatial problem-solving competencies. Development labs range in difficulty from introductory to advanced. Level 3 (project) labs are independent research projects challenging students to master advanced spatial analysis skills, sometimes by partnering with scientists, businesses, agencies, or community groups to perform real research.

Customizable to suit your need

You'll find instructional materials in Microsoft Word and other common formats. Go ahead, change or add self-assessment questions, tweak the context for the analysis, rework the lab to use local data. Customize SpatiaLABS to suit your needs for a given course.

Contact us

For more information about SpatiaLABS, contact us at spatialabs@esri.com. You can also follow us on Twitter: @spatialabs.