Incorporating Spatial Analysis and Geographic Information Systems in Social Work Curriculum

Erich PurpurGIS LibrarianUniversity of Nevada, Reno

epurpur@unr.edu775 682 5706

9th Annual International Conference of Education, Research, and Innovation

Where is Reno?

-Western United States

-City of about 400,000

-3.5 hours from San Francisco

University of Nevada Reno

-Founded in 1874

-About 21,000 students

-Strong engineering school

-41 doctoral programs

-trying to become Carnegie ranked research 1 school.

What is GIS?-A computer system capable of assembling, storing, manipulating, analyzing, and displaying geographically referenced information.

What does this mean?-GIS is a data visualization tool

-The output is a map but the power lies in the data behind the image

-GIS skills are a literacy

Evidence Based Practice in Social Work

-Social Workers need data too

-Data influences social work practice

-Show work to stakeholders

Reno Homeless Project

-Class studying local homeless population in Reno, Nevada, USA.

-Data gathered by going into field and surveying local homeless population

-Local social work agencies get money based on number of homeless people in area

Teams were given zones to look for local homeless, depicted here in Google Earth

Example map teams had while in field

Data Gathered and assembled into spreadsheet

What GIS tool to use for analysis?

ArcGIS, QGIS, Google Earth didn’t meet criteria for use

ArcGIS Screenshot

QGIS Screenshot

Class able to analyze and present dataExample screenshot from final assignment showing veteran population in city

Summary-Social work students introduced to new and potentially valuable technology to incorporate into their practice

-Tools were low barrier to entry

-Students able to visualize data for display or internal use purposes