Geography students’ perception of GIS

Given that the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is an effective spatial information technology in organising spatial information, geography students have been exposed to this technology through GIS courses. However, their perceptions of the GIS courses and technology are rarely being studied. To bridge this research gap this study was conducted involving 22 of second year geography students in 2008/2009 session at three stages of before, during and after attending the GIS courses. It was found that the students knowledge of GIS was low before they attended the GIS course and improved during the period of attending the GIS course. Although this gave the impression that their knowledge of GIS was getting better, more than 75% of them still perceived the GIS as a very difficult course. Several reasons were been cited for this including the stressfulness of GIS activities during practical classes and the difficulty of comprehending new terminologies in studying and doing GIS. Many of the students also failed to relate their knowledge of GIS to other geography subjects. Although many (60%) were aware of the employment potential of mastering the GIS this did not prompt them to pursue the GIS at post-graduate levels, all due to the perceived highly difficult nature of learning the GIS .