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Hands on Activities to teach Location Analytics in Business Education

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05-19-2021 12:55 PM
JosephKerski
Esri Notable Contributor
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The best way to learn location analytics is to actually do it -- that is, engage with it in a hands-on way.  The maps, infographics, dashboards, and story maps are captivating, and the problems that can be solved are relevant and timely. 

Faculty:  Feel free to use this assortment of hands-on activities in your courses and programs and give you confidence that you can use these tools in instruction. 

Students:  Use these activities to further your own learning, empowered with skills that you can take into your future  workplace. 

  1. A Learn Path guiding you through a sequence of 12 videos, readings, case studies, and lessons, is here.
  2. A set of videos on the ArcGIS Business Analyst Web App.
  3. A set of additional lessons on railroads, supply chain management, and more, here: https://community.esri.com/t5/education-blog/location-analytics-for-business-education-list-of/ba-p/...  
  4. Attached to this essay are hands-on activities about: (1) regional business patterns, (2) choosing the optimal location for a convenience store, (3)  choosing the optimal location for a dog kennel business, (4) analyzing art behavior in a city for placement of an Art-o-Mat machine, (5) crime patterns in a city, which might impact the business community, and other themes.  These activities have been used in a variety of schools of business, and focus on developing spatial thinking, critical thinking, and problem solving with GIS.  Along with each lesson is an answer key. 
  5. For additional hands-on activities, including Learn Paths containing a sequenced set of lessons, including the above tools as well as ArcGIS Pro, see the Learn ArcGIS library of business-related lessons.

business_analyst_web_screen_drivetime.PNG

Drive times using Business Analyst Web - part of one of the attached lessons. 

 

 

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About the Author
I believe that spatial thinking can transform education and society through the application of Geographic Information Systems for instruction, research, administration, and policy. I hold 3 degrees in Geography, have served at NOAA, the US Census Bureau, and USGS as a cartographer and geographer, and teach a variety of F2F (Face to Face) (including T3G) and online courses. I have authored a variety of books and textbooks about the environment, STEM, GIS, and education. These include "Interpreting Our World", "Essentials of the Environment", "Tribal GIS", "The GIS Guide to Public Domain Data", "International Perspectives on Teaching and Learning with GIS In Secondary Education", "Spatial Mathematics" and others. I write for 2 blogs, 2 monthly podcasts, and a variety of journals, and have created over 6,500 videos on my Our Earth YouTube channel. Yet, as time passes, the more I realize my own limitations and that this is a lifelong learning endeavor: Thus I actively seek mentors and collaborators.