Author
Eduardo A. Questa, Surveyor
Avda. Belgrano (S) 1912
C.P. 4200
Ciudad de Santiago del Estero
Te.: 0385 4509560 - Extension: 1828/32
eaquesta@unse.edu.ar

Assistant
Mercedes Leal de Mar, Professor
Federivo Rotssi 498 casa 8 – Yerba Buena
C.P. 4107
San Miguel de Tucumán
Te.: 0381 4251475
mdman@arnet.com.ar

SURVEYING EDUCATION

Innovation applied to Photogrammetry Education

Abstract

         - We projected to update and improve Photogrammetry Course—in the college program corresponding to Surveyor Engineering— by innovating its education process, both academically and practically speaking. We put forward that effective communication between teacher and student should be encouraged in the course program since it is here where major knowledge and fundamental skills, which add to the professional profile, are developed.

Extended Abstract

         - On the whole, surveying graduates suffer the instability of social, economical and political decisions which certainly affect their professional development.
         - Surveying education is so closely related to the needs of the actual practitioner that evolution on both areas are highly interconnected.
         - Our college education programs in general are unable to cope with the rate of technological advances, therefore our graduates usually fall behind and can not fulfill the requirements of the new global society.
         - Surveyor Engineers are taught Photogrammetry, Photo-Interpretation and Teledetection in their course program. These subjects —though closely connected with their professional activity— constitute only a small part of a very complex whole.
         - Through innovation, we tried to update and improve the teaching-learning process both academically and practically. We also suggested that effective communication between teacher and student should be fostered in Photogrammetry since it is there where major knowledge and fundamental skills are developed.
         - Innovation forms part of a national education process which encourages standardization of surveying course programs. At the same time, the process seeks to satisfy national, provincial and regional needs and to produce knowledge in due accordance with the new global patterns in force.
         - Consequently, after evaluating the curricula of Photogrammetry Courses I and II, belonging to the Surveying Course Program provided by the College of Exact Sciences and Technologies from the University of Santiago del Estero (UNSE), a situational diagnosis was issued and a comparison was performed following the proposals put forward by the National Council of Surveying Colleges (CONEA).

CONEA sets four areas as follows:
         Basic Sciences: Students are provided with sound concepts in this area. These courses constitute the foundation upon which more advanced ones are designed and professional development to cope with scientific and technological advances is possible.
         Basic Sciences and Technologies: Courses whose foundation rely on subjects previously delivered. Their aim is to introduce the unique complexity of Surveying.
         Applied Sciences and Technologies: Superior knowledge and fundamental skills are developed and reinforced in this area.
         Complementary Sciences and Technologies: Finally, Surveying Education Program is fully integrated through these course.

         - Upon comparing CONEA and UNSE study programs in the chart below, a need for a reduction of class hours in certain courses is immediately evidenced. However, efforts should always be made to keep same quality(1) level. Class hours in the area of Applied Technologies have been reduced from 17.8% to 9.6%.

Comparative Chart (including standardization)

Applied Sciences and Technologies

*CONEA: Spanish Acronym standing for the National Council of Surveying Colleges
**UNSE: Spanish Acronym standing for the National University of Santiago del Estero.

         Currently, the average number of hours amounts 15.2% at the national level while it reaches 9.6% at the standardization study program, according to CONEA and assuming it as the maximum number of hours available. The Federal Council of Deans (CONFEDI) upon a Plenary Meeting held at the Technological Institute of Buenos Aires (ITBA) this May 10th to May 12th passed the report ”Curricula Standardization in Surveying College Courses and Surveyor Engineer Degree Unification”. In this report class hours are even more flexible.
         (1 We consider quality as the best combination of accuracy, opportunity and relevance
This diagnosis gives rise to a number of problems related not only with the student stay at college but also with the following points:
         - Technological advances have not been adequately transferred to Photogrammetry Courses. So much so that colleges—unable to follow them— interrupted Digital Photogrammetry classes, mainly because of the obsolete equipment(2). Therefore, courses are entirely based on academic knowledge rather than practical work; which leads to an unattractive abstract education.
         - Resolution N° 432/87 issued by the Ministry of Education and Justice (in our particular case Resolution N° 2272/94 by the Ministry of Culture and Education) sets the general professional fields where Surveyor Engineers render services. The wording of those resolutions encourages Photogrammetry Courses, as follows:
         *Perform and interpret topographic, hydrographic and photogrammetric surveys using geometrical, graphic and analytical designs.
         *Produce morphological and stereophotogrammetric interpretation of aerial and satellite images.

         - Section 43 from the Superior Education Act N°24521 states that Surveying is a public controlled profession since its practice involves the public interest as concerns to rights, properties and education. Section 42 of the same Article sets the number of class hours. Both Sections lead us to follow and respect CONEA statements as to 3750 class-hours. Basic curricular contents should be analyzed and new criteria for courses to provide practical works should be adopted . All these proposals are subjected to regulations issued by the Ministry of Culture and Education together with the Council of Universities.
         - The connection between Photogrammetry and Teledetection is clearly evident. Information is obtained by air transported means —airplanes or satellites. Then, it is kept on a data base for its later interpretation, both semantically and metrically. This information may be kept, captured and transmitted through magnetic or photographic means from an air/space vehicle. In our particular case, our digital systems require that photographic images be digitally converted. “The wording “geoinformation technology” has currently been used as a better expression for a more accurate description of the present state of affairs on these sciences in which metric and semantic information interpretation is closely related to cybernetics” (3).
         - All the features mentioned necessarily indicate changes to be performed on Photogrammetry Course organization, academically and practically speaking. Besides, these changes should also be present in the training of suitable human resources and in the long term education of students. Therefore, we feel the need to:
         # make technological resources available in relation to problems, opportunities and objectives.
         # train our teachers in the use of these new tools and place researching as the key to successful knowledge progress.
         # train students in the field of new technologies and deliver new learning logic process and new methods for incorporating knowledge.

         2) This is a special situation existing in our college courses.
         3 Fotogrametría – Serafín Lopez Cuervo
         Concerning the organization of contents in Photogrammetry, Photo-Interpretation and Teledetection Courses, a module-organization centered around the following axes is put forward:
         - Image capture, information support
         - Image observation, 2D and 3D
         - Image processing and adjustments
         - Production

In short, my proposal is to perform a deep insight where everybody involved in the university education and in particular those in Photogrammetry should take part to recover and/or to generate creative ideas to construct a teaching-learning system which will allow us to learn how to learn considering the society needs.

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