Introduction
On the Home page users are presented with a form “User login”. First-time users must create a personal profile by activating the link below the login form “Create a new account”. For more information about “Create a new account” go to the section “About the tool” or activate the “Read more” link at the bottom of the page.
Background
A new GISc academic framework has been created with an embedded competency set to serve as a standard for the training of professional GISc practitioners. The format of this GISc framework is based on the structure of the University Consortium of Geographical Information Science (UCGIS) geographical information science and technology (GI S&T) body of knowledge (BoK) as the most used framework in the USA, European and many other countries. The framework includes, by the unification of different competency sets, the South African, the USA and European perspectives of the knowledge and skills regarded as essential for the GISc profession. The adoption of the GISc academic framework in South Africa will facilitate the translocation of students between universities; provide international recognition of qualifications obtained in South Africa and enable reciprocal agreements between South Africa and other countries.
The concept of the self-assessment tool (SAT) was introduced using MS Excel as a prototype. However, challenges such as the maintenance of the software, record of users, return on investment (ROI) etc. favoured the development of the SAT as a web application using a data base management system in preference to the flat files used in Excel.
By activating the “About the tool” button or the “Read more” link, users can access a brief background report on the development of the assessment tool as well as instructions how to apply the tool in the assessment process.