PACE at a Glance: Case Studies of the Student Experience
This chapter is a set of case studies illustrating the student and partner experience of PACE in a wide variety of disciplinary and geographical settings.
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PACE at a Glance: Case Studies of the Student Experience Ruth McHugh, Rebecca Bilous, Cass Grant, and Laura Hammersley
Walking Pittwater Pittwater Local Government Area (LGA) north of Sydney is surrounded by water and National Parks. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Pittwater Council, the local authority responsible for governing the LGA, found that walking was the most popular form of active recreation for its residents. During public consultation for the Pittwater Public Space and Recreation Strategy, residents requested the development of an app that would allow the broader community to enjoy the walking routes within the LGA. Pittwater Council approached Macquarie University’s PACE program, requesting the development of a software application that would not only facilitate the identification of specific walking routes but would also include additional information about various points of interest and allow the user to contribute their own information. Two groups of PACE students enrolled in the Information Systems major took up the challenge and developed an Android app that overlaid the walking tracks onto Google Maps. They worked closely with Council staff to include information regarding the environmental, historical and cultural features of the area, and with a local Historical Society to source and use historical images.
R. McHugh () • R. Bilous • C. Grant • L. Hammersley PACE, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2017 J. Sachs, L. Clark (eds.), Learning Through Community Engagement, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0999-0_10
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The project gave students the opportunity to develop both their discipline-specific IT skills alongside skills such as understanding client needs, working within a team and balancing conflicting pressures. It is also a project that will be useful for their portfolio, providing real work experience and a referee. An iOS version of the application has been developed and is now available at the Apple Store, and the Android version has been upgraded to maintain consistency with the iOS version. Both versions now have an increased functionality that allows users to add their own photos and text with the GPS location. The project builds on and extends the close relationship between Pittwater Council and Macquarie University through the PACE program.
Source: Screen captures from the Walking Pittwater app https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/walkingpittwater/id986192569?mt=8
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Ribbit! Ku-ring-gai Council is situated 16 km north of the city of Sydney. Bound by three national parks the residents enjoy vast areas of unspoiled bushland and have embraced their responsibility to maintain its biodiversity and unique environment. The local government body overseeing the area has been a partner of Macquarie University over many years, working with relevant study areas such as environmental science, human geography and planning. From hosting postgraduate
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