Thesis subject

MSc thesis topic: Serious Gaming for Scientific Integrity in the GIS domain

Scientific integrity is fundamental to responsible research and ethical decision-making, particularly in the geospatial domain. Geo-spatial analyses and applications often influence policy, urban planning, and environmental management. However, researchers often face ethical dilemmas and conflicts of interest when working with multiple stakeholders who have competing interests. Ensuring that future professionals in the geospatial domain understand and navigate these challenges is crucial for fostering ethical research practices.

This thesis project aims to address this need by developing an educational module that enhances students' awareness of scientific integrity in geospatial domain. The module will be delivered through a serious game, e.g. like a role-playing exercise , allowing students to engage with real-world ethical dilemmas and experience the complexities of decision-making in geospatial domain.

Background

Scientific integrity is shaped by a range of existing policies, legal frameworks, and ethical guidelines and one’s individual ethical compass that govern integer conduct. In the geospatial domain, one has to adhere to principles such as the FAIR framework (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable data), privacy laws such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations), open data policies, and institutional codes of conduct for good research practices. However, these frameworks can sometimes be in conflict with each other—there is not a single framework or approach that resolves every ethical dilemma and/or guides professional conduct in these dilemma’s . For example, while open data policies promote transparency and collaboration, privacy laws impose strict restrictions on sharing sensitive geospatial information as open data, creating a tension that researchers must carefully navigate.

Objectives and Research questions

The main objective is to develop an educational module to raise awareness on scientific integrity for students in the geo-spatial domain, by means of a serious game where students exercise and experience a typical challenging case at hand with conflicting interests between stakeholders.

Exact Research Objectives will be formulated with supervisors, but potential objectives are:

  • Review existing policies, moral and ethical guidelines for professional work in the geospatial domain.
  • Identify potential ethical, moral, legal conflicts and/or dilemmas and link to real-case storylines.
  • Construct a serious/role-play game and test with students.

Requirements

  • Interest in Scientific Integrity; Ethical discussions and considerations in the domain of spatial sciences.

Literature and information

Theme(s): Empowering & engaging communities