The Modern teaching concepts of students at the university provide for the training of specialists who can independently solve problems, that may arise in their further research activities. Application only traditional methods in the educational process is not enough for the scientific research competencies development of students. This article shows one of the possible ways means of geographic information systems (GIS) using in the educational process for developing research competencies students for the proposed methodology. As a result of the experiment, it was found that the combined use of GIS means in the educational process, in particular, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Green Seeker Handheld device, allows students to see result the practical application of the formed research competencies and the importance of their development for society. The proposed methodic for applying GIS in the educational process can be useful for studies aimed at solving the problems of introducing other tools into the educational process, in particular, the Vegetation Soil Salinity Index (VSSI) and Normalize Difference Snow Index (NDSI).