Syllabus for GTECH 732.56
Seminar Advanced GIScience Research: modeling the urban environment
Spring 2007
Wednesday 4:15 – 7:00 PM (and beyond)
Instructor: Jochen Albrecht
Office: Hunter North 1090B Office hours: Tu, Th 3-5 PM
E-Mail:
Course Overview:
this gis seminar strives for
a synthesis between human and physical geography. while
usually the final in a row of gis-related courses,
this seminar goes beyond the level of techniques. It takes an exhaustive look
at theories and quantitative models that have been developed in geography and
beyond to get a grasp at the most complex phenomenon that mankind has developed
so far: the urban environment.
the methodological foundation for this seminar is that
of systems analysis. you will learn to conquer a
topical area in a relatively short amount of time to such a degree that you
will teach it to the rest of us in the seminar. most
of you are likely to pursue an academic career that includes the hunt for
funding. Your thesis writing occurs under almost unnatural circumstances: you
are given a year or three to develop your research. GTECH 732.56 will mirror
real academic life in that you are to write and present a topic at a high
academic level but for which you have had only a few weeks (at the most) to do
research on. being a methods seminar, i will discuss with you techniques that will assist you to
accomplish this goal.
systems analysis will also help you to then dissect a package
of simulation software. as opposed to technical gis
courses such as GTECH 733 you are not supposed to develop your own model but to
apply a piece of software of your choice to a conceptual model of your choice
and to then evaluate its performance. the conclusion
of your report should tell us whether the software is flawed or the underlying
theory, i.e., the model that you are implementing. finally,
we will look into what does it take for modeling software to help us develop
new theory.
as this is a graduate course, the bulk of the content
will come from you, the student. the role of the
instructor is mostly to provide structure and guidance. each
student conducts an individual software project implements the conceptual model
of a domain view of the urban environment. the choice
of software tools is up to the respective student. the
domain is also to be chosen by the student, who in turn is responsible for
gathering the necessary data.
the course utilizes a variety of resources, including
the energy and creativity of students in the course. there
is no single textbook out there that deals with Urban Modeling (which as a
matter of fact prompts me to think about writing one; so – if this seminar
works really well, then we might want to write one together). however, there is an extensive (though not exhaustive) list
of readings that I recommend for this seminar.
other material will be handed out during each session,
comes from each student responsible for a particular session. you might also want to search the internet as many of the
technical issues involved are at the forefront of giscience
research and have not yet made it into print.
Pre-requisites: GTECH 732 and permission of the instructor
Policies:
Attendance is crucial. Given that the class-learning environment is active learning, meaning that most of the student performance is practical assignments rather than tests, adherence to protocols and the course timetable is very important. Lateness in arriving at class, both lectures and laboratory/discussion sections will not be tolerated. Active involvement in the course is evidenced in part by undertaking the mechanics of the practical assignments systematically, and learning the tools by hours of practice. In so doing the tools soon come to be seen as a means to an end, rather than the end itself. For example, you will make many maps, and may get caught up in this creative activity, but remember that the maps are being made for particular scientific purposes. Class participation includes timely attendance at laboratory sessions, participation in organized class discussions, accomplishments of in-class tasks, accomplishment of the preliminary assignment on time
Plagiarism is simply not acceptable. Helping other students on use of the software is encouraged. However, do not help other students answer questions from the labs. Many of the problems have a "sample" problem, which includes the answer. The best way to help your fellow students is to work the sample problem. If a sample problem is not available, create an exercise similar to the problem in the lab and solve that problem. You can't actually learn this material unless you do the work yourself. Therefore, do not share your calculations or measurements with other students. You must do your own work (and it is easy to see when students copy work from other students). Students with labs showing copied work can receive failing grades.
Special accommodations for persons with disabilities are provided upon request. Please see the instructor if you feel the need for them.
Lab policies are described in detail in http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/computing/policies.html
Assignments are due one week after they are given in class. Late labs will be downgraded by one letter grade. Labs will not be accepted if greater than one week late. It is in your best interests to keep up with the work and meet deadlines for assignments. Incomplete grades and time extensions are not an option for this course. There are no "extra-credit" assignments. Unless otherwise instructed, you will submit assignments in electronic form. For all labs, you are expected to show all the work you did in order to complete the assignment. It is more important how you did the work, than whether you got the right answer. Partial credit will be given for good work but incorrect results.
Criteria for evaluation:
evaluation of academic performance is based on the
preparation and presentation of your own session, a domain model report, your
software project and a final comprehensive examination. the
course letter grade will be determined only at the end of the semester,
although guidance as to letter grade standing will be given along the way. there are three items that make up the final grade in equal
parts: your session and subsequent domain model report, your software project
and an exam.
session responsibility
every student is responsible for running one session in
the first half of the semester. this includes
preparation and delivery of readings well ahead of the session itself, guiding
the discussion, and write-up of a domain model report that captures the session
results
software project
each student conducts an individual semester-long
software project that represents a domain model of the urban environment. there are no requirements with respect to what software the
student uses. in a similar vein, the urban domain is
to be chosen by the student, who is also responsible for gathering the
necessary data.
seminar attendance and participation
adherence to protocols and the seminar timetable is very
important. active involvement in the seminar is
evidenced in part by undertaking the mechanics running one's own session but an
equally important part is the active involvement in the other sessions as well.
a seminar lives and dies with your active
participation. you fail if you you
cannot contribute on a regular basis.
computer use procedures
this is a graduate methods seminar. successful
participation in geog 463, or some equivalent level giscience
course is necessary to enrol in this seminar. as such, there are no lab exercises and no provision
for students who do not have the technical background for this
course.
Schedule:
the
probable course content and sequence of topics is as follows. principal guidance as to topics to be understood comes from
the class lectures. the schedule cites only the date
of the lecture. there are six lab sessions, the timing
of which will be determined among course participants. the
contents of each week may be somewhat modified as the semester progresses.
Class # |
Date |
Topic |
|
1 |
01/31 |
introduction;
epistemological background; beyond gis |
|
2 |
02/07 |
complex urban systems;
complexity theory and measures |
|
3 |
02/14 |
urban climate modeling |
|
4 |
02/28 |
urban hydrology modeling |
|
5 |
03/07 |
urban transport modeling |
|
6 |
03/14 |
urban economic modeling |
|
7 |
03/21 |
urban social modeling |
|
8 |
03/28 |
urban growth modeling |
|
9 |
04/11 |
urban indicators |
|
10 |
04/18 |
integration of sector
models |
|
11 |
04/25 |
theory of systems
analysis; urban simulation modeling |
|
12 |
05/02 |
urban indicator modeling |
|
13 |
05/09 |
pluto, sprawlSim, transims |
|
14 |
05/16 |
urbansim |
|
15 |
|
conclusion and project
presentations |
Instructor expectations
Hunter College
This is a place where students come to learn. It’s a place where knowledge is developed and hopefully it’s a place where students can see and participate in its development. Unlike previous schooling you don't have to be here, so we'll assume that you want to be here and that you are here to actively seek knowledge and skills.
With assumptions that you are (a) here of your own free will and (b) are actively seeking to gain knowledge and skills, there is only one fuzzy area (for some) - how to succeed! It’s really quite simple: have fun. If you are enjoying what you are doing, you will succeed; if you are taking subjects or studying in a particular program and not enjoying it, you are unlikely to be successful.
A few words on success and enjoyment. Success is not just measured by your grade (but passing does help!), it is also measured by how you feel about what you are doing. You are the only person who can really judge whether you are successful - have you met your own expectations? Enjoyment does not necessarily mean stress free living (although maybe it is for some!). Taking only subjects that you were told were "easy" doesn't guarantee enjoyment; some of us require a challenge in life! Again, only you are in a position to determine what you find enjoyable.
A final thought on what a university is: this is also a place where faculty comes to learn...
GTECH 732.56 Seminar Advanced GIScience Research
Students: to be successful you should be taking this subject because you want to take it, not because someone told you that you need to take it and you must be actively seeking knowledge and skills. This subject is a good participation "sport", but it’s not a really good spectator event. You need to be proactive, be able to try something new, look at things from a new (spatial) perspective, ask questions, read read read. You need to know when to take a break, get some fresh air, rest your eyes (a Buddhist philosophy is quite useful...). Attend the lectures and practical sessions. when your absence is unavoidable, make sure you catch up on what was missed. Plan your week as best as possible and make the commitment to spend the amount of time needed for you to be successful. get a study partner or three, if this works for you.
Faculty: to be successful, I need to know that I've "made a difference" to at least some of my students, i.e., they feel successful. I'll provide a coherent subject structure, I'll deliver the best lecture possible on the day, and pointers to resources where possible and my tutors and I will provide sound practical instruction and practice our listening skills so that we can understand what difficulties you may be having, so that we can resolve them. Furthermore, we are available and approachable; ask questions in lectures, labs and at other times; use our office hours or make appointments to see us. Faculty have shown disappointing prowess at extra-sensory perception, please help us out!
We often lecture in subjects we are considered to have some expertise in; we are therefore fairly interested in the subject matter. We too are students in that we are continuing to learn new things in our areas of expertise and sometimes we are the ones who develop new knowledge in our areas of expertise!
Theory vs. practice: in lectures I try to provide an overview of the most important knowledge, but this never replaces the reading material. sometimes lectures and readings will cover the same ground, but often, the best that can be done in some fourteen sessions is to provide just a "flavor" of the subject matter, something to whet your appetite, something to set the context for your readings.
Finally...
The reason for this page of amateur pop psychology is two fold: (a) first I hope that prospective students take this subject for the right reasons (i.e. they believe that they will enjoy it) and are in the right frame of mind to be successful and (b) second, I hope that with a little mutual empathy the learning experience can be made better for both student and teacher. If we are not having fun, we are both doing something wrong!
I wish us a lot of fun in this course,
