Syllabus for GTECH 732
Advanced Geographic
Information Systems
Spring 2008
Monday 5:35 – 8:15 PM (and beyond)
Instructor: Jochen Albrecht
Office: Hunter North 1030 Office
hours: Mo, Th 3-5 PM
E-Mail:
jochen@hunter.cuny.edu Phone: (212) 772-5265
Course Overview:
This course
picks up, where GTECH 710 has left off. This course comes in two parts: first,
you will learn a lot more of ArcGIS functionality by working through a number
of extension packages and hearing about their underlying GIScience principles.
In the second part, we will explore
Required textbook: None – there is simply nothing out there that covers the material.
However,
experience has it that some students need the “security blanket” of a textbook
even if the course does not follow it. If you belong into this group then you
might benefit from having a look at
any the following:
- Albrecht, J 2007. Key Concepts
and Techniques in GIS. London: Sage.
- Chang, K 2006. Introduction to
Geographic Information Systems.
- Worboys, M and M Duckham 2004.
- Wise, S 2002. GIS Basics.
Pre-requisites: GTECH 710
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
your performance in this course will consider both lecture and laboratory
components, using the following breakdown:
8
Quizzes (2.5% each) 20%
Lab
exercises (7 total) 21%
Midterm
exam 10%
Final
exam 10%
Individual
or group project 39%
(proposal, update, and final report 13%
each)
Schedule:
Class #
|
Date |
Topic |
|
1 |
01/28 |
Introduction; |
|
2 |
02/04 |
Shapes and patterns, distance-based analysis |
|
3 |
02/18! |
Not on the 11th! We meet instead on
President's Day! |
|
4 |
02/25 |
Location-allocation;
spatial interaction models; network
analysis; |
|
5 |
03/03 |
Topology revisited; customizing geodatabases;
sub-types and domains; regionalization |
|
6 |
03/10 |
Spatial interpolation; 3-D
analyst |
|
7 |
03/27 |
Midterm Exam – then:
regionalized variable theory |
|
8 |
03/31 |
Continuous surfaces;
Geostatistical analyst
|
|
9 |
04/07 |
Advanced overlay analysis and geo-processing
|
|
10 |
04/14 |
Fuzzy set
analysis; neural networks |
|
11 |
05/28 |
Cellular
automata and agent-based modeling |
|
12 |
05/05 |
Customizing
ArcMap and Geohazards |
|
13 |
05/12 |
Spatial decision
support |
|
14 |
05/19 |
Final (online) Exam |
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 Advanced
Geographic Information Systems
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,
