Syllabus for GTECH 361
Geographic Information Science
Spring 2005
Tuesday and Friday 9:10 – 11:00 AM
Instructor:
Jochen Albrecht
Office: Hunter N1030 Office hours: We, Th 2-3
PM
E-Mail:
jochen@hunter.cuny.edu Phone: (212) 772-5221
TA:
Pyung-Ho Kim E-Mail: phkim@hunter.cuny.edu
Course Overview:
GIS has become common place in a multitude of
disciplines. This course is special in that it not only teaches you how to use
the most common GIS software but
also provides you with the necessary background to understand how these
software packages work. As a result, you should be able to use just about any
other GIS software after completing
this course.
GTECH 361 addresses both
geography and students from other disciplines. Lecture examples, as well as
hands-on exercises will cover a range of application areas. The course itself
is divided into two equally important parts: lectures, which introduce the
theory of GIScience, and lab exercises, which help you to familiarize yourself
with many aspects of the software. The lectures discuss concepts, data, tools,
and major aspects to assignments. The laboratory sessions introduce the geospatial
data and software tools needed for accomplishing the assignments. The course
utilizes a variety of resources, including the energy and creativity of
students in the course.
Required textbook: none.
However,
you might benefit from having a look at any the following:
- Burke et al 2004. Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop (updated for ArcGIS 9). ESRI
Press (but a lot cheaper from Amazon)
- Burrough, P and R McDonnell 1998. Principles of GIS.
Oxford: Oxford University Press. For environmental
science, biology, soil science, or landscape architecture students.
- deMers, Michael 2004. Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems. New York: Wiley.
The best general introduction for a geographic audience.
- Worboys, M and M Duckham 2004. GIS: a computing perspective. Boca Raton, FL:
CRC Press. Recommended for
those with a mathematical or computer science background.
Pre- and
co-requisites: GTECH 201.
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, and participation in the map poster display (if
this is a part of the course this semester). Remember that a good part of your
grade depends on class participation.
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://everest.hunter.cuny.edu/~tbw/spars/rules.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:
10
Quizzes (2% each) 20%
Lab
exercises (14 total) 50%
Midterm
exam 15%
Final
exam 15%
Schedule:
Class
#
|
Date
|
Topic
|
|
1
|
01/28
|
GIScience
and GIStudies
|
|
2
|
02/01
|
Storing
geographic information
|
|
L1
|
02/04
|
Lab 1: Getting started with ArcGIS
|
|
3
|
02/08
|
Geographic
data sources
|
|
L2
|
02/15
|
Lab 2:
Creating map symbology
|
|
4
|
02/18
|
Cartographic
communication and geospatial visualization
|
|
L3
|
02/22
|
Lab 3:
Referencing data to real locations
|
|
5
|
02/25
|
Datums,
projections, and coordinate systems
|
|
L4
|
03/01
|
Lab 4:
Organizing geographic data
|
|
6
|
03/04
|
Basic
spatial queries
|
|
L5
|
03/08
|
Lab 5:
Creating and editing data
|
|
7
|
03/11
|
Secondary
data
|
|
L6
|
03/15
|
Lab 6:
Exploring the geodatabases model
|
|
8
|
03/18
|
Midterm Exam
|
|
L7
|
03/22
|
Lab 7: Creating a geodatabases
|
|
9
|
03/24
|
Advanced
spatial queries
|
|
L8
|
04/01
|
Lab 8:
Creating and editing features in a geodatabases
|
|
10
|
04/05
|
The
third dimension
|
|
L9
|
04/08
|
Lab 9:
Adding behavior to a geodatabase
|
|
11
|
04/12
|
Raster GIS
and map algeba
|
|
L10
|
04/15
|
Lab 10:
Getting started with GIS
analysis
|
|
12
|
04/19
|
Spatial
statistics and data quality
|
|
L11
|
04/22
|
Lab 11:
Working with Geoprocessing and
Modeling
|
|
13
|
05/03
|
GIS and society: social, legal, economic and
organizational aspects
|
|
L12
|
05/06
|
Lab 12:
Designing maps with ArcGIS
|
|
14
|
05/10
|
Review
and final exam preparation
|
|
L13
|
05/13
|
Lab 13:
Working with Labels
|
|
L14
|
05/17
|
Lab 14:
Working with Annotation
|
|
|
05/19
05/22
|
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 361 Geographic Information Science
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,