EVSC 362/EVSC 562 : GIS METHODS
( a.k.a. Introduction to Geographic Information Systems )
Instructor: David Richardson
296 Clark Hall, 924-3263
e-mail: dlr2n@virginia.edu
Class Web Site: http://toolkit.virginia.edu/EVSC362-1/
or http://www.evsc.virginia.edu/~evscta/EVSC362/
COURSE DESCRIPTION, STRUCTURE AND POLICIES
Required/Recommended
texts:
Getting to Know ArcGIS
desktop, ESRI Press, 2nd
edition, by Tim Ormsby et.al. (required)
Concepts and Techniques
of Geographic Information Systems,
Prentice Hall, 2nd edition, by C.P. Lo & Albert K.W. Yeung (recommended)
Course description: This course introduces
the basic concepts and methodology underlying GIS with a focus on hands-on
experience and exercises meant to get students competent and able to use GIS in
their own work. The course will focus on the creation, manipulation, and
mapping of vector and raster datasets using ArcGIS, ArcInfo, and ArcView
software packages. Besides using
tutorial datasets provided by ESRI, homework projects will be drawn from issues
pertinent to environmental research and natural resources management and focus
around on-going research at UVA's three biological/ecological field stations:
Blandy Experimental Farm (BEF), Mountain Lake Biological Station (MLBS), and
the Virginia Coast Reserve - Long Term Ecological Research (VCR-LTER) program.
Course structure: There are daily lectures
from 8:00 to 10:15 in Wilson Hall 308. Students are expected to
be ready for lecture to begin promptly at 8:00am. In general, the first 1/2 to
2/3 of the time will be spent listening to the lecture, with the remaining time
spent working together in class on tutorial, in class demo, or homework
assignments. These assignments will be handed out in class as well as posted on
the class web page (URL in header). The reading/tutorial assignments for each
week are only APPROXIMATE and MAY CHANGE as the class progresses. The class web
site is an excellent place to find updated information about the class and any
changes in the class assignments. Before you send an e-mail to me asking for
clarification of assignments, etc., be sure to check the web page. This will
save both you and me time. Please make good use of the page!
Workload: Like anything with a
strong software or computer basis, learning GIS requires the actual
"doing" of GIS and not just listening to some hypothetical how you
might do it at some future time. It's
the repetitive practice and occasional mistakes that lets the information sink in
and allows your skills and proficiency to develop. Hence, I won't be having any tests or quizzes; rather, I want you
to "do" GIS and be able to prove that you can accomplish certain
tasks. Likewise, instead of lots of
outside reading and time spend studying, you can expect to spend lots of time
during this course working in front of a computer. So most of your effort for this class will be spent working
through practice tutorial exercises, followed by using those skills you just
learned to complete a homework project based on different datasets.
Attendance Policy: Mandatory. Each day of class this summer represents a
little under a week of classes during the normal school year. Multiple absences therefore mean you will
have missed many weeks of lectures.
Also, much of the information presented in class is NOT in any textbook,
including tips for avoiding common mistakes and problems when working with GIS.
So, while I won’t take a daily attendance, with such small class size, any
absence will be noticed. If you miss a
lecture for any reason, you are responsible for obtaining the information
presented during class from one of your classmates. In other words, if you
expect to pass this course, you must come to class and spend an appropriate
amount of time practicing, first the tutorials, and then the homework projects.
Tutorial and Supplemental Practice Exercises: At the beginning of each week (if not
before), you will be assigned tutorial exercises from the required textbook(s),
as well as supplemental tutorial exercises I may devise to cover topics or
procedures not covered (or not covered well) by the textbooks. These tutorials have been vigorously tested
to make sure they work, and contain detailed step-by-step instructions for how
to carry out specific tasks. PLEASE
make sure you complete ALL the tutorial exercises before starting the
week's homework project.
Homework Projects:
Grading will be based on 5 homework projects staggered over the four
week class (weighted 15%, 20%, 20%, 25%, and 15%) plus a class participation
score (5%, all or nothing). There are
no tests or quizzes. Homework projects
will be due in my mailbox by 4pm sharp on the assigned day noted in the
syllabus (Fri.6/13, Thur.6/19, Wed.6/25, Tues.7/1, and Mon.7/7, resp.). Homework projects will NOT be
accepted late except under the most extraordinary circumstances. The exact details of each project will be
given out when the project is assigned, as well as posted on the class website
at that time.
Your Pledged Work vs. Group "Help": All homework projects must be pledged as
representing your own individual work.
Again, you learn by the "doing", not watching someone else do
the doing or by doing only part of the doing.
The homework projects represent your own individual efforts to acquire
the skills to accomplish the class goals, including the analysis steps, any
maps you might produce, and the accompanying report.
That said, it is perfectly OK and even ENCOURAGED for you to talk
with your classmates about the procedures, the data, the tutorials and
projects, and any problems you may be having... others may have already figured
out how to get past some unexpectedly tricky step, and may be willing to help
you do the same. Note that this means help
explain to you how to get through the procedure(s) and NOT to do it for you! Many of parts of the homework project allow
you a good amount of personal choice as to what you choose to display, what
features in the data to analyze, and how you layout your final maps. Not only should no two people's work be
identical, but just because someone else came up with a given result does not
mean that you have to do the exact same thing (within the limits of meeting all
the project guidelines as instructed).
Questions and extra help: Questions during lecture are encouraged,
and the second "working" part of the class time block is specifically
designed so that you can ask about things you may be having problems with or
that don't seem to be functioning properly. However, if you need additional
help with the material, I will be available immediately following class for one
hour and at other times by appointment only.
I will also try to address any questions sent to my e-mail account (dlr2n@virginia.edu), but save them for
after class if you can because often it is easier to show you how to do
something than to explain it in writing.
Additionally, the Teaching Assistant (TA) for the class will be
available three evenings a week for a couple of hours a night to help answer
questions or figure out what might be going wrong. The TA is there to help you overcome difficulties when things
don't work as expected or when you really get stuck as to what went wrong and
why... she/he is NOT there to do your work for you. Nor are the staff at the Scholar’s Lab Help Desk in Alderman
Library (weekdays until 5pm). PLEASE
work through the tutorial and supplemental practice exercises first before
starting the homework projects; this will save everyone involved lots of time and
spare you many easily avoidable headaches.
This year, the TA for the class is Cheney Shreve Lui
(cms9kq@virginia.edu). She will be
available 2 or 3 evenings a week (TBA) over in the Scholar’s Lab in Alderman
Library.
*** Graduate students taking the graduate-level EVSC 562 version
of this class for credit will be required to complete an additional in-depth
project focusing on the use of GIS to aid in their own current or planned
graduate research (or the equivalent).
See the instructor for more details. ***