Fundamentals of Geospatial Information Systems

less than 15

Lecture and lab

University with graduate programs, including doctoral programs

This course is designed for students with no prior Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) experience. It involves lectures, class discussion and computer lab periods each week where hands-on experience using GIS software allows you to apply knowledge gained during the lectures. Lab exercises are a major part of the course and provide the opportunity for students to acquaint themselves with the many practical issues related to GIS applications.

We examine how geospatial data are collected and used, how geospatial technologies have transformed the way we think and make decisions, and the important societal issues that result from the proliferation of new technologies. We will discuss the use of online mapping, satellite images, crowd sourcing, and mobile technologies for responding to natural disasters, exploring issues around food security, environmental health, and embedding spatial information into our daily activities through citizen science.

The specific objectives of this course are to:

1. Introduce GIS terminology and concepts;
2. Improve geographic problem solving abilities through the application of GIS knowledge and spatial thinking skills;
3. Teach geospatial skills and provide relevant examples to student's career/academic interests;
4. Sharpen critical thinking skills about geographic information – its reliability, accuracy and precision;
5. Enhance competency in basic knowledge and skills regarding GIS.

Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Communication: Create GIS and cartographic outputs for presentation and dissemination
2. Specialized knowledge and skills: Create mapping applications
3. Applied Knowledge and Skills: Design and implement a GIS Service Learning project
4. Inquiry and Reasoning: Gain a better understanding of GIS technologies

The students are exposed to various examples of geospatial applications in the human and environmental sciences throughout the course. As a final project, students (individually or in teams) are asked to develop and execute an analysis of a topic of interest to them, using spatial data. And to develop a story map to communicate their findings.

Steps: Project assignments will be given throughout the term that will help you develop your final project. The final project should go beyond the content of the assignments, and, when complete, should reflect a formal presentation.

1. Pick your topic & perform research
2. Select your variables and form your "Where" question
3. Acquire Data from data resource
4. Design a geodatabase for your project
5. Add to or limit your data based on attributes: (Geoprocessing)
6. Create maps of the data
7. Create features by collecting or transforming data
8. Design a geospatial analysis
9. Create a story including maps and an assessment of the analysis performed
10. Present the story map app to your colleagues.

The course is designed to exposed students to an overview geospatial information systems and science principles and applications. The lessons present different types of applications as well as various real world scenarios. The lessons are specific to each chapter, while the lectures, and discussions are more broad and are aimed at promoting thinking about how to solve problems spatially. Sustainability is addressed throughout the course, but mainly during discussions. For example, if a student is interested in finding suitable land to locate a vineyard, we may have discussion about sustainable water sources, and other resources that may impact how we define "suitable". The end goal is to get the students thinking about how to approach issues of sustainability and other issues, through spatial thinking.

The students are assessed in three ways, 1) after completing the chapter readings and lessons they, must complete the associated lab assignments. 2) There are also quizzes and exams associated with the readings, and lecture material. 3) the students are expected to demonstrate what they have learned by developing a GIS project idea, collecting data, creating a web map and perform some geoprocessing, and finally to create a web app to communicate their findings.

Fundamentals of Geospatial Information Systems: Syllabus (Acrobat (PDF) 777kB Nov28 17)

The ArcGIS Book: 10 Big Ideas about Applying the Science of Where; ESRI Press 2017