GIS3043:FoundationsofGeographicInformationSystems GIS5107C:GeographicInformationSystemsinResearch (Fall2016)

GeneralInformation

InstructorandTeachingAssistants:

LiangMao / Chaiyu (Charles) Wu / Abolfazl Mollalo
Office / TUR3121 / TUR3018A / TUR3018A
Email / / /
Phone / 352-294-7516 / 352-294-7520 / 352-294-7520
OfficeHours / Wednesday
2-4pm
(TUR3121) / Tuesday3-5pm
(TUR3018A) / Thursdays9:30-11:30am(TUR3018A)

Meetings:

Course / GIS3043 / GIS5107C
Section / 2301 / 7725 / 7707 / 0101 / 8347
LectureTime andLocation / Monday,Periods8-9: 3:00–4:55pm@FLG0220
LabMeeting time / Wed
Periods2-3 (8:30–10:25am) / Wed
Periods4-5 (10:40am–
12:35pm) / Tue
Periods6-7(12:50-2:45pm) / Fri
Periods2-3 (8:30–10:25am) / Thur
Periods6-7 (12:50- 2:45pm)
LabLocation / TUR3018 / TUR3018 / TUR3018 / TUR3018 / TUR3018
LabInstructor / Abolfazl
Mollalo / Charles Wu / Charles Wu / Abolfazl
Mollalo / Abolfazl
Mollalo

Textbooks (optional):

“GISFundamentals:A firsttext onGeographicInformationSystems” byPaul Bolstad,5th

version(Thebookwebsite:

CourseDescription

Geographic InformationSystems(GIS)areverypowerful theoreticalandcomputingtoolsusedto accumulate,store,manipulate,display,and analyzespatialdata.GISisrecognizedas a“decision supportsysteminvolvingtheintegrationofspatiallyreferenceddatain a problem-solving environment”.GISareoftenemployedasdecision supporttoolsinvarious governmental applicationssuchasenvironmentmanagement,publichealth,publicsafety,public works,zoning,taxcollection,educationandsoon.Geographiclocationisa keyfeatureof80-90%ofall governmentdata.USDepartmentofLabor identifiedGeo-technologyasoneof thethreemost importantemergingand evolvingfields onlysecond toNano-technology.

Thiscourseisdesignedforstudentswithno priorGeographic InformationSystemsexperience.It involvesbotha weeklytheoreticallecture anda computerlabsessionwherehands-on experienceusingGISsoftwareallowsyoutoreinforceknowledgegainedduringthelecture.Lab exercisesareamajorpart of the courseandprovidethe opportunityforstudents toacquaintthemselveswiththemanypracticalissuesrelatedto usingGISasananalyticalandresearchtool. Manyofthetopicsof the courselecturesandlab exercisesarerelatedtogovernmental administrations,publicinterests,and environmentalresearchsuchassuchaspublicsafetyand health,realestate,wildlifemanagementandeducation.

Labexercisesare completedalmostentirelyusingWindows-basedcomputers.While thecourse requiresnoprior GISexperience,youmusthaveabasic understandingof computersandhowto usethem.Ifyoudo not feelthat youhavebasiccomputerskills,Irecommendthatyoutake advantageof theresourcesoncampusatthe earliestpossibletime.Thereareonlinecourses ( throughAcademicTechnologies.Youarealso invitedtotalktomeaboutyourindividualsituation.

Goals &Objectives

Inthis course youwill learnaboutthefundamentalsofGeographicInformationSystems(GIS)

theoryandtechnologiesthroughtheuseofproblemsolvingand spatialthinkingskills.The approachusedin thiscourseisproblem-basedlearningappliedto spatiallyexplicit problems. These conceptsareessentialtotheuseof GIS.Youwill developyourown analyticalskillsby addressingreal-worlddecision makingproblemswithinthespatialframeworkofGIS.

Problemsolvingis basictothescientificmethodandreferstotheprocess youwill useto understandandreachaconclusionaboutsomethingunknown.Throughout thecourse,youwill becomefamiliarwiththeprocessbydescribingthestepsyou taketosolveproblemsusingGIS theoryandmethods.Youwill alsodevelopyourspatialthinkingskills byincorporatingspaceinto theanalysis ofaparticularproblem.Spatial thinkingis theprocessof understandingand recognizingobjectswithinspaceandrecognizingtheimportanceof thespace surroundingthose objectsandthe relationships that occurwithinthewholesystem.

Unlike manyotherGIS classes,this isNOTasoftwarepackagetutorial class.We willbeusing softwareforboththelabsessionsandthe weeklylecturesand we feel that,ratherthanteaching thestudenthowtouseaparticularsoftwarepackage,itisbettertoteachthestudent the concept ofproblemsolving,underlyingGIS conceptsand thebasics ofspatialthinkingthat will allowyoutousethe knowledgeacquired intheclass regardlessof thesoftwarepackage available.

Thespecificobjectivesof thiscourseareto:

 Improvegeographicproblemsolving(decision making)abilitiesthroughtheapplicationof

 GIS knowledgeandspatial thinkingskills;

 Learngeographicconceptsandspatialskillsand determinetheir relevancetoyou;

 Sharpencriticalthinkingskillsabout geographicinformation–itsreliability,accuracyand precision;

 Acquirecompetencyin basic knowledgeandskillsregardingGIS.

Evaluation

Therewillbeseveralin-class quizzesthat occuratabouta two-weekinterval.Thesewilltest youonmaterialcoveredusuallywithinthemost recenttwo weeks,althoughtestingoutside

of this period mayalsooccurduetothenatureof thesubject.Quizzescanonlybemade upif theinstructorreceives priornotificationofabsence.The absenceofsucha noticewill preventstudentsfrommakingupmissedquizzes.

Therewillbeonein-classexaminthemiddleofthesemester.Thisexamcannotbe made-up.

Exemptionsmaybe grantedat theinstructor’sdiscretionwithwrittendocumentationif thestudent missesthe examdueto illness,familyemergenciesoracademicconferences. Excusessuchas wakinguplate,forgettingabout theexam etc.will notbetolerated.

Thelaboratoryexercises comprisethemostimportantpart ofyourfinalgrade.Labswill reinforcethematerialdiscussedinthelecturesandas suchtherewillbeacloseassociation betweenmaterialcoveredin the lectureand lab periods.Lab attendanceis mandatoryand countstowardsyou attendanceandparticipationgrade.Studentsmayonlybeexcusedif approvalisgivenbytheinstructororteachingassistants.Eachlab exercisewillbesubmitted ontheSakaie-learningsystem and assuchmustbetyped.

Project:Each studentisrequiredtocompleteaGISprojectcoveringanytopicin theirareaof

interest.Theproposalshould reflectthefundamentalsof GIStheoryand technologies through theuseofproblemsolvingandspatialthinkingskills.Graduatestudentsare encouragedtohavediscussions withtheiradvisor todevelopa projectinownresearchfields. Allprojectsaretobedoneindividually(nogroupprojects).

ExtraCredit: ThiscourseDOESNOT offer extracredit.

Undergraduates / Graduates
Mid-Exam / 15% / Mid-Exam / 15%
Quizzes / 15% / Quizzes / 15%
Attendanceandparticipation / 10% / Attendanceandparticipation / 10%
Lab assignments / 30% / Lab assignments / 30%
ProjectProposal / 10% / ProjectProposal / 10%
FinalProject / 20% / FinalProject / 20%
TOTAL / 100% / TOTAL / 100%

GradingScale

A / 93.00-100% / A- / 90.0-92.9%
B+ / 88.00-89.9% / B / 83.5-87.9% / B-80.0-83.4%
C+ / 78.00-79.9% / C / 73.5-77.9% / C-70.0-73.4%
D+ / 68-69.9% / D / 60-67.9%
E / Lessthan 60%

Attendance

Weeklyattendanceatbothlecturesandlabs ismandatoryforallstudentsand countstowards ourattendanceandparticipationgrade.Attendanceis the easiestwaytodowellin anyclass.To encourageuninterruptedparticipationin class,itis expectedthat cellphone andpagersbeturned offorputonsilentpriortoenteringtheclassroom.

Absencesmaybeexcusedif theyaredocumentable.Forexpectedabsences, youmust provideadvancenoticeoftheabsence.Acceptablereasons forabsencesincludebutarenot limitedtopersonalorfamilyillnessoremergency,religious holidays,etc.perUF Attendance Policies.Oversleeping,missingthebus,etc.are notacceptableexcuses.Youmayberequired toprovide writtendocumentationinorderto receivean excusedabsence.

Ifyour absenceis excused,youmayhavetheopportunityto re-takemissed quizzes and/orbe exemptedfrommissingthemid-termexam. In-classactivitiesaredesignedtocreditclass attendance,and cannotbemadeupunderothercircumstances.Studentsareresponsiblefor

materialmissedduringanyclass session(labor lecture).(S)heshould obtainnotesfroma peerfor thematerialcoveredin class.Iftheabsenceisunexcused,assignmentsnotturnedin atthe assignedtimewillbe consideredlateandapenaltyapplied.

Late Assignments

LabsgivenoutinWednesday’slabperiods aredueat8:30amof thefollowingWednesday.

A 10%penaltyperdaywillbeAUTOMATICALLYappliedtolateassignmentsupto 7daysafter theyaredue.Assignmentsreceivedafterthe7daylate periodwill notbe graded,andwill automaticallyreceive0points.

UF Honor Code

TheUniversityofFlorida HonorCodestates:"We,the membersof theUniversityofFlorida community,pledgeto holdourselvesandourpeerstothehigheststandardsofhonestyand integrity."Assuch,cheatingof anykind(copyinghomework,plagiarism,cheatingonatest,etc.) will notbetoleratedandif caughtyouwill betreatedaccordingtheUFpolicies, andagradeof ‘E’ will berecordedforthecourse.

Software/Computer Use

Allfaculty,staffandstudentsof theUniversityare requiredand expectedto obeythelaws and

legalagreementsgoverningsoftware/computeruse.Failuretodoso canleadtomonetary damagesand/orcriminalpenaltiesforthe individualviolator. Becausesuchviolationsarealso against Universitypolicies andrules,disciplinaryaction will betakenas appropriate.

Course Schedule:Lecture topics and lab assignments (may change due to progress)

DATEofMonday Lecture / Week / Lecture / Text
Reading / LabTitle / ESRIVirtual
Campus
Aug 22 / 1 / Introductiontothe courseandGIS / Chapter1 / NO LAB for the first week
Aug 29 / 2 / GISdatamodels / Chapter2 / LabSetup / GettingStartedwith GIS
Sept 05 / 3 / No lecture – Labor Day LABS WILL BE HELD THIS WEEK / ArcGISFile
Management / Map Design Fundamentals
Sept 12 / 4 / CoordinateSystemsand
MapProjections / Chapter3 / CoordinateSystems andMap
Projections / Referencing Data to Real-World Locations Using ArcGIS
Sept 19 / 5 / DatabaseManagement, Metadata
QUIZ1 / Chapter814 / ArcGISFile Geodatabasesand Database Operations / Getting Started with the Geodatabase
Sept 26 / 6 / Georeferencing and DataQualityAssessment / Chapter4&7 / CensusData
Mapping / The15- minuteMap:
Creatinga BasicMap
inArcMap
Start tothinkabouta real-world problem for your final project
Oct 3 / 7 / GPS
QUIZ2 / Chapter5 / GPSDataCollection andGeoreferencing / Georeferencing Rasterdatausingin ArcGIS
Oct 10 / 8 / GISVectorAnalysis / Chapter9 / Heads-upDigitizing / Editing in ArcGIS Desktop
Oct 17 / 9 / MID-TERMEXAM / GeocodingandData
Analysis / Address Geocoding with ArcGIS
Oct 24 / 10 / BasicRasterAnalysis / Chapter10 / Vector Analysis / Building Models for GIS Analysis Using ArcGIS
Oct 31 / 11 / TerrainAnalysis / Chapter11 / Project Proposal Presentations / Project Proposal Presentations
You should start implement your project proposal
Nov 7 / 12 / SpatialModelsand
DynamicModeling
QUIZ3 / Chapter13 / CrimeScene
Investigation / OrganizingRaster
DataUsingArcGIS
Nov 14 / 13 / SpatialInterpolation / Chapter12 / Campsite / Work on Final Project
Nov 21 / 14 / Remote sensing / Chapter 6 / WorkonFinal
Project
Nov 28 / 15 / Network analysis QUIZ4 / WorkonFinal
Project
Dec 5 / 16 / FINAL PROJECT PRESENTATIONS (Graduates) / FINAL PROJECT PRESENTATIONS
(Undergraduates)

ImportantDatestoRemember:

· Quizzes:About every2 weeks,givenduringthelast 20minutes of thelecture

· MidtermExam:October 17, 2016in class

· ProjectProposal/Presentations:The week of October 31.

· FinalProjectPresentations:The week of December 5.

· Nofinalexamination