Introduction to GIS (GEOG 401) Spring 2014, 3 credit hours Instructors: Guangxing Wang, Ph.D. Email: gxwang@siu.edu Phone: (618) 453-6017 Office: 4442 Faner Hall Office hours: M& W&F 9:00am-11:00am or drop by anytime Lecture hours: T 3:35-5:25pm in Lawson Hall 0131 Lab hours: W3:00-4:50pm in Faner 2524 (Group 1) R2:00-3:50pm in Faner 2524 (Group 2) R4:00-5:50pm in Faner 2524 (Group 3) TA: Santosh Rijal, email: santoshrijal@siu.edu Course introduction and objectives Geographic(al) Information System (GIS) is defined as a computer-based system that is designed and used to collect, store, analyze, manage, and display spatially georeferenced data and their attributes. Introduction to GIS" (GEOG 401) is an introduction course and deals with basic concepts, principles, theories, technologies, and applications of Geographic Information Systems and Science. GIS is related to many disciplines including georaphy, cartography, visualization, remote sensing, global positioning system (GPS), computer science, and statistics, etc., and thus requires a multidisciplinary approach. GIS has been widely applied to various areas including cartography, transportation, city planning, agriculture, forestry, environment, etc. This course will provide students with basic knowledge and skills of GIS mainly through lectures and labs. By the end of the course students will master the: State of GIS, and geographical information science (GISci) Representing geography and nature of geographic data; Geo-referencing; Spatial data, data models, and data quality; GIS hardware and software; GIS databases; Cartography and map production; Geovisualization; Spatial analyses and modeling; GIS management and applications for geography and environmental resources; GIS new developments. In addition to these, students will: Learn how to use GIS technologies and tools to solve problems in geography, environment, etc.; Learn how to integrate GIS with cartographic design, GPS, remote sensing, computer sciences, statistics, etc., to solve practical problems; Learn how to work as a good team worker;
Understand GIS are involved in their lives; Learn how to teach themselves to use ArcGIS updated versions in the future. Textbooks and references Longley, P.A., Goodchild, M.F., Maguire, D.J., and Rhind, D.W. 2011. Geographic Information Systems and Science, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. For lectures. Ormsby, T., Napoleon, E., Burke, R., Groessl, C., and Feaster, L. 2010. Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop: Basics of ArcView, ArcEditor, and ArcInfo. ESRI Press for GIS Labs. Chang, K. 2011. Introduction to GIS. 6 th, McGraw-Hill, NY. Optional. DeMers, M.N. 2009. Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Optional. Heywood, I. Cornelius, S., and Carver, S. 2012. Introductory Geographic Information Systems. 4 th Edition. Optional. Journals Cartography and Geographic Information Systems Computers and Geosciences Computers, Environment and Urban Systems International Journal of Geographical Information Science Journal of Geographical Systems Transactions in GIS Remote Sensing of Environment Grading Participation and attendance 10 % Quizzes 5% Midterm Exam 18 % Labs and assignments 30 % Project 20 % Final Examination 17 % Total 100% Grading Scale 88-100% A 77-87% B 67-76% C 55-66% D 0-54% F Strategies to succeed Lecturing and learning: This course will provide the students with the fundamental concepts, principles, technologies, and methods of GIS. Students are expected to attend class (both lecture and laboratory) regularly and to take exams, and complete lab assignments, course project, and quizzes. We may also use active learning strategies
including shared brainstorming, think/pair/share, case studies, etc., and integrate lecturing and discussion. Students are expected to participate in all the activities. Moreover, learning by doing is critical for students to learn the knowledge and skills from this course. ArcGIS is a widely used software package for input, display, storage, retrieval, manipulation, management and analysis of spatial data, and can be used to perform various tasks and projects of map design and production. Labs and course project: We will perform the lab work in Environment GIS Lab located in Faner 2524. This modern computing facility is well equipped and dedicated to meet the technological and computing needs of students. We will cover together the essential operations and procedures to enable you to use the facilities in this lab. Students are required to complete 10-11 labs and a course project. For these labs, we will use various local, national, and international datasets. Instructions and suggestions for the labs are given and students can easily read and follow the instructions. A course project will be completed in groups. Each of the groups consists of 3-4 students and equally participating is required. We provide students with several datasets to use. For the course project, we just give the requirements and suggestions. Students have to learn by themselves how to find out and use useful functions in ArcGIS to complete the project. Once needed, of course, help is always available from the instructor and teaching assistant. The objective is to let students learn teaching themselves how to use ArcGIS to do a project and develop their ability to learn using updated versions. By week 16 th, students are required to present their project work in lecture room. The laboratory component of this course is weighted heavily and therefore it is good for students to spend as much time as necessary in the lab. Policy on late turn in: All assignments must be turned in to receive a grade. Late turning in assignments will be penalized at the rate of 1% per day. After eight weeks, the maximum rate you can receive will be 60%. Policy on academic dishonesty We welcome you to this course offered by the Department of Geography and Environmental Resources. This course strictly adheres to the conditions established in the SIUC Student Conduct Code: http://web.coehs.siu.edu/public/her/achonpol.php. Acts of academic dishonesty include: 1. Plagiarism, representing the work of another as one's own work; 2. Preparing work for another that is to be used as that person's own work; 3. Cheating by any method or means; 4. Knowingly and willfully falsifying or manufacturing scientific or educational data and representing the same to be the result of scientific or scholarly experiment or research; 5. Knowingly furnishing false information to a university official relative to academic matters; 6. Soliciting, aiding, abetting, concealing, or attempting acts of academic dishonesty. These activities will not be tolerated. Violations will result in failure of the assignment or failure of the entire course. Emergency Procedures: Southern Illinois University Carbondale is committed to providing a safe and health environment for study and work. Because some health and safety circumstances are beyond our control, we ask that you become familiar with the SIUC Emergency Response Plan and Building Emergency Response Team (BERT) program. Emergency response information is available on posters in buildings on campus, available on
BERT s website at www.bert.siu.edu, Department of Safety s website www.dps.siu.edu (disaster drop down), and in Emergency Response Guideline pamphlet. Know how to respond to each type of emergency. Instructors will provide guidance and direction to students in the classroom in the event of an emergency affecting your location. It is important that you follow these instructions and stay with your instructor during an evacuation or sheltering emergency. The Building Emergency Response Team will provide assistance to your instructor in evacuating the building or sheltering within the facility. Tentative schedule for lectures and labs (*group 1, 2, & 3) Week Date (Lab*) Topic Reading Lab (assignment due next week) 1 Jan. 14 (15, Course overview and No lab 16, 16) 2 Jan. 21 (22, 23, 23) 3 Jan. 28 (29, 30, 30) 4 Feb. 4 (5, 6, 6) 5 Feb. 11 (12, 13, 13) 6 Feb. 18 (19, 20, 20) 7 Feb. 25 (26, 27, 27) state of GIS&GISci Representing geography and nature of geographic data Georeferencing Uncertainty, and GIS software Data modeling Data collection GIS databases and management, and GeoWeb 8 Mar. 4 (5, 6, 6) Midterm exam 9 Mar. 8-16 Spring vacation 10 Mar. 18 Cartography and map (19, 20, 20) production 11 Mar. 25 Geovisualization and (26, 27, 27) project introduction 12 Apr. 1 (2, 3, 3) 13 Apr. 8 (9, 10, 10) 14 Apr. 15 (16, 17, 17) Spatial analysis I Spatial analysis II Spatial modeling Chapters 1&2 Chapters 3 and 4 5, and one research Chapters 6&7, and one research 8 9 Longley Chapters 10, 11, and one research 12 Longlet et al., Chapter 13 Longlet et al., Chapter 14, and one research Chapters 15, and one research 16, and one research Lab 1: Overview of Spatial Data Lab 2: Introduction to ArcGIS 10 Lab 3: GPS Lab 4: GIS data models Lab 5: Geo-referencing Lab 6: Creating Spatial Features and importing them into a Geodatabase No lab Lab 7: Processing Geographic Data Lab 8: Understanding and Visualizing Spatial Data Lab 9: Urban Applications: Querying Data based on Attributes and Location Lab 10: Vector Data Analysis in ESRI ArcGIS Lab 11: GRID Modeling: Concepts
15 Apr. 22 (23, 24, 24) 16 Apr. 29(30, May 1, 1) 17 May 8 th (Thu) 3:10-5:10p.m Developing and managing GIS, challenges, and new developments Project presentation Final exam Chapters 17-20 and Manipulation Project: No lab No lab