Adj. Instructor Lauri B. Sohl, GISP Email: Lauri.Sohl@sdstate.edu Department of Geography: 6056884511 Course Description: (catalog) GIS Data Creation / Integration Geography 473, 3 cr. South Dakota State University Spring 2013 Online This course introduces advanced tools and techniques of data creation, data integration, mapping, and spatial analysis in Geographic Information Systems (GIS.) It provides basic approaches for solving problems of data integration including format identification, conversion, and spatial registration. Building on the skills and techniques learned in the introductory GIS course or equivalent, it gives a conceptual base to many methods and techniques associated with vector and rasterbased spatial analysis including imagery. It provides an examination of the functions and capabilities of ArcGIS Desktop GIS software (including extensions.) Course Description: (instructor) The purpose of this intermediate level Geographic Information Systems (GIS) course is to further explore advanced tools and techniques in spatial analysis used in GIS and to provide context and practical experience in geospatial data acquisition, integration, and analysis. Instructional Methods: This course is taught online and will utilize numerous instructional methods including lecture, readings, group discussion, links to unique perspectives on GIS, and handson use of common GIS software. Course Prerequisites: Geography 472 or Equivalent Course Goals: After successful completion of this course, you will be able to find, integrate, and analyze data from publically available data sources, and solve geospatial questions and problems by identifying and demonstrating advanced spatial analysis techniques using common GIS software.
Required Course Textbook(s): Kerski, Joseph J. and Clark, Jill, 2012. The GIS Guide to Public Domain Data. California: ESRI Press. (ISBN: ISBN10: 1589482441, ISBN13 9781589482449) Allen, David W. 2011. GIS Tutorial 2, Spatial Analysis Workbook. California: ESRI Press. (ISBN: ISBN10: 1589482581, ISBN13: 9781589482586) Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this course, the learner at the intermediate student level will be able to: 1. Describe and demonstrate the concepts, principles, techniques, components, functions, and applications that are fundamental to acquiring and manipulating geospatial data and related information and perform intermediate spatial analysis tasks using geospatial data and related information. 2. Apply spatial analysis concepts, principles, and techniques including spatial queries, spatial aggregation, buffering, overlay, change, cluster and density analysis, distance analysis, network analysis, interpolation, and spatial autocorrelation in order solve realistic problems. 3. Integrate spatial thinking while planning, preparing, performing, and answering geospatial questions. 4. Demonstrate how to solve a spatial problem by synthesizing a GIS project/investigation that answers a geospatial question and utilizes independently acquired/developed geospatial data and intermediate spatial analysis techniques. Course Outline: Module One Mapping: Categories, Queries, Quantities, and Density. Module Two Locating: Overlay, Buffering, Clipping, Distance, and Network Analysis Module Three Differentiating: Change, Patterns, and Clusters Final Project
Methods of Evaluation: Group Module Participation and Discussion Workbook Assignments Textbook Exercises Final Project See Evaluation Rubric for details. Late Assignment Policy: All assignments are due at 11:59 p.m. on the due date that is stated in the Drop Box and in the Calendar document. The only exception is assignments from GIS Tutorial 2 those assignments are accepted up to 3 days late, with a 3point penalty per day late. After 3 days, late assignments are not accepted. Communications with Instructor: There is a topic under the Discuss tab titled Questions for the Instructor. Please post questions here. I will respond to all inquiries within 24hours, excluding weekends. I will hold office hours on Mondays from 6:30 p.m. 8:00 p.m. using Collaborate in D2L. Students must RSVP in the discussion section titled Office Hours. Attendance Policy: Attendance will be based on active participation in the completion of all group learning activities. Attendance is not based on total login time but active participation to complete goals of the learning activity. You are responsible for staying current with the discussions and class activities. As instructor of record, I reserve the right to determine whether or not the student has met the requirement of active participation during group learning activities, which will be based on quality, timeliness, and value of discussion postings. Online Protocols (Netiquette): Online protocols, or netiquette, are a way of defining professionalism through network communications. The following core rules delineate what should and should not be done with regards to online communication in order to maintain common courtesy. Use proper grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation. Greet classmates and instructor at the beginning of the post (i.e. Hello, Hi everyone, Bob, etc.)
Do not be repetitive. Think and edit before you hit send or post. Proof what you are going to send more than once. Be clear and concise. Explain your thoughts and ideas thoroughly, but get to the point. Use bullets, multiple paragraphs, so that your point is clear. Share tips and provide guidance to your classmates. Ask your classmates for feedback. Ask your classmates questions. Do not put your classmates down, always demonstrate courtesy and respect. Do not verbally attack your classmates because of their opinions. Do not harass, threaten, or embarrass your classmates or instructor. Provide descriptive subject lines. Do NOT use offensive language. Do not use slang. Be humorous, do not be sarcastic. Collaborate and participate in the discussion, but do not dominate the discussion. Be cautious do not use capital letters (shouting), do not use internet acronyms (i.e. lol.) Always use professional language. Emoticons are useful (J or L ) but do not overuse them. Be open minded we are all here to learn from each other. Dissenting opinions, when presented respectfully, are welcome. Reference sources, the textbook, your classmates. Do not represent others work as your own. If you quote from a textbook, a website, or a person, cite the source or person and use quotes when citing verbatim. Better yet, use your own understanding of the work, avoiding direct quotes, and then citing the author and source of the original idea. Do not require your classmates to read the entire thread when you are commenting. Instead, refer to the person or idea (i.e. Previously, Bonnie stated that the earth is not round, it is an ellipsoid. My research has shown that Stay focused on the discussion topic do not introduce topics that are not related to the original topic. Try to respond to discussion posts within a 24hour period, most of the time. Be patient when waiting for a response. Your classmates all have varying schedules. Share your online schedule with others, as needed. ADA Statement: Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact Nancy HartenoffCrooks, Coordinator of Disability Services (6056884504 or Fax, 6056884987) to privately discuss your specific needs. The Office of Disability Services is located in room 065, the Student Union.
Freedom in Learning Statement: Students are responsible for learning the content of any course of study in which they are enrolled. Under Board of Regents and University policy, student academic performance shall be evaluated solely on an academic basis and students should be free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any courses of study. Students who believe that an academic evaluation is unrelated to academic standards but is related instead to judgment of their personal opinion or conduct should first contact the instructor of the course. If the student remains unsatisfied, the student may contact the department head and/or dean of college which offers the class to initiate a review of the evaluation. Cheating and Dishonesty Policy Academic honesty is expected in all matters relating to the course. The consequences of academic cheating and dishonesty range from any and all plagiarized or compromised assignments, tests, and other forms of evaluations being given zero credit as per offense to a student being given a failing grade for the class in which the offense took place; see statement on plagiarism in this syllabus. There is also the possibility that any student who has committed a cheating offense may face disciplinary probation or expulsion from the University. The full policies are found in the SDSU Student Policies Manual, Student Code (most notably but not limited to Chapter 1). Please see below for a comprehensive definition of plagiarism. Statement on Plagiarism (Note: For the purpose of this course, this statement applies to data creation, analysis, derivatives, maps, and map products et al.) As adopted from the Department of English at Frostburg State University (Maryland) Effective research nearly always draws on the discoveries, ideas, and opinions of other people. Writers who use and credit these sources properly can strengthen their own rhetorical positions, both by proving that they've done their homework and by enlisting the persuasive power of expert testimony. Writers who use sources improperly, or fail to properly credit them, are not only missing out on important rhetorical opportunities. They may also be guilty of plagiarism. You are plagiarizing whenever you take someone else s words or ideas and claim them as your own.
Examples of plagiarism include: Ø Buying or otherwise obtaining someone else's paper and submitting it as your own work. Ø Incorporating someone else's phrases, sentences, or paragraphs into your writing without quotation marks (or block quote format) and proper crediting. Ø Using any information you obtained in the research process without properly crediting the sources. (Exception: common knowledge facts easily verified in multiple general reference works.) Ø Using someone else's narrative or expository structure even if the source is credited instead of your own. This type of plagiarism involves making only minimal changes to the wording of source texts, and results in a patchedtogether mosaic paper, rather than a cohesive piece of writing. Faculty members in the Department of Geography may refer cases of intentional plagiarism to the Judicial Board, which has the authority to impose sanctions as severe as expulsion. Five Steps for Writing a PlagiarismFree Research Paper 1. Take accurate notes in your own words from research sources. When you come across passages that you think might be effective if directly quoted (where what someone else says or writes is important for the actual wording as well as for the idea), be sure to mark them so you an find them later. 2. Do enough research to understand thoroughly the concept(s) you'll be writing about. Seek advice from your instructor and do additional research as necessary until you're confident about your knowledge of the subject. If you don't understand the material, you can't write a good paper. Period. 3. Take control of the paper's structure. Decide what you want the paper to say and try to express your most important ideas in a few key sentences. Expand those sentences into a coherent outline (formal and informal, as your preferences and/or the instructions of your teacher may dictate). 4. Write the paper from your notes and outline, not directly from the sources. This may be the most important step in producing a paper that is truly yours, not a sourcedriven cut and paste collage of other people's ideas. 5. Credit your sources. Direct quotes, facts you discovered in your research that are not general knowledge and opinions derived from your sources either directly or through your interpretation must be credited. Follow the citation/reference system specified by your instructor.