Syllabus for GTECH 201

Introduction to Mapping Sciences

Spring 2005

Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 3:10 – 5:00 PM

Instructor: Jochen Albrecht

Office: Hunter N1030 Office hours: We, Th 2-3 PM

E-Mail: jochen@hunter.cuny.edu Phone: (212) 772-5221

TA: Jing Li E-Mail: JLi5@gc.cuny.edu

Instructor extraordinaire: Tom Walter E-Mail: tbw@geo.hunter.cuny.edu

Course Overview:

The title for this course is a bit outdated. What this course is in fact is an introduction to all kinds of methods for dealing with spatial data. As such, its main goal is to provide students with spatial literacy. We will cover a bit of traditional as well as more specialized spatial statistics, deal with methods of geographic data acquisition, storage and manipulation. As such, it lays the foundation for dealing with more advanced methods like the use of geographic information and image processing systems. At the end, the successful student is supposed to be able to judge the quality of a particular piece of geographic data and to know what tool to use to make sensible use of it.

Required textbook: none.

However, you might benefit from having a look at any the following:

• McGrew, J and Charles Monroe 2000 (2^nd edition). An introduction to statistical problem solving in geography. McGraw-Hill
• O’Sullivan, David and David Unwin 2002. Geographic Information Analysis. Wiley
• Walford, Nigel, 1995. Geographical Data Analysis. Wiley.

Pre- and co-requisites: GEOG 101, MATH 120 or equivalent, ENGL 120, or permission of the instructor.

Policies:

Attendance is crucial. Given that the class-learning environment is active learning, meaning that most of the student performance is practical assignments rather than tests, adherence to protocols and the course timetable is very important. Lateness in arriving at class, both lectures and laboratory/discussion sections will not be tolerated. Active involvement in the course is evidenced in part by undertaking the mechanics of the practical assignments systematically, and learning the tools by hours of practice. In so doing the tools soon come to be seen as a means to an end, rather than the end itself. For example, you will make many maps, and may get caught up in this creative activity, but remember that the maps are being made for particular scientific purposes. Class participation includes timely attendance at laboratory sessions, participation in organized class discussions, accomplishments of in-class tasks, accomplishment of the preliminary assignment on time, and participation in the map poster display (if this is a part of the course this semester). Remember that a good part of your grade depends on class participation.

Plagiarism is simply not acceptable. Helping other students on use of the software is encouraged. However, do not help other students answer questions from the labs. Many of the problems have a "sample" problem, which includes the answer. The best way to help your fellow students is to work the sample problem. If a sample problem is not available, create an exercise similar to the problem in the lab and solve that problem. You can't actually learn this material unless you do the work yourself. Therefore, do not share your calculations or measurements with other students. You must do your own work (and it is easy to see when students copy work from other students). Students with labs showing copied work can receive failing grades.

Special accommodations for persons with disabilities are provided upon request. Please see the instructor if you feel the need for them.

Lab policies are described in detail in http://everest.hunter.cuny.edu/~tbw/spars/rules.html

Assignments are due as described in the schedule beneath. Late labs will be downgraded by one letter grade. Labs will not be accepted if greater than one week late. It is in your best interests to keep up with the work and meet deadlines for assignments. incomplete grades and time extensions are not an option for this course. There are no "extra-credit" assignments. Unless otherwise instructed, you will submit assignments in electronic form. For all labs, you are expected to show all the work you did in order to complete the assignment. It is more important how you did the work, than whether you got the right answer. Partial credit will be given for good work but incorrect results.

Criteria for evaluation:

Evaluation of your performance in this course will consider both lecture and laboratory components, using the following breakdown:

Participation 10%

Midterm exam 15%

Final exam 25%

Lab projects 50%

Schedule:

Class #	Date	Topic
1	01/27	Introduction – the nature of data
2	01/31	The computing environment in the geography department
L1	02/02	The computing environment in the geography department
3	02/03	Data measurements; data errors
L2	02/07	Lab 2: introduction to Unix
L3	02/09	Lab 3: how to write web pages
L4	02/10	Lab 4: introduction to Excel
4	02/14	The nature of spatial data
L4½	02/16	Unix “driver’s license”
5	02/17	Storing spatial data
L5	02/23	Lab 5: introduction to ArcGIS
6	02/24	Projections
7	02/28	Surveying and digitizing
L6	03/02	Lab 6: digitizing data for the vector model
8	03/03	GPS
9	03/07	Remote sensing
10	03/09	Mapping census data and simple spatial query
L7	03/10	Lab 7: mapping census data
11	03/14	Midterm Exam
L8	03/16	Lab 8: introduction to R
12	03/17	Sampling and questionnaires
L9	03/21	Lab 9: questionnaire design
13	03/23	Probability and probability distributions
14	03/30	Sampling and sampling design
15	03/31	Point and interval estimation
L10	04/04	Lab 10: probability distributions
16	04/06	Hypothesis testing
17	04/07	Analysis of variance
L11	04/11	Lab 11: hypothesis testing
18	04/13	Chi square; goodness of fit
19	04/14	Correlation and regression
L12	04/18	Lab 12: confidence measures
20	04/20	Experimental design and multivariate analysis
21	04/21	Qualitative approaches
L13	05/02	Lab 13: ANOVA
22	05/04	Maps as a means of communication
23	05/05	Anatomy of a thematic map
L14	05/09	Lab 14: designing a thematic map
24	05/11	Design of choropleth, dot and proportional symbol maps
25	05/12	Design of isarithmic and flow maps
L15	05/16	Lab 15: cartographic studio
26	05/18	Review and where to from here
	05/19 05/22	Final (online) Exam

Instructor expectations

Hunter College...

This is a place where students come to learn. It’s a place where knowledge is developed and hopefully it’s a place where students can see and participate in its development. Unlike previous schooling you don't have to be here, so we'll assume that you want to be here and that you are here to actively seek knowledge and skills.

With assumptions that you are (a) here of your own free will and (b) are actively seeking to gain knowledge and skills, there is only one fuzzy area (for some) - how to succeed! It’s really quite simple: have fun. If you are enjoying what you are doing, you will succeed; if you are taking subjects or studying in a particular program and not enjoying it, you are unlikely to be successful.

A few words on success and enjoyment. Success is not just measured by your grade (but passing does help!), it is also measured by how you feel about what you are doing. You are the only person who can really judge whether you are successful - have you met your own expectations? Enjoyment does not necessarily mean stress free living (although maybe it is for some!). Taking only subjects that you were told were "easy" doesn't guarantee enjoyment; some of us require a challenge in life! Again, only you are in a position to determine what you find enjoyable.

A final thought on what a university is: this is also a place where faculty comes to learn...

GTECH 201 Introduction to Mapping Sciences

Students: to be successful you should be taking this subject because you want to take it, not because someone told you that you need to take it and you must be actively seeking knowledge and skills. This subject is a good participation "sport", but it’s not a really good spectator event. You need to be proactive, be able to try something new, look at things from a new (spatial) perspective, ask questions, read read read. You need to know when to take a break, get some fresh air, rest your eyes (a Buddhist philosophy is quite useful...). Attend the lectures and practical sessions. when your absence is unavoidable, make sure you catch up on what was missed. Plan your week as best as possible and make the commitment to spend the amount of time needed for you to be successful. get a study partner or three, if this works for you.

Faculty: to be successful, I need to know that I've "made a difference" to at least some of my students, i.e., they feel successful. I'll provide a coherent subject structure, I'll deliver the best lecture possible on the day, and pointers to resources where possible and my tutors and I will provide sound practical instruction and practice our listening skills so that we can understand what difficulties you may be having, so that we can resolve them. Furthermore, we are available and approachable; ask questions in lectures, labs and at other times; use our office hours or make appointments to see us. Faculty have shown disappointing prowess at extra-sensory perception, please help us out!

We often lecture in subjects we are considered to have some expertise in; we are therefore fairly interested in the subject matter. We too are students in that we are continuing to learn new things in our areas of expertise and sometimes we are the ones who develop new knowledge in our areas of expertise!

Theory vs. practice: in lectures I try to provide an overview of the most important knowledge, but this never replaces the reading material. sometimes lectures and readings will cover the same ground, but often, the best that can be done in some fourteen sessions is to provide just a "flavor" of the subject matter, something to whet your appetite, something to set the context for your readings.

Finally...

The reason for this page of amateur pop psychology is two fold: (a) first I hope that prospective students take this subject for the right reasons (i.e. they believe that they will enjoy it) and are in the right frame of mind to be successful and (b) second, I hope that with a little mutual empathy the learning experience can be made better for both student and teacher. If we are not having fun, we are both doing something wrong!

I wish us a lot of fun in this course,