Course Syllabus
Contact Information
Course Details
Course Purpose
This course is intended to help students learn intermediate concepts of spatial analysis and build problem-solving and critical thinking skills in GIS. Course topics are related to the fields of urban geography including demography, transportation, and planning.
Course Prerequisites
As this course focuses on intermediate topics in GIScience, it is intended for students who already have acquired basic GIS knowledge and skills, including familiarity with the fundamental operations in ArcGIS 10.x and successful completion of GIS 5013: Fundamentals of GIS (or equivalent) is required to take this course (a completion grade of C or higher is recommended).
Course Materials
There is no required textbook for this course. Instead, two optional textbooks are listed below for purchase at the discretion of the student. Note they are the same optional texts recommended from GIS 5013. Students are strongly encouraged to use online ArcMap Support from the link below. Other readings will be provided through Canvas at https://canvas.ou.edu and found in lab assignments.
Optional Texts:
- Longley, P.A., Goodchild, M.F., Maguire, D. J., & Rhind, D.W. (2015). Geographic Information Science & Systems (4th Edition). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 978-1-118-67695-0
- Price, M. (2016), Mastering ArcGIS (7th Edition). ISBN-13: 978-0078095146
ArcGIS Desktop Online support:
ArcGIS Desktop Software:
- If you need access to the ArcGIS desktop (sometimes referred to ArcMap), visit the OU Information Technology. Click the Free Software Downloads button and use our OU 4x4 to sign in the OU itstore. Please note, users who downloaded ArcGIS from the itstore will need to update their license file each year. To access ArcGIS Online, please browse to https://uok.maps.arcgis.com and click "Use your University of Oklahoma login" to be directed to sign-in via SSO.
How to be Successful in this Course
Establish a Routine
Staying current with the pace of this course is important, and you will have a hard time catching up if you fall behind. Thus, each week, you should allow:
- 4-8 hours to complete the assignments and/or quizzes.
- 1-2 hours to watch video lectures and take notes.
- 2 hours to participate in the weekly discussion write-up and the Live Sessions on Zoom.
You should allow a total of 10-12 hours per week (or about 2 hours per day). Please note that you will be required to submit all quizzes, assignments, and questions before midnight on Wednesdays. You are encouraged to discuss any questions with the instructor during office hours on Tuesdays at 5 p.m. or at another time by appointment. Don't wait until the last minute to finish everything. Pace yourself. Research indicates that distributing your study throughout the week, and regularly reviewing learning materials, can lead to better recall and improved learning gains over students who opted for fewer, more intensive study sessions.
Course Expectations
- I welcome your questions about course materials, assignments, and your project and offer several ways that you can ask them: live sessions, my office hours; TA office hours; and the discussion page on Canvas. Students should use these various channels to address their questions.
- GIS software is very powerful in what it can accomplish, and it is fun to work with. But things frequently go wrong with GIS work - software crashes, data files do not open, functions fail for lots of unexpected reasons. Students should anticipate unexpected problems and start your assignments and project early. I offer help for dealing with unexpected problems with live sessions, office hours and discussion pages. But I cannot reasonably help solve problems if you wait until just prior to the deadline to do your work. So, start your assignments as early as possible. The time required for each assignment will vary.
- Life is full of surprises. You should keep your data secure. To do this, you should back up often and keep your data files organized.
- It is often said that students can perform best if they follow along closely with course-related news and announcements.
- Communication is key. Students who are struggling with lectures, assignments, or the project are highly encouraged to reach out to me for an appointment at kchoi@ou.edu. You should feel welcome to visit me during my office hours even if you don’t have a question or concern specifically about the class - come by to introduce yourself, to ask about career advice, or simply to chat.
Grades
Breakdown
| Activity | Description | Points |
|---|---|---|
|
Attendance |
15 live sessions (10 X 15) |
150 |
|
Lab Exercises |
6 lab assignments (100 X 6) |
600 |
|
Final Project Proposal |
Two-page technical memorandum |
50 |
|
Final Project Presentation |
5-minute presentation |
50 |
|
Final Project StoryMap |
ArcGIS Storymap |
150 |
| Total | 1000 |
Scale
Grades will be assigned using the following grading scale based on percentage. Note, I will not round grades for any reason so please do not ask. It is not fair to the students who legitimately earned the same grade. The grading scale is as follows:
A: 90% or more
B: 80-89%
C: 70-79%
D: 60-69%
F: less than 60%
Course Components
Lectures
The lecture will be a series of short videos posted each week on Canvas. I expect students to view these lecture videos before attending the Live Session each week.
Attendance (15%)
We will meet every Thursday from 6 to 7 pm. In each Live Session, we will address the focus topic of the week, questions that you have posted to the discussion board, and additional discussion questions. Prior to each live session (by 11:59 PM on Wednesdays), you will be asked to submit one or two discussion questions associated with selected readings for the day.
There are two ways in which you participate in the Live Session.
- Participate in Live Session: This option should be your preferred choice. When possible, you should attend and participate in the Live Sessions in real-time.
- Make-Up (Watch Recording and submit a written summary): In the event, your work or personal schedule makes it impossible for you to attend, please review the recording of the Live Session then write a paragraph summarizing the Live Session from your perspective. Be sure to utilize option 1 or 2 for each of the Live Sessions to receive full points (10 per week, for a total of 150 points of your grade). You will have until the next Live Session to submit your summary.
Lab Exercises (60%)
There are six lab exercises. All labs will be assigned on Thursdays and will be due on Wednesday two week later. The purpose of lab exercises is to get you familiar to the spatial analysis techniques that should be used in your final project. Late labs will receive reduced credit (20% in grade reduction per one week, with no credit after four weeks late). Please note that the last lab assignment will be accepted up to three weeks.
| Assignment | Description | Points |
|---|---|---|
|
Assignment 1: Creating Thematic Maps |
You will create thematic maps of your interest in socio-economic variables using downloaded census data. |
100 |
|
Assignment 2: School Walksheds |
You will create a map of school walksheds and will be asked to answer questions regarding your exercise. |
100 |
|
Assignment 3: Dasymetric Mapping |
You will use a dasymetric mapping technique in ArcGIS to create a population distribution map and will be asked to answer questions regarding your exercise. |
100 |
| Assignment 4: Suitability Analysis | You will perform various spatial analyst tools for assessing site suitability. | 100 |
|
Assignment 5: Pattern Analysis |
You will measure Moran’s I and perform hot spot analysis. |
100 |
|
Assignment 6: Spatial Interpolation |
You will perform spatial interpolations by various methods. |
100 |
| Total | 600 | |
Proposal (5%)
The Final Project Proposal is due on Wednesday in week 8 (by 11:59 PM). The purpose of the proposal is to get you thinking at an early stage about the project in its entirety and to help you anticipate some of the challenges you will face. It is intended to help you clarify your goals and get some feedback from me. You should prepare your proposal and work plan in one document, written in memorandum format. Further details will follow, but the memorandum is designed to be very narrow in scope, tailored to each student’s individual GIS interests, and completed in a relatively short period of time.
Final Project (20%)
You will have a final project due by the end of the course, and it consists of two components.
- Presentation (5%): You will present your project during the live session of either the 15th or 16th week. This 5-minute presentation is intended to help you further develop your ArcGIS StoryMap.
- ArcGIS StoryMap (15%): This is due by 11:59 PM on Sunday, December 12th.
The purpose of the project is for you to demonstrate your ability to complete a GIS project independently and produce a final product that communicates your results. Further details will follow, but the project is designed to be very narrow in scope, tailored to each student’s individual research interests, and completed in a relatively short period of time. The instructor expects students to complete the final project on his/her own by the allotted deadlines. Additional assistance from the instructor and TA will be available via Zoom during office hours.
Course Policies
Communication
Students who are struggling with lecture or lab requirements are highly encouraged to reach out to me for an appointment at kchoi@ou.edu. I always aim to respond to your email within 24 hours during weekdays, but this might be longer during the weekends.
Late Policy
It is important to me that you carry out all the work assigned. As a result, I will allow late lab assignment for up to four weeks (three weeks for the lab assignment #6), but I will subtract 20% of the grade per week for that lab. Please note that you will receive no credit after four weeks.
University Academic Policies and Student Support
Course Catalog
Search the OU Course Catalog.
Student Handbook
Please familiarize yourself with the OU Student Handbook.
Online Library
Access digital materials and other resources at OU Libraries.
Academic Misconduct
In addition to the course conduct policies outlined by your professor in the Course Syllabus in the online classroom, please review the Graduate Student Handbook.
It is the responsibility of each student to be familiar with the definitions, policies, and procedures concerning academic misconduct. The Student Code is available from the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, and is contained in the Student's Guide to Academic Integrity.
This site also defines misconduct, provides examples of prohibited conduct, and explains the sanctions available for those found guilty of misconduct.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the most common form of academic misconduct at OU. There is basically no college-level assignment that can be satisfactorily completed by copying. OU's basic assumption about writing is that all written assignments show the student's own understanding in the student's own words. That means all writing assignments, in class or out, are assumed to be composed entirely of words generated (not simply found) by the student, except where words written by someone else are specifically marked as such with proper citation. Including other people's words in your paper is helpful when you do it honestly and correctly. When you don't, it's plagiarism.
For more information about plagiarism, watch this video and then take this short course offered by University Libraries.
Reasonable Accommodation for Disabilities
The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for all students with disabilities. Students with disabilities who require accommodations in this course should contact their professor as early in the semester as possible.
Students with disabilities must be registered with the Disability Resource Center prior to receiving accommodations in this course.
If you have a disability and you would like to make a request for reasonable accommodation, please see the Graduate Student Handbook or get in touch with the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center.
Adjustments for Pregnancy/Childbirth Related Issues
Should you need modifications or adjustments to your course requirements because of documented pregnancy-related or childbirth-related issues, please contact me as soon as possible to discuss your options. Generally, modifications will be made where medically necessary and similar in scope to accommodations based on temporary disability. Learn more about the rights of pregnant and parenting students by consulting the FAQ sheets provided by the Institutional Equity Office.
Title IX Resources
For any concerns regarding gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, stalking, or intimate partner violence, the University offers a variety of resources, including advocates on-call 24/7, counseling services, mutual no contact orders, scheduling adjustments, and disciplinary sanctions against the perpetrator. Please contact the Sexual Misconduct Office at 405-325-2215 (8-5, M-F) or OU Advocates at 405-615-0013 (24/7) to learn more or to report an incident.
Religious Holidays
It is the policy of the University to excuse absences of students that result from religious observances and to provide for the rescheduling of examinations and additional required classwork that may fall on religious holidays without penalty. It is the responsibility of the student to make alternate arrangements with the instructor at least one week prior to the actual date of the religious holiday.
Copyright Policy
It is illegal to download, upload, reproduce, or distribute any copyrighted material, in any form and in any fashion, without permission from the copyright holder or his/her authorized agent. The University of Oklahoma expects all members of its community to comply fully with federal copyright laws. If such laws appear to have been violated by any user, the university reserves the right (1) to terminate that user’s access to some or all of the university’s computer systems and information resources and (2) to take additional disciplinary actions as deemed necessary or appropriate. Repeat offenders will be sanctioned and their privileges terminated.
Registration and Withdrawal
If you choose to withdraw from this course, you must complete the appropriate University form and turn the form in before the deadline. If you stop attending the course and doing the coursework without doing the required paperwork, your grade will be calculated with missed homework and examination grades entered as zero. This could result in receiving a grade of F in the course. Deadlines are shown in the Academic Calendar, which is available from the Office of the Registrar.
Student Grievances
In addition to any policies outlined related to submitting an informal or formal grievance by your professor in the Course Syllabus in the online classroom, please review the Graduate Student Handbook for more information about the process of submitting a formal grievance.
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|