1. No category

GEOGRAPHY
&
GEOINFORMATION
SCIENCE
311
INTRODUCTION
TO
GEOGRAPHIC
INFORMATION
SYSTEMS
Instructor:
Dr.
Matt
Rice
Classroom:
Innovation
Hall,
room
318
Classtime:
(GGS
311‐001:
CRN
11384),
Monday
1:30pm
–
4:15pm
Term:
Spring
2010
Faculty
Office:
Research
Building
I,
Room
322
Faculty
Office
Hours:
Monday,
12:30pm‐1:30pm
or
by
appointment
Email:
[email protected]
Faculty
webpage:
TBA I
can
be
reached
via
email
to
schedule
alternative
office
hours
if
necessary.
I
may
not
be
able
to
read
and
answer
your
email
immediately,
particularly
on
evenings
or
weekends,
but
I
will
do
my
best
to
be
available,
provide
help,
and
answer
questions.
Students
must
activate
and
use
their
GMU
campus
email
to
facilitate
contact.
1.
TEXTS
&
MATERIALS
(required)
Text:
Longley,
P.A.,
M.F.
Goodchild,
D.J.
Maguire,
and
D.W.
Rhind,
2005.
Geographic
Information
Systems
and
Science.
Second
Edition.
New
York:
Wiley.
http://www.wiley.com/legacy/wileychi/longley/
Text:
Price,
Maribeth,
©2010.
Mastering
ArcGIS.
Fourth
Edition.
New
York:
McGraw
Hill.
http://highered.mcgraw‐hill.com/sites/0073522848/
Both
textbooks
are
available
from
the
GMU
bookstore
and
from
other
online
vendors.
Mastering
ArcGIS
(Price)
comes
with
a
CD‐ROM,
so
if
you
purchase
the
book
from
somewhere
other
than
the
bookstore,
please
confirm
that
the
CD‐ROM
is
included
and
that
it
is
the
fourth
edition.
Each
student
must
bring
a
small
USB
flash
drive
with
250
Mb
of
free
space.
All
course
data
and
assignments
will
be
saved
to
this
drive.
2.
COURSE
OBJECTIVES
This
course
will
focus
on
the
following
themes:
modern
spatial
data
processing,
development,
implementation,
and
functions
of
geographic
information
systems;
relations
between
GIS
and
remote
sensing;
and
applications
of
geographic
information
systems
to
a
variety
of
environmental
issues.
By
the
end
of
this
course
you
should
be
able
to:
a.
Define
key
concepts
related
to
spatial
data,
basic
analysis,
and
spatial
data
representation.
b.
Comfortably
demonstrate
these
key
concepts
using
GIS
software
applications.
c.
Use
the
foundation
you
acquire
in
this
course
to
prepare
you
for
the
other
courses
at
GMU,
for
internships,
and
for
basic
work‐related
GIS
projects.
3.
ACTIVITIES
You
will
achieve
these
goals
through
attending
the
course
lectures,
reading
the
textbook,
participating
in
class
discussion,
successfully
completing
lab
exercises,
1
midterm
(first
exam),
and
1
final
exam
(second
exam).
a.
Exams:
There
will
be
two
exams
together
worth
40%
of
the
grade
(20%
each).
The
final
exam
is
cumulative,
but
will
focus
on
the
second
half
of
the
class.
Exams
will
include
multiple
choice,
definitions,
and
short
answer.
Both
exams
are
mandatory
and
make
up
exams
will
not
be
available.
b.
Labs:
There
will
be
10
labs
worth
a
total
of
50%
of
the
grade.
Each
lab
is
due
as
indicated
on
the
syllabus.
Late
labs,
including
those
submitted
after
5pm
on
the
due
date,
will
be
penalized
10%
each
day
for
the
first
5
days.
Labs
submitted
later
than
5
days
will
not
be
accepted.
c.
Attendance,
Participation,
and
Quizzes:
Attendance,
participation,
and
quizzes
together
are
worth
10%
of
the
grade.
Quizzes
will
cover
assigned
reading
for
the
week
and
will
be
given
in
class.
4.
SPECIAL
NEEDS
If
you
have
a
documented
learning
disability
or
other
condition
that
may
affect
academic
performance
you
should:
1)
make
sure
this
documentation
is
on
file
with
the
Office
of
Disability
Services
(SUB
I,
Rm.
211;
993‐2474;
http://ods.gmu.edu/
)
so
that
they
can
make
a
determination
about
the
accommodations
you
need;
and
2)
talk
with
me
to
discuss
your
accommodation
needs.
I
cannot
provide
proper
accommodations
without
documentation
from
the
Office
of
Disability
Services.
5.
EXPECTATIONS
The
George
Mason
University
Honor
Code
is
in
effect
for
this
course.
Please
consult
the
University
catalog
for
a
complete
statement
of
the
Honor
Code,
and
see
the
instructor
if
you
need
further
clarification.
Discussion
of
work
among
students
is
encouraged.
Collaboration
and
active
participation
in
group
discussions
is
important,
but
final
work
should
reflect
your
own
thinking
and
should
be
in
your
own
words.
I
reserve
the
right
to
use
GMU‐sanctioned
tools
for
detecting
and
documenting
plagiarism.
If
you
have
questions
about
what
constitutes
plagiarism,
please
come
and
see
me.
To
do
well
in
this
class,
you
will
need
to:
•
Read
the
textbook
•
Attend
class:
You
will
not
do
well
if
you
do
not
come
to
class.
•
Turn
in
assignments
on
time
•
Ask
questions!
Participate
in
discussions
•
Take
good
notes!
6.
**TENTATIVE**
COURSE
SCHEDULE
(subject
to
change)
You
are
responsible
for
keeping
up
with
the
readings,
exam
dates,
and
lectures.
If
you
miss
any
of
the
above
for
any
reason,
you
are
responsible
for
catching
up.
No
makeup
exams
will
be
available.
Readings
assigned
for
the
week
should
be
completed
before
the
first
lecture.
Any
changes
to
this
schedule
will
be
announced
in
class
and
posted
to
the
course
Blackboard
page
(http://courses.gmu.edu).
Date
Topic
Readings
Lab
(Longley
et
al)
(Price)
Lab
Due
Date
January
25
Course
Introduction,
What
is
GIS
Chapter
1
(3‐33)
Introduction
to
Price,
start
Nothing
due
Chapter
1,
p.35‐50
(tutorial)
February
1
Introduction
to
Software
and
Labs
Chapter
7
(157‐174)
Price
Chapter
1,
p.35‐51,
exercises
#1‐6
February
8
Defining
Location
Chapter
5
(109‐117)
Price
Chapter
2,
p.77‐93,
Nothing
due
exercises
#1‐5
February
15
Projections
and
Coordinate
Systems
Price
Chapter
2,
p.77‐92,
exercises
#1‐5
February
19 ,
5:00pm
February
22
GIS
Data
Models
Chapter
3
(63‐82)
Price
Chapter
3,
p.121‐
135,
exercises
#1
February
26 ,
5:00pm
March
1
GIS
Data
Models
Chapter
3
(63‐82)
Price
Chapter
4,
p.
165‐
178,
exercises
#1‐5
March
5 ,
5:00pm
March
8
March
15
Getting
Data
into
Chapter
9
(199‐215)
a
GIS
Price
Chapter
5,
p.203‐
213,
exercises
#1‐6
March
19 ,
5:00pm
March
22
Getting
Data
into
Chapter
9
(199‐215)
a
GIS
+
Midterm
Exam
Review
Price
Chapter
6,
p.237‐
248,
exercises
#1‐5
March
26 ,
5:00pm
March
29
Midterm
Exam:
Monday,
March
29 ,
1:30pm‐4:15pm
April
5
Raster
and
Vector
Chapter
8
(181‐190)
GIS
Price
Chapter
7,
p.264‐
279,
exercises
#1‐4
April
9 ,
5:00pm
April
12
Raster
and
Vector
Chapter
8
(181‐190)
GIS
Price
Chapter
10,
p.371‐
382,
exercises
#1‐2
April
16 ,
5:00pm
April
19
Cartography
Chapter
12
(263‐287)
Price
Chapter
11,
p.405‐
420,
exercises
#1‐4
April
23 ,
5:00pm
April
26
Accuracy
Chapter
6
(127‐153)
April
30 ,
5:00pm
May
3
Mobile
GIS
/
Web
Chapter
11
(241‐259)
GIS
/
Future
of
/
Chapter
18:
18.4.4
GIS
+
Final
Exam
(420‐422)
Review
May
10
Final
Exam:
Monday,
May
10th,
1:30pm
–
4:15pm,
Innovation
Hall
318
Chapter
5
(117‐125)
th
February
4 ,
5:00pm
th
th
th
Spring Break th
th
th
Price
Chapter
12,
p.433‐
447,
exercises
#1‐4
th
th
rd
th
Nothing
due