GEO 441: GIS for Community Development

Cross-listed with MPS 552 and MPH 595

Autumn Quarter 2015-2016 | Department of Geography | DePaul University

Online Course

1. Instructors

Instructor: Sungsoon Hwang (shwang9@depaul.edu; (773) 325-8668; 990 W Fullerton room #4513; gis.depaul.edu/shwang; office hours: Tue/Thurs 2-3:30 pm and by appointment)

Teaching Assistant: Cezar Papa (email: cezarp@live.com; lab hours: Wed 6:30-8:30 pm in SAC224 (GIS Lab) or email him to schedule a time if you can't make it during lab hours)

2. Course Description

This course introduces GIS with focus on its applications to community studies and community development. GIS, computer-based systems for solving spatial problems, have been widely used in many applications including disaster response, public health, crime analysis, market analysis, archeology, environmental modeling, and much more. The course covers GIS fundamentals. Topics include the following five knowledge areas: geospatial coordinate systems (Datum, map projection), data capture (GPS, remote sensing, etc.), data models (vector, raster, relational database), map design, and spatial analysis. Course contents are aligned with Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM). Class is accomplished through lectures and hands-on activities. The course will explain how GIS works; enable students to learn techniques including mapping, spatial analysis, and data management; and provide students with the opportunity to apply GIS to community development.

3. Course Topics: through this course you will learn

·         What GIS is, and how GIS has been used particularly in community development

·         How coordinate systems for GIS are defined, including datum and map projections (coordinate system)

·         Where data for GIS come from (or are created), and where to get those data (data capture)

·         How data for GIS is structured and organized in a computer (database)

·         How to design and make effective maps (cartography)

·         How to conduct basic spatial analysis, including buffering, overlay, and query (spatial analysis)

4. Learning Outcomes: with the completion of each module of GEO 441, you should be able to

·         Enumerate what specific functions can be performed with GIS in at least two application areas

·         Explain patterns of distortion in different map projections with known parameters

·         Use common geospatial coordinate systems appropriately, such as geographic (latitude and longitude), Universal Transverse Mercator and State Plane Coordinate System

·         Differentiate types of resolution that characterize remotely sensed imagery

·         Assess strengths and weaknesses of data models representing geography

·         Perform selection query and table join on attribute tables properly

·         Articulate effects of data representation (e.g., data normalization/classification) on thematic maps

·         Employ cartographic design principles to make maps suited to a given problem

·         Identify suitable sites using buffer and overlay on vector data

·         Assess site suitability using map algebra on raster data

·         Use GIS appropriately to address an issue related to community development

5. Course Readings

John Jensen & Ryan Jensen (2012) Introductory Geographic Information Systems, Pearson (ISBN: 978-0136147763)—this is required and available at the college bookstore 

6. Outlines of Topics and Schedules (Important Due Dates)

7. Grading Components

Grading Scale: A 93-100%; A- 90-92.99%; B+ 87-89.99%; B 83-86.99%: C+ 77-79.99%; C 73-76.99%; D+ 60-69.99%; D 50-59.99%; F 0-49.99%

Warm-up questions:  review questions are provided to help you get engaged in mindful and focused reading and let you prepare for lecture notes. Type in and submit answers to those questions after reading a chapter assigned to each module. Warm-up questions can be submitted anytime during a week assigned for each module. Warm-up questions will be graded based on timeliness and thoughtfulness.

Self-assessment: quiz questions are provided to let you quiz yourself. This is to be completed after you go over lecture notes posted on D2L. You can make multiple attempts to answer quiz questions. Self-assessment can be submitted anytime during a week assigned for each module. Self-assessment is auto-graded; be sure to get a full score as you can try multiple times.    

Discussion: there will be three discussion forums: (1) introduce yourself during week 1; (2) write responses to the Geospatial Revolution video during week 1; and (3) discuss your project idea and any issues during week 6 (before submitting proposal on week 7). Discussion will be graded based on whether you post your responses, and whether you reply to peers’ responses. 

The Houk Memorial Public Lecture in Geography: this year Mona Domosh, PhD, professor of geography at Dartmouth University and president of the Association of American Geographers, will give a lecture on "From the U.S. South to the Global South: Practicing Development at Home" on October 2 (Friday) 10:45-11:45 am at Cortelyou Commons (2324 N. Fremont St. Chicago). Lunch buffet will follow. A sign-up sheet will be circulated on site. This is a good opportunity to meet with me and voice your concerns in person if any. Attending this event will count toward participation.

Lab activities: GIS knowledge is hard to acquire without actual experience with working with geospatial data. Lab activities are to help you make sense of concepts that you might have found it difficult to grasp, and to teach you basic ArcGIS skills. There will be two or more questions to answer in each activity. Submit answers to those questions on designated D2L dropbox folders by due dates. You can only answer those questions if you follow instructions carefully and understand what you’re doing. If you have difficulty with completing activities, see instructors during TA’s lab hours in GIS lab (SAC 224) or instructor’s office hour at her office. You can also email instructors with the description of problems (screen shot will be helpful) for any trouble-shooting.

Homework: homework provides another opportunity for you to apply GIS skills to a new problem set. It is often the case that completing activities doesn’t make you feel competent or even comfortable with using ArcGIS. You need to complete relevant lab activities successfully before working on homework. Homework is due 10 days after relevant activities are due.

·   HW #1 (point mapping) for module 2 (coordinate system): make a point map by turning text data with XY coordinates into geospatial data (known as XY geocoding). This will assess whether you can choose appropriate geodetic datum and map projections for a given area of interest.

·   HW #2 (data for community GIS) for module 3 (data capture): identify data you will need to acquire or create, to address a community development issue that interests, and document characteristics of main data sets by exploring data in ArcGIS and reading metadata. This will evaluate whether you can identify and assess data appropriate for intended uses in a GIS project.

·   HW #3 (census mapping) for module 4 (database): make a thematic map by joining an attribute table to census spatial data. This will test whether you comprehend key concepts of database, and put that comprehension into map-making.

·   HW #4 (toxic mapping) for module 5 (cartography): make a thematic map that visualizes amount of toxic chemicals released from the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory in your home county. This will check whether you can format unstructured data to make it compatible with GIS, and apply cartographic rules to making maps appropriately.

Exam: there will be two exams: midterm and final. Those exams are written, non-comprehensive, and take-home (open-book) tests. Midterm will cover the first half (module 1-4), and final covers the second half (module 5-6). Exam will be open on D2L (under quiz) during days scheduled for exams. Midterm can be completed anytime between 10/12 (Mon) and 10/13 (Tue), and final can be completed anytime between 12/9 (Mon) and 12/10 (Tue). Only single attempt can be recorded. No ArcGIS skills are tested in exams. An email to remind you of take-home exams will be sent out in advance.

Project: propose and conduct a GIS project that (a) demonstrates comprehensive use of GIS knowledge (that is, drawing on at least two modules); (b) uses at least two empirical data; and (c) addresses an issue related to community development. Topics of GIS projects in the previous quarters include green roofs and energy usage, food desert, health impacts of hazardous waste sites, vacant spaces in Chicago, crop suitability in Africa, global disease and poverty, and quality of life in Canada Provinces.

Map of the Month: improve upon a map picked from the paper you submitted and write an abstract to describe findings specific to the map along with a professional-quality map to be considered for submission to DePaul Map of the Month http://via.library.depaul.edu/mom/.

8. Miscellaneous

Late Work Policy: Late work can be accepted with the reduction of 20% of the grade per day being late. For instance, if you turn in labs 5 days after due dates, no points will be granted.

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism: Academic honesty and integrity are expected at all times. Academic dishonesty, such as cheating or copying during exams, will be punished severely. Plagiarism – using someone else’s work without acknowledgment and, therefore, presenting their ideas or quotations as your own work – is strictly forbidden. DePaul University officials will be informed of any instance of academic dishonesty and notification will be placed in your file. Please read the DePaul Academic Integrity Resources page (http://academicintegrity.depaul.edu/Resources/index.html) for definitions and explanations of plagiarism and the University’s Academic Integrity expectations for students. Cutting and pasting text taken directly from a web-site without appropriate referencing and quotation marks is plagiarism and is forbidden. Submitting work that has any part cut and pasted directly from the internet is grounds for an automatic grade of zero.

Accommodations: Any student who requires assistance is asked to contact the University’s Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) (Phone 773/325-1677, TTY 773/325-7296, Fax 773/325-7396,http://studentaffairs.depaul.edu/studentswithdisabilities).They will be able to assist both student and faculty. If you have a condition that requires accommodation from the Productive Learning Strategies program (PLuS Program) please contact them at the Student Center room 370 (Phone 773/3251677 or online:  http://studentaffairs.depaul.edu/plus/

University Center for Writing-Based Learning: Collaborates with writers from all disciplines, backgrounds, levels of expertise, and roles within the University community. Their goal is to help develop better writers along with better writing and reflection through continual revision. If you need assistance with writing assignments, they can be contacted at: 773.325.4272 (LPC) or wcenter@depaul.edu

Department of Geography Learning Goals

Courses in the Department of Geography teach students—GEO 441 addresses goals #1, 5, and 7:

1.  Understand spatial patterns and processes of modification of the Earth’s physical and cultural landscapes

(a) As social constructions.

(b) As systems that link the Earth with human society in interdependent, dialectical   relationships, and

(c) Through mapping and visualization.

2.  Understand the concept of scale as a spatial phenomenon that ties the local, the regional, the national, the transnational, and the global in a system of interaction.

3.  Understand the phenomenology of the discipline of Geography—most importantly,   “space”, "place", "landscape," "region," and "location".

4.  Distinguish that spaces, places, and so on, may have both objective and subjective/symbolic dimensions.

5.  Develop research and writing competences that would allow you to:

(a) Formulate a cogent research question about the spatial character of a physical, socio-cultural, or environment-societal phenomenon,

(b) Write about it in ways that reflect analytical and critical thinking, and

(c) Ethical concern over social and environmental justice, consistent with the University’s social mission.

6.  Engage competently in qualitative and quantitative spatial analysis, and with exercises that are concerned with explaining spatial regularities (for example, the spatial calculus behind the location of retail commerce in Chicago, or transnational flows of capital).

7.  Learn the basic utility and use competently one or more of the information technologies that are now redefining the logistical limits of spatial analysis:  geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing.

8.  Achieve greater general knowledge of the world, its regions, its physical systems, its cultures, and political-territorial divisions.