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Field Practicum 1 (GIS)

 

     Course Code: Geog 445                         Credit Hours: 3

                          Instructor: Dr. M. M. Yagoub          E-mail: myagoub@uaeu.ac.ae         

                

   URL:      http://faculty.uaeu.ac.ae/~myagoub

                                   URL:    https://www.angelfire.com/mo/yagoub

Course description

Practicum 1 is intended to mimic the early experience a new GIS graduate might meet in the workplace. A project that emphasizes problem solving in GIS is the key component of the course. It includes data acquisition and management, project implementation, data analysis, and presentation.  

 

Objectives

Field Practicum 1 (GIS training) is formulated with the following objectives:

-       To develop an understanding of a GIS methodology (problem definition, literature review, data collection, analysis, problems, recommendations) through a real GIS project.

-       To provide students with an understanding of approaches to spatial analysis.

-       To equip students with the technical skills necessary to pursue careers in and related to geographic information systems.

Time Table and Supervision

Students are encouraged to work together (in teams) to foster teamwork and networking and become self-reliant, which are important workplace skills. You will be spending most of your time working through the projects. Although there will be time to work on projects in class, you should expect to spend a considerable amount of time working in the lab outside the regular class period. Students have access to ARC/INFO, ARCVIEW, and ERDAS IMAGINE on university computers to accomplish their projects.

 

The instructor will help the team select an appropriate topic, develop a plan and methodology, help you with hands-on GIS software and spatial analysis. Few lectures focusing on spatial analysis and project management will be offer throughout the course. Consultation with faculty members from the department who have interest in your topic area is recommended.

 

Seminars

Two seminars will be held during the course. The first is for presentation of proposals and the second for presentation of results. The seminars are an excellent opportunity for students at all stage of their projects to get together to exchange ideas, discuss problems, and know how to work in a team. Issues that will be discussed include how to develop a project question, how to write up your proposal, where to find resources for the project, how to use GIS spatial analysis, and how to present your results. Faculty members will be invited to attend the seminars in order to give their suggestions and comments.

 

Visits to governmental departments and private companies

A series of visits will be arranged with departments that implement GIS. The objective of these visits is to know why and how GIS was used in a variety of government and businesses agencies. GIS employers are expected to deliver a talk on their experience with GIS implementation and live demonstration on GIS system.

 

Assessment

The practicum project is the basis of the assessment, there will be no exams. The practicum project is up to 1000 words in length, and will be assessed by instructor (40%) and external examiners (50%). Marks will be deducted for each day that a project is late. Key points that are considered in evaluation of the project are shown below.

 

         Item

Marks

1.       Selection of an appropriate GIS              application title and justification

5

2.       Setting of objectives clearly

5

3.       Identification of data needed and               sources

5

4.       Statement of methodology

5

5.       Phasing and flowcharting of the project (GANTT chart)

5

6.       Data input and spatial analysis

55

7.       Output (maps, charts, reports)

10

8.       Individual and team presentation

10

         Total marks

100

 

Learning outcomes

After completing this course the student should be able to:

-          Demonstrate proficiency in the use of GIS software to build database, perform spatial analysis, prepare maps, reports, and charts for presentation of results.

-          Possess the analytical skills necessary to design and implement GIS approaches to spatial problem-solving.

-          Acquire the skills and expertise necessary to undertake a fully-integrated, independent GIS research project from design through implementation and presentation.

-          Assess the extent to which GIS theoretical considerations can be accommodated in practice (practical constraints).

Text Book

There is no exact textbook for this course. However, a plenty of GIS references and journals that deal with study cases are available at Zayed Central Library and on the internet (e.g. http://www.esri.com/arcnews). Students are increasingly urged to go back to earlier lessons, ArcView help, to their textbook, and to the web, to find material related to their projects.

 
Recommended references

Fotheringham, A. S. and P. A. Rogerson, 1994. Spatial Analysis and GIS. London: Taylor & Francis Ltd.

Longley, P. A., M. F. Goodchild, D. J. Maguire, and D. W. Rihnd, 1999. Geographical Information Systems: Principles, Technical Issues, Management  Issues, and Applications. vol. 2,  New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Longley, P. A., M. F. Goodchild, D. J. Maguire, and D. W. Rihnd, 2001.Geographic Information  Systems and Science. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

 

Note: For any update about the course, please refer to:  https://www.angelfire.com/mo/yagoub

          See also: NCGIA Core Curriculum in Geographic Information Science

           URL: "http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/giscc"