Course Description (Spring 2015)
This class uses lab exercises and a workshop setting to help
students develop a solid understanding of the planning and public
management uses of geographic information systems (GIS). The goals are
to help students:
- Acquire technical skills in
the use of GIS software.
- Acquire qualitative methods
skills in data and document gathering, analyzing information, and
presenting results.
- Investigate the potential and practicality of GIS
technologies in a typical planning setting and evaluate possible
applications.
The workshop teaches GIS techniques and basic database management
at a level that extends somewhat beyond the thematic mapping and data
manipulation skills included in the Fall half-semester MCP core GIS and
spatial analysis class, 11.205. Both 11.205 and 11.188 cover basic
thematic mapping and the buffering and overlay operations (using vector
and raster data) that are involved in basic 'site suitability'
assessments. The 11.188 lab adds a bit more database management (using
MS-Access), an introduction to model building tools (Model Builder),
and a small, individual project. We try to teach GIS methods and
techniques with some attention to open-ended planning questions that
invite spatial analysis but will:
- Require judgment and
exploration to select relevant data and mapping
techniques,
- Involve mixing and matching
new, local data with extracts from official records (such as census
data, parcel data and regional employment and population
forecasts),
- Utilize spatial analysis
techniques such as buffering, address matching,
overlays
- Use other modeling and
visualization techniques beyond thematic mapping, and
- Raise questions about the skills, strategy, and
organizational support needed to sustain such analytic capability
within a variety of local and regional planning
settings.
Class Meetings
- Lecture: Wednesday, 2:30-4:00 PM in Room
9-251
- Lab Preparation & Lab: Monday, 2:30-5:00 in Room
W31-301
[Hearing the Lab prep presentation at 2:30 and starting the
exercise are the key lab parts. Students can leave for other
classes beginning at 3:30 or 4 and finish the exercises later on
their own.
- Additional optional lab times: Friday, 2-3:30 in 9-251
(other lab times will be arranged if needed)
Last modified on 14 May 2015 by [schulthe]
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