GEO215 - emnerapport 2006 høst

Faglærers vurdering av gjennomføring

Praktisk gjennomføring

The training part of the course consists of 8 x 2 hour lectures and 8 x 3 hour computer labs over an 8 week period. There are no grades assigned for this work, although the work is corrected by the lab instructors to ensure students are completing the work satisfactorily. This training phase is followed by 2 lab assignments which constitute 50% of the grade. The third phase of the course includes a 5 week self-study project which students complete independently. Lab assistance is available during the regular weekly lab sessions although students are not required to attend. The project and oral exam make up the rest of the final grade.

Strykprosent og frafall

Students who complete the training sessions are generally successful in the course. About 20% of the students which begin the course, leave before the end of the training session. Students should be aware that learning GIS (or any computer program) requires practice and in some cases, much repetition. Students should be prepared to spend time in the computer lab outside of the scheduled lab period, improving their skills.

Karakterfordeling

72%of the students registering for the course completed with a passing grade. Grades ranged from D to A with an average of B.

Studieinformasjon og dokumentasjon

By the end of the course students should:
· understand the nature of geographic information and principles of geographic information systems
· be able to describe basic GIS operations as applied to raster and vector GIS data
· be able to describe in words and/or diagrams a GIS-based approach to solving geographic problems
· be able to combine general GIS concepts with ArcGIS software to solve geographic problems

Tilgang til relevant litteratur

The text for the course is: Longley, P., Goodchild, M., Maguire, D., and Rhind, D. 2004. Geographic information systems and science. Wiley and Sons: Chichester, available from Studia.
Additional readings were available on the portal. 

Faglærers vurdering av rammevilkårene

Lokaler og undervisningsutstyr

Students have access to the computer lab in the geography department during class times. After hours and on weekends, the computer lab in U.Pihl is available with all the necessary software.

Andre forhold

Student versions of the software ArcGIS is available from the IT department for students' use at home.

Faglærers kommentar til student-evalueringen(e)

Metode - gjennomføring

Oppsummering av innspill

Ev. underveistiltak

Faglærers samlede vurdering,
inkl. forslag til forbedringstiltak

The training lab sessions (8 sessions in total) should be combined to make fewer, but more comprehensive assignments. This should help students make the transition to the independent project which requires more organisation and understanding of the process as a whole.

An additional text should be used to focus on the final map product. If GIS users are unable to communicate their results effectively, then there is little point to completing the analysis. Many students come to GIS with few map skills and a lack of cartographic understanding hampers good GIS skills.