Course Outline

Applications in Geographic Information Analysis ZPEM8206 S1 2012

School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences

Course Staff
Dr. Amy L. Griffin 238 PEMS North (Building 22) Tel: 6268 8949 a.griffin@adfa.edu.au This course will run intensively from 14 - 18 May. I will be available full-time during this week. I will also communicate through email and Olive (the on-line learning system) before and after the intensive course week. I am usually available for consultation during normal working hours. Please feel free to contact me to discuss any aspects of the course via phone or email (generally gets a faster response) or to make an appointment to see me in person.

pieces of software to achieve the desired end result?). Create an implementation plan for extending the functionality of a geographic information system and carry out this plan to customize your application. Properly document the process you went through to create your custom application.

Developing Graduate Attributes

In this course, I encourage you to develop the following graduate attributes by undertaking the courses activities. These attributes will be assessed within the following assessment tasks: 1. GA3: the capacity for analytical and critical thinking and for creative problem-solving. Learning to write code is the quintessential environment for practicing your skills in analytical thinking and creative problem solving. There are often several ways to accomplish a task when programming, so lateral thinking is essential! 2. GA4: the ability to engage in independent and reflective learning. The major project will challenge you to develop a small software program on your own. When you finish building your code, the report will ask you to reflect upon how you would approach your development task differently, given the chance to start over. 3. GA5: Information literacy the skills to appropriately locate, evaluate and use information. In the context of this course, you will learn a very specific set of information literacy skills that relate to finding information that will help you to solve programming problems (e.g., for debugging your code).

Course Details
Applications in Geographic Information Analysis (ZPEM8206) is a 6 UOC advanced course that further develops topics that are introduced in Principles of Geographic Information Analysis and Remote Sensing (ZPEM8202), with emphasis on creating custom applications of geographic information systems technologies for solving geographical problems. This course will include activities such as short lectures, discussions about literature that can inform our efforts at extending GIS functionality, practical exercises and a major project. Most of our time will be spent doing something rather than hearing about something, as the best (and most interesting) way of learning about geographical information systems is by using them. ZPEM8202, or an equivalent course at Kensington or another institution, or equivalent knowledge from work experience is assumed knowledge / a prerequisite for this course.

Student Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course you should be able to: Examine a custom GIS application and understand how its developers used code (i.e., a computer program) to extend the functionality of the basic geographic information system. Decide what type of customization is most appropriate for your projects needs (i.e., Can you borrow snippets of code someone else has already written or do you need to start from scratch? Or how can we connect two existing

Assessment Requirements
There are four assessment items in this course, which are listed in the table below. All written assessment should be submitted through OLIVE prior to or on the assessment due date. Pre-course quiz and exercise In preparation for our week together, I have put together a module that introduces some of the basics of programming, and of object-oriented programming in particular. There is also a short practical exercise that will be assessed through the quiz. I would like you to

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ZPEM8206 | Applications in Geographic Information Analysis

work through this module and exercise and take a short quiz about the concepts before the intensive course contact week. You may take this quiz up to three times; only your highest score will be kept. Practical exercises At the beginning of the coursework week, I will provide you with a practical exercise book. This book will contain instructions for all of the practical exercises we will work through during the week. At the end of the week, I will ask you to submit an electronic copy of your exercise book that contains the deliverables specified in each practical exercise (typically answers to short questions, a description of how you solved a problem or examples of your code). Major project proposal The purpose of the major project proposal is to get you thinking about what you would like to do for the major project. In it, I ask you to outline the functionality you would like to implement in ArcGIS, and provide a rough implementation plan. I will quickly review your proposal to let you know if I think it is (a) sufficiently difficult for the major project and (b) not too large or too complicated for the time you have available to finish the project. Major project report This document will accompany your major project implementation. This should be a report of the history of developing your project. In it, you will document the processes you went through while developing the project as well as reflect upon your experience (i.e., think about why you made the choices you did, whether you would make the same choices again, what you might do differently, etc.). You may also want to reference and reflect on your implementation plan in this document. Assessment Title Pre-course preparation quiz and exercise on OLIVE Practical exercises Weight 10% Length 25 questions Due Date 11 May

Outcomes-Assessment Matrix
Assessment item Quiz and pre-course exercise Practical exercises Major project proposal Major project report LO 1 LO 2 LO 3 LO 4 X X X X X X

Late Submission of Assessment

With the exception of genuine emergencies (documented medical or family), I do not accept late assessments unless you have discussed them with me before the due date or made a formal application for special consideration. In other words, this means that unapproved late submissions will receive a mark of zero. I employ this policy because it is not fair to disadvantage those students who complete their work in a timely fashion.

Teaching Strategies
This course utilizes a range of teaching strategies, including lectures, practical exercises, an online module and short in-class activities. The practicals are an important aspect of the course, as you will learn more doing something rather than hearing about something. I expect that you will be self-directed learners, pro-active in trying to understand what we are doing during the course. At the end of the course you need to complete a small project. This project is an opportunity for you to apply what you have learned in a new context.

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism

Plagiarism is using the words or ideas of others and presenting them as your own. Plagiarism is a type of intellectual theft. It can take many forms, from deliberate cheating to accidentally copying from a source without acknowledgement. For more information, please refer to the UNSW@ADFA Academic Misconduct website (http://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/student/misconduct/).

Resources for Students

30% Practical exercises completed during the class period Approximately 1500 words Not more than 15 pages, not including an appendix with your code 25 May We will make reference to a number of materials in this course, ranging from technical papers to journal articles to textbooks. Most of the texts that you may be interested in reading will be made available to you in the class contact hours or via OLIVE, the learning management system used at UNSW-Canberra. The required course text is: 2 July Downey, Allen B. 2009. Python for Software Design. How to Think Like a Computer Scientist. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Major project proposal Major project report

10% 50%

1 June

You can acquire a copy of the textbook through Amazon (including electronically through the Kindle

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ZPEM8206 | Applications in Geographic Information Analysis

Reader, which can be installed on your computer), or you can purchase a copy of the text from the bookstore at UNSW-Canberra. I will also provide you with a one-year time-out license for ArcGIS 10 if you do not have access to the software at work or elsewhere, so that you will be able to complete your major project after the coursework component of the class. If you are a student at the Kensington campus, you should also have access to ArcGIS in software labs on your campus.

Students with special needs I encourage those students who have a disability that requires some adjustment in their teaching or learning environment to discuss their study needs with me or with the Equity Unit prior to, or at the commencement of the course. For further information and support, contact the UNSW@ADFA Equity Unit (Poppy MacLean or Ann Green on 6268 8218). Issues to be discussed may include access to materials, signers or note-takers, the provision of services and additional exam and assessment arrangements. Early notification is essential to enable me to make any necessary adjustments. Advice concerning special considerations Any request for special consideration should be filed formally with student administrative services. However, I am always available to discuss concerns you have with your performance in the course. It is always better to keep me informed of issues as they occur rather than weeks or months after the fact. For further information, please consult the UNSW@ADFA Handbook and http://sas.unsw.adfa.edu.au/future_students/info/Studie sguide_pg.html
Cricos Provider Code: 00100G The University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy

Course Schedule
The course will run intensively in the week from 14 to 18 May. During this week you will be required to attend lectures and practicals from 9.00 am 5.00 pm. It will take place in Building 22, PEMS Computer Lab 211. You can find a map of the campus on Olive. A more detailed schedule of lectures and practical exercises will be provided with the course binder that you will receive during our intensive week.

Course Evaluation and Development

I collect student feedback informally throughout the course as well as more formally at the end of the course using UNSW's Course and Teaching Evaluation and Improvement (CATEI) Process. I take student feedback seriously, and make continual improvements to the course based in part on such feedback. In student feedback in 2010 (the last time this course was offered), students requested a bit more time to complete and finalize the practical exercises that they undertook during the intensive course week. In previous years, they were due at the end of the intensive week. This year I have extended the deadline by one week to provide a bit more time for consolidation and reflection. I have also tried to schedule other due dates for material such that those students taking other courses in Sydney have some time after the Sydney exam period to finish off the major project, yet giving me enough time to mark the projects before marks are due on this campus.

Other Information
Expectations of students I expect that you will both attend and actively participate in each classroom session. Other than contact during class hours, I will mainly communicate with you through OLIVE and/or via email. I will endeavour to respond to all emails within 24 hours. You will probably receive a faster response if you contact me via email than by phone, but you can feel free to ring me at home in the evenings or on weekends before 9 pm (my home number is available on OLIVE); during the day, you can typically reach me at the office. If Canberra-based students wish to see me in person, please contact me to set up a time to meet (by email, phone or in person).