GGRB30 Fundamentals of GIS

Course Description

This course provides a practical introduction to a geographic information system (GIS) for digital mapping. The course provides hands-on experience with GIS to create and analyze geographic data and create effective maps. We cover GIS approaches and methods relevant to Geography and many other disciplines. In the lectures, we discuss concepts from geography, geographic information and spatial analysis, and their implications for GIS. In the practice exercises and assignments, you perform. your own data management, analysis and mapping in ArcGIS, the most widely used GIS software.

Student Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

1.         Define basic geographic concepts such as scale, accuracy, precision, spatial referencing, and projections.

2.         Collect geographic and tabular data to create maps using ArcGIS Pro considering

measurement levels, spatial frameworks, data selection, summarizing, and querying.

3.         Record geographic locations using GPS and edit the collected data using ArcGIS.

4.         Create maps for qualitative and quantitative data using common mapping techniques.

5.         Assess the effectiveness of common map types, particularly choropleth and proportional symbol maps.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course. However, GGRA30H3 is recommended as preparation. This course is a prerequisite for GGRB32H3.

Land Acknowledgement

The concepts and tools we will learn in this course are directly connected to the places we inhabit. It is therefore mandatory for us to start with an acknowledgement of the Aboriginal peoples in whose colonized territory we now live and study:

We would like to begin by acknowledging that the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Métis, and the Mississaugas of the Scugog, Hiawatga, and Alderville First Nation. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.

We wish to acknowledge this land on which the University of Toronto operates. For thousands of years it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous  people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.

Course Readings and Materials

Textbook

We will use Longley, Goodchild, Maguire, and Rhind’s (2015) Geographic Information Science & Systems (4th Edition)

(https://librarysearch.library.utoronto.ca/permalink/01UTORONTO_INST/14bjeso/alma9911068 94874206196) as the main companion to this course. This book will be referred as Textbook from now on.

Supplementary Readings

Please refer to the detailed schedule for each week’s readings. When indicated, we will use supplementary reading materials. All supplementary readings will be available via Quercus.

Keep in mind that the list of resources below is not exhaustive. For instance, we will use several materials edited by ESRI not listed below.

•   Bolstad, P. (2016). GIS fundamentals: A first text on Geographic Information Systems. 5th ed. White Bear Lake,MN: Eider Press.

•   Dent, B. D., J. S. Torguson, and T.W. Hodler (2009). Cartography: Thematic Map Design. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

•   Kimerling, A. J., A. R. Buckley, P. C.Muehrcke, and J. O.Muehrcke (2011).Map Use: Reading Analysis Interpretation. 7th ed. Esri Press. 610 pp. ISBN: 9781589482791.

•   Roberts, S. and C. Robertson (2016). Geographic Information Systems and Science: A Concise Handbook of Spatial Data Handling, Representation, and Computation.

DonMills, Ontario: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0-19-900363-1.

Software Requirements

We will use ArcGIS Pro (or ArcGIS for short) since the start of the term. I assume you have no prior experience with this software, but that you have experience organizing and managing files on a personal computer running Microsoft Windows.

The TAs and I will provide detailed instructions on how to get a license through the University and install ArcGIS on your computers. In the meantime, you may check the Map and Data Library’s ArcGIS resources:https://mdl.library.utoronto.ca/technology/tutorials/arcgis-pro- information-tutorials-and-workshops

Evaluation Components

Type                            Description                                     Due date                                Weight

Attendance and In-Class Reading Quizzes (15%)

You are expected to attend class. I will record your attendance using Mentimeter. During

lectures, I will ask questions from that week’s readings that you will answer using your personal device (smartphone, tablet, or laptop). You will earn one percentage point of your grade per

class you attend. Answering any of the questions I ask during lectures will grant you the  attendance point automatically. Since there are 12 weeks of classes, you can earn up to 12 percent of your participation grade by attending every lecture.

At the end of each lecture, I will ask one graded question on content from the assigned

reading(s) for that week. You may earn half a percentage point for answering the question

correctly. This means that you may accrue up to 6 points throughout the semester. However, the grade for attendance and participation is capped at 15 percentage points.

Tutorial Attendance and Exercises (up to 2% bonus)

You are expected to attend tutorials. Attending tutorials and completing the exercises may add you up to two percent of bonus marks to your final grade. There are 9 tutorials throughout   the semester. If you attend and complete the exercises of:

-    5 tutorials, you earn 1 percent bonus.

-    Between 6 and 8 tutorials, you earn 1.5 percent bonus.

-    All 9 tutorials, you earn 2 percent bonus.

Short Assignments (40%)

You will complete four short assignments throughout the semester. Assignments are designed to help you get hands-on experience with ArcGIS. In completing them, you will deepen your

understanding of important geographic concepts and methods underlying the software’s

operations. Each assignment has two main components: (1) an ArcGIS output (e.g., maps), and

(2) a short write-up answering a few questions.

Assignments will be graded on a 20-point scale. Grades are divisible only by half points (e.g.,

6.5, 7, 7.5, etc.). The four assignments will be averaged and divided by 2. Combined, they are

worth 40 percent of the final grade. Please refer to the Late Work Policysection for instructions regarding late assignments.

Midterm (10%)

The midterm is composed often multiple-choice questions and three short-answer questions.

Some of the questions may have multiple items to complete. The multiple-choice questions will test your familiarity with the concepts and discussions from lectures, while the short-answer

questions will ask you to elaborate on the tools you have learned using ArcGIS.

The test will be graded on a 20-point scale. Each multiple-choice question is worth 1 point, while the short-answer ones will be worth between 3 and 4 points each. The midterm is worth 10

percent of your final grade. The test will take up to 1 hour 40 minutes to complete during the    lecture time of week 8, October 22nd. During the test you will not have access to books, notes, nor electronic devices except for basic calculators.

Final Exam (35%)

The final exam will be cumulative, covering topics from the entire term. The exam will consist often multiple-choice questions, two short-answer questions, and one essay. Some of the

questions will include multiple items to complete. The multiple-choice questions will ask you to connect concepts and definitions. Meanwhile, the short-answer questions will test your grasp of geographic concepts using the ArcGIS interface. Finally, the essay will ask you to combine

concepts and methods in addressing a problem.

The exam will be graded on a 35-point scale, and it is worth 35 percent of your final grade. Each multiple-choice question is worth 1 point. The two short answer questions are worth 5 points

each. The essay is worth 15 points. The test will take up to 2 hours during the examination

period. During the exam, you will have access to a hand-written cheat-sheet (to be submitted along your exam), a basic calculator, and a ruler. You will not have access books, notes, nor  electronic devices.