Geographical Information Systems

Course manual 2020/2021

Course content

In the course we will become acquainted with the fundamental skills needed to understand Geographical Information Systems and carry out a wide variety of spatial analyses that have a wide applicability across both natural and social sciences. As part of the social sciences ‘gamma-track’ of the program, the applications discussed in the lab will, however, draw from examples in the social sciences, such as from the fields of human geography, urban planning or development studies.

In the first part of the course, vector GIS will be used. In this type of GIS, the geographic features are represented by discrete objects defined by one or more coordinate pairs, specifically point, line or area features. Using the ArcGIS software, we will  create thematic maps and carry out diverse spatial analyses.  In the second part of the course, we will turn our attention to raster-oriented GIS-procedures. In a raster GIS, a raster image, or grid, is laid over the entire study area. Each raster cell contains information on the area it covers, such as the number of inhabitants or the prevalent land-use type.

Study materials

Literature

• The required readings consist of key chapters from the following book, made available by the instructors:

  Heywood Ian, Sarah Cornelius & Steve Carver (2011), An Introduction to Geographical Information Systems, 4th edition, Harlow (U.K), Pearson Education Ltd.

  The required chapters are:

  1. What is GIS?
  2. Spatial data
  3. Spatial data modelling
  4. Data analysis

Syllabus

•  

  Workload

  Number of EC: 6

  Number of computer lab session hours: 33

   

  Teaching form

  During this course, there will be three-hour computer lab classes twice per week. These will be done online during the scheduled time and will be supported by the instructors at a distance.

  The assessment consists of in-class checks for completion during the lab, one assignment, and one final exam testing the acquired theoretical knowledge and practical skills.

  The total study load is 168 hours, consisting of the following:

  • 11 x 3 hours computer lab session 33 hours
  • One assignment 25 hours
  • Class preparation/reading literature 35 hours
  • Self-study outside of class 75 hours

   

  Study material

  The study material used in this course are two practical readers – one on Vector GIS and one on Raster GIS – containing the exercises to be performed during class. The readers can be downloaded via Canvas. It is up to the student if they wish to print it or keep it on their computer. For ease of use during the lab, it is recommended that they print it out.  

  During the whole course the GIS program ArcMap will be used. Students will receive a license code (valid for one year) to install and use this software on their laptop.

   

  Further description of the sessions

  Mo   3 Feb              session 1            Getting Started with ArcMap

  We   5 Feb              session 2            Basics of ArcMap and ArcCatalog

  Mo 10 Feb              session 3            Aggregation, spatial selection, join

  We 12 Feb              session 4            Adding geography

  Mo 17 Feb              session 5            Overlay and buffers

  We 19 Feb              session 6            Using geometrical networks

  Mo 24 Feb              session 7            Hotspots, Model Builder, projections

  We 26 Feb              session 8            Introduction to raster GIS

  Mo 2  Mar               session 9            Rasterization, vectorization and basic raster analyses

  We 4  Mar             session 10          Raster problem-solving: cholera in London

  Mo 9  Mar             session 11          Working with satellite images

   

   

  Completing the sessions

  Sometimes, it may not be possible to complete all exercises of a session before the end of each class. But you are required to complete all tasks of a session in principle on your own time and have them completed before the beginning of the following session.

Software

• In the course we will making use of the ArcGIS software suite from ESRI. 

Other

• IMPORTANT: The classes are ‘laptop classes’ and everyone must have their own computer to work with. These laptops must be capable of running the ArcGIS and you must  be prepared with the software installed and operational on your laptop before the lab sessions. 

Objectives

• Have acquired an understanding of the structure and possibilities offered by Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for geographical and spatial analysis
• Will have become acquainted with the basic principles of cartography
• Have acquired a familiarity with both vector-oriented and raster-oriented GIS procedures
• Have the skills to to execute simple geographical and spatial analyses with the help of GIS, and interpret the results.Will have developed the know-how to make a thematic map with gathered data and interpret and critically assess a basic map

Teaching methods

• Computer lab session/practical training
• Self-study

Learning activities

Attendance

Programme's requirements concerning attendance (OER-B):

• Participation in fieldwork is compulsory and cannot be replaced by assignments or other courses.
• In case of practical sessions, the student is obliged to attend at least of 90% of the sessions and to prepare himself adequately, unless indicated otherwise in the course manual. In case the student attends less than 90%, the practical sessions should be redone entirely.
• In case of tutorials/seminars with assignments, the student is obliged to attend at least 7 out of 8 seminars and to prepare thoroughly for these meetings, unless indicated otherwise in the course manual. If the course has more than 8 seminars, the student can miss up to 1 extra meeting for every (part of) 8 tutorials/seminars. If the students attends less than the mandatory tutorials/seminars, the course cannot be completed.

Additional requirements for this course:

It is compulsory to be attend the online classes at the scheduled times and actively participate in all the lab sessions. If you miss more than one session, you will be excluded from the course and will not be able to complete it.

Assessment

Assessment

In the course assessment both practical and theoretical aspects of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) will be evaluated. The following aspects play a role in the course evaluation. Read these very carefully.

a) It is compulsory to be present and actively participate in all the computer lab sessions. If you miss more than one session, you will be excluded from the course and will not be able to complete it.

b) For all 11 sessions, you must show the results of the exercises that need to be checked by the lecturer (in-class ‘checkpoints’). There are two per session.

• If you are not able to complete the exercises within the scheduled session, or if you are absent, you have to complete them on your own time and show the checkpoints to the lecturer, at the beginning of the following session at the latest.
• Only for the last session, if not completed during lab, completed checkpoints can be emailed in a Word-file to Rowan Arundel (I.M.Arundel@uva.nl) within two days following the session.
• If you do not fulfill these checkpoints, your final grade will be lowered. There is no possibility of a re-sit or reparation of incomplete sessions. This section counts for 10 points (and 10% of final grade). For each checkpoint not completed, 2 points will be subtracted from this grade.

c) One assignment has to be turned in on time.

• The assignment is done in pairs.
• Details on the assignment requirements will be provided on Canvas.
• It is due on Friday March 13, by 16:00 and should be submitted via Canvas (only a digital version is needed).
• The deadline is strict. For every day of delay 1-point (out of 10) will be deducted from the grade. If the assignment is more than three-days late, its contents will not be taken into account and it will be graded as 1.0.
• There is no possibility of a retake of the assignment.

d) Taking part in an exam.

• The exam is planned on Tuesday March 24th from 12.00-14.00 and will take place at the AMC (in Amsterdam Zuidoost) in the IWO Rood (Red) room. Make sure you are there in plenty of time.
• One part of the exam is a practical section with exercises to be carried out using the GIS program ArcGIS. The exam will take place in a computer room with secured, non-internet-connected computers.
• Another part is a multiple-choice section with questions about both practical GIS applications covered in the labs and theoretical GIS aspects/concepts, based on the provided literature.
• No documents are permitted during the exam.
• The grade of the exam will be made public at last 15 working days after the exam.
• There is a possibility of a re-sit of the exam, see further at f.

e) The final grade of the course is determined in the following way.

• The final grade is the weighted average of the exam grade (50%),
• the grades of the assignment (35% each)
• and the grade from the correction completion of the lab session checkpoints during class (15%)
• You have passed the course if your grade is a 5.5 or higher

f) For the re-sit of the exam the following applies.

• It is planned on [Date to be determined]
• In the case that you participate in the re-sit, the grade of the re-sit counts for the final grade, even if that new grade is lower than the old one.

g) Bonus lessons are provided on Canvas for students who have completed their lab session early and wish to follow an additional GIS lesson. These also involve checkpoints that can be evaluated in class by an instructor, once the current sessions’ checkpoints have been completed and checked. Proper completion of a Bonus lesson will result in a bonus 0.1 points added to the final grade.  

Assessment diagram

(see details above under assessment)

Inspection of assessed work

Grading of exams/assignments and feedback

For the assignment, grades and feedback will be given via Canvas within a week after submission. Students can contact the course coordinator Rowan Arundel for further information within two weeks after they have received their assignment.

Assignments

(see details above under assessment)

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Course structure

Timetable

The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.

Last year's course evaluation

In order to provide students some insight how we use the feedback of student evaluations to enhance the quality of education, we decided to include the table below in all course guides.

Contact information

Coordinator

• dr. Rowan Arundel MSc