Introduction to the course January 6, 2012

Points to Cover  What is GIS?  The Course Brief description Text Format of the course Evaluation  The Instructors  Various housekeeping matters

Discussion  In the next 5 minutes, please jot down your thoughts on the following questions and discuss them with your neighbour What do you know about GIS? What are your expectations of this class?

Why do we need GIS?  Everything that exists or occurs does so in space and time  Knowing and understanding Locations Spatial patterns Spatial trends Spatial conditions Spatial implications of actions helps to manage our lives and make decisions  GIS is one of the more recent tools to support this decision making

What is GIS?  Many definitions exist  Three main points: GIS is a computer system consisting of hardware and software GIS works with spatially referenced data GIS carries out various management and analysis tasks on these data  GIS is much more than a graphic package or a mapping system Turns raw data into information

Questions a GIS can answer  Questions a GIS can answer Location: Where is the nearest Japanese restaurant? Patterns: Where do we find high concentrations of student housing in Regina? Condition: Where can we find an agriturismo that is within a walking distance from a beach and a reasonable driving distance from a large town or city? Trends: How shopping patterns of Regina residents have changed since the development of big box zones? Modeling (Implications): If we move to Lamsden, how far will we have to commute to work, shopping destinations, etc.?

Questions a GIS can answer 

The Course  Covers Concepts and theories behind spatial data analysis using geographic information systems (GIS)  Lectures on Mondays and Wednesdays Development of practical skills in applying GIS to physical and human geographic problems  Lab sessions on Fridays (CL 109)  Project

The Course Undergraduate studentsGraduate students Work with Oksana Work with Joe  Attend lectures delivered by Oksana  Attend lab sessions and complete assignments  Write a midterm exam  Write reviews of journal papers  Complete a project  Complete a research project

Course Evaluation Undergraduate students Graduate students Lab assignments - 10 assignments X 5% 50% Lab assignments - 10 assignments X 5% 50% Midterm -25% Pr0ject -25%Pr0ject -50%

Text  Heywood, Ian, Sarah Cornelius, and Steve Carter, An Introduction to Geographical Information Systems, 4 th ed. Pearson Education. Good overview of the discipline

Housekeeping  Academic Misconduct All the possible definitions are found in Section of the Undergraduate Calendar We will have to report all the cases of suspected plagiarism to the Dean  Requesting Deferrals of Term Work Contact Student Services Office of the Faculty of Arts as soon as possible Procedures for deferrals are outlined in Section 5.7 of the Calendar

Housekeeping  Any other questions or concerns?