INTRODUCTION TO GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

GEOG 3323 (ISSS 3323, SOCS 3323)

SYLLABUS FALL 2005

Professor: Kevin M. Curtin

Email: curtin@utdallas.edu
Office: GR 3.209
Office Hours: Tuesday 3pm – 6pm, or by Appointment
Office Phone: (972) 883-6237
Home Page: www.utdallas.edu/~curtin

Teaching Assistant: Daniel Turner

Email: dft011000@utdallas.edu
Office: GR 3.416 (Office Hours are held in the Lab, GR 3.602)
Office Hours: Monday 2-4pm, Wednesday 2-4pm or by Appointment
Office Phone: (972) 883-2720
Class Web Page: www.utdallas.edu/~dft011000/GEOG3323.html

Class Meetings: GR 3.602; Monday and Wednesday 12:30pm – 1:45pm

Goals and Objectives:

This class is designed to introduce you to Geographic Information Systems in the context of
several areas of social science. You will learn the basics of cartography and the skills needed to
input, analyze, and display geographic data in several different applications areas, including
Political Geography, Transportation Studies, Land Use for Cadastral and Zoning applications,
and Spatial Statistics.

Readings:
There assigned textbook is a reader available at the UTD bookstore and Off Campus Books
($35.50). It is highly recommended that you obtain a copy of Getting to know ArcGIS for
ArcGIS 9.0. This book is an excellent introduction to the software we will be using and comes
with an evaluation copy with a 180 day trial license. With this trial license you will be able to
complete most but not all of your assignments at home without coming to the lab.

Grading:
Lab Assignments (10) 50 points each 500
Mid-Term Exam (1) 200 points 200
Second Exam (1) 300 points 300
Total Possible Points: 1000 points

Extra Credit:
There will be a few pop-quizzes covering the reading for extra credit.
Make-up Exams:
The Mid-Term and Second Exams may be made-up by taking an essay exam
(consisting of 3 essays) within one week of the scheduled exam date.

Late Assignments:
Assignments are due by the start of the class period on the due date. Late assignments
are accepted up to 4 days late. Each day incurs a 10 point penalty.

Class Materials Online:

Some class materials will be available Online at the Teaching Assistant’s website.
These will include backup copies of the course syllabus, assignments sheets, some
datasets and links to relevant internet resources. To access these materials, go to
www.utdallas.edu/~dft011000/GEOG3323.html.

Suspected instances of Academic Dishonesty will be referred to the Dean of Students.

DAILY SCHEDULE
DATE TOPICS ASSIGNMENTS
Section 1 – Geography and Cartography
08/22/05 (1) Introduction, Syllabus, Class Format, Lab Intro
08/24/05 (2) History of Geography, More Intro to ArcMap Assignment 1 Due
08/29/05 (3) Scale, Coordinate Systems, Projections
08/31/05 (4) Essential Map Elements, Output from ArcMap
09/05/05 No Class – Labor Day Holiday
09/07/05 (5) Map Design and Layout Assignment 2 Due
Section 2 – GIS Data Models, Site Selection
09/12/05 (6) Thematic Mapping, Data Classification
09/14/05 (7) Cadastral Mapping, Land Use, Zoning Assignment 3 Due
09/19/05 (8) Site Selection, Selection Methods
09/21/05 (9) GIS Data Models, Topology
09/26/05 (10) Generalization Problem Assignment 4 Due
Section 3 – Political Geography
09/28/05 (11) Geo-Politics, Census Geography
10/03/05 (12) Importing Census Data
10/05/05 (13) Voting Geography, Gerrymandering, Dissolve Assignment 5 Due
10/10/05 (14) Readings and Midterm Review
10/12/05 MIDTERM EXAM
10/17/05 (15) Go Over Midterm, Work on Assignment 6
Section 4 – Transportation
10/19/05 (16) Network Data Models, Assignment 6 Due
10/24/05 (17) Creating Networks in ArcGIS
10/26/05 (18) Shortest Path
10/31/05 (19) Travel Demand Modeling, Address Geocoding Assignment 7 Due
11/02/05 (20) Network Analysis, Route Events
11/07/05 (21) Entrepreneurship, Annotation Assignment 8 Due
Section 5 – Spatial Statistics
11/09/05 (22) Centrography, Mean Center, Median Center, Weights
11/14/05 (23) Measures of Dispersion, Standard Distance Assignment 9 Due
11/16/05 (24) Buffer Analysis
11/21/05 (25) Advanced Spatial Stats, Interpolation
11/23/05 (26) Point-Pattern Analysis, Readings and Exam Review Assignment 10 Due
11/28/05 SECOND EXAM