INSTRUCTORS
Professor James W. Harrington
serves as the lead instructor. His office is 303D Smith Hall;
telephone 206-616-3821; electronic mail jwh@u.washington.edu.
In late March, his website is being moved from http://weber.u.washington.edu/~jwh
to http://faculty.washington.edu/jwh
.
Mr. Shaun McMullin serves as the lab director and teaching assistant. His office is in 422 Smith Hall; telephone 616-9287. .
TIMES AND PLACES
The class meets as a whole on Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:30 - 2:50 p.m.,
in 415 Smith Hall. Section AA meets on Tuesdays, 9:00 - 10:20 a.m.,
in 401 Smith Hall. Section AB meets on Tuesdays, 2:30 - 3:50 p.m.,
in 401 Smith Hall.
Professor Harrington’s office hours are 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. on Mondays and 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Shaun McMullin’s office hours are 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. on Mondays and
4:00 - 5:00 p.m. on Tuesdays, in the Sherman Lab (401 Smith Hall).
REQUIREMENTS
Class meetings and labs. The class will meet as a whole
in the Collaboratory. The instructors (and occasional guests) will
present material, ask questions, answer questions, and lead discussions.
These sessions will focus on concepts and principles, primarily (though
not exclusively) in support of the lab assignments.
Readings. We will be using an assortment of readings, assessable through a variety of means:
Keith C. Clarke. 1999.
Getting
Started with Geographic Information Systems.(see the supporting site:
http://www.prenhall.com/clarke
)
We will read most chapters
of this introductory book; the others are useful as enrichment.
It was ordered for this course at the University Bookstore;
we have placed a copy on (24-hour) reserve at OUGL.
Ken Jones and Jim Simmons.
1990. The Retail Environment.
We have assigned only
one chapter from this book (primarily for copyright reasons), which is
in the packet at the Copy Center, but the entire book is very useful for
those of you interested in marketing geography. The book is on (4-hour)
reserve at OUGL.
Paul Longley and Graham Clarke.
1996. GIS for Business and Service Planning.
We would like to have
you read four chapters from this book; all the chapters are useful.
It was ordered for this course at the University Bookstore;
we have placed a copy on reserve at OUGL. One chapter and additional
excerpts from this are in the second packet.
John Pickles, ed. 1995.
Ground
Truth: The Social Implications of Geographic Information Systems.
We are assigning only
one chapter from this book, though all the chapters are very interesting.
That one chapter is in the second course packet available at Communications.
The book was ordered for this course at the University Bookstore;
we have placed a copy on reserve at OUGL.
Edward J. Taaffe, Howard
L. Gauthier, and Morton E. O'Kelly. 1996. Geography of Transportation,
sec. ed.
This is a recent revision
of a classic text. We are assigning only one chapter from this book
(in the packet available at the Copy Center), though all of Part Two (Chapters
7-10) is useful. The book is on (4-hour) reserve at OUGL.
Lab assignments. The course is organized into four units: an introduction to the subject matter and the software, and then three hands-on cases. The lab sections will focus on these assignments, which will require additional student work (outside of classes and labs) on computers that are fitted with ArcView and the relevant extensions. (In other words, most of you will need to find time each week to come to the Geography department labs). Each of the cases will have a set of “deliverables”: screen shots, answers to specific questions, and (much more importantly) a well-written report to your hypothetical supervisor or client (what was the problem at hand, how did you approach it, what did you find, and what concerns do you have about your findings).
Tests. There will be two in-class tests (each with short-answer and short-essay components) on concepts, principles, and lab experiences.
GRADING
Grades on tests and assignments. Each test and assignment
will be graded on a percentage basis.
Content, clarity, and format all count in the grading of the assignments.
Be especially careful about plagiarism: more than three words in
the order you read them somewhere else (including on the WWW, including
my own lecture notes) must be set off in quotation marks and given a full
citation.
Final grades. The final grade for the course will be calculated
as follows. Each graded item (participation, three tests and three
assignments) can contribute up to a specified number of points toward the
quarter’s total that can equal up to 100 points. Each student’s final
grade reflects the number of these 100 points the student has earned during
the quarter.
| 3 cases, 20 points each |
60 points
|
| 2 tests, 10 points each |
20 points
|
| small lab assignments and lab participation |
10 points
|
| participation in class meetings |
10 points
|
| TOTAL |
100 points
|
|
|
|
| 85 - 100 points |
|
| 70 - 84 points |
|
| 55 - 74 points |
|
| 45 - 55 points |
|
| 0 - 44 points |
|
Incomplete work. [From the University Registrar's website]
A grade of “I” (Incomplete) is given only when the student has been in
attendance and has done satisfactory work until within two weeks of the
end of the quarter and has furnished proof satisfactory to the instructor
that the work cannot be completed because of illness or other circumstances
beyond the student's
control. To obtain credit for the course, an undergraduate student
must convert an Incomplete into a passing grade no later than the last
day of the next quarter. The student should never reregister for the course
as a means of removing the Incomplete. An Incomplete grade not made up
by the end of the next quarter is converted to the grade of 0.0 by the
Registrar unless the instructor has indicated, when assigning the Incomplete
grade, that a grade other than 0.0 should be recorded if the incomplete
work is not completed. The original Incomplete grade is not removed from
the permanent record.
29 March - 9 April: Introduction