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University of Massachusetts Boston
Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs
Public Policy Ph.D Program
PPOL-G XXX: Geographic Information Systems
Spring 2008
Course Meetings:
Tuesday, 4 – 6:30 PM
[Room TBD]
Instructor:
Prof. Michael P. Johnson
McCormack Hall, Room 3 – 423
617-287-6967
michael.johnson@umb.edu
http://www.publicpolicy.umb.edu/johnson.htm
Office Hours: [TBD] and by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
GIS OVERVIEW:
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a system of hardware, software, and procedures designed
to support the capture, management, manipulation, analysis, modeling and display of spatially
referenced data for solving complex planning and management problems. GIS applications use
both spatial information (maps) and databases to perform analytical studies.
This course covers underlying geographic concepts (world coordinate system and projections,
vector map topology, tiled and layered maps, standard computer map file formats, urban
applications, etc.) and provides computer lab tutorials and case studies on the leading GIS software,
ArcGIS 9.0 from Environmental Systems Research Institute.
By the end of the course, students will have sufficient background so that with on-the-job
experience they can become expert users of GIS in organizations - building, managing, and using
GIS maps and data.
Some topics covered include City and Regional Planning, Community and Economic Planning and
Development, Housing Studies, Transit and Transportation Issues, Land Use, Historic and
Archeological Studies, Crime Analysis and Policing, Emergency Management and Public Works
Utilities, Census and Demographic Studies, Public Health, and Business uses including Marketing
and Advertising.
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COURSE MATERIALS:
Text:
Gorr, W.L. and K.S. Kurland. 2007. GIS Tutorial: Workbook for ArcView 9. Redlands, CA: ESRI
Press. [Available at UMass Boston Bookstore; includes data CD and limited-time license
for ArcGIS 9]
Additional Readings [* = full text available at Healey Library]:
*Monmonier, M., H.J. de Blij. 1996. How to Lie with Maps, 2nd Edition. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press. [Excerpts]
Brewer, C. 2005. Designing Better Maps. Redlands, CA: ESRI Press. “RGB and CMYK
specifications for color-blind map readers”. [Excerpt]
*Clarke, K. 2002. Getting Started with Geographic Information Systems, 4th Edition. [City]:
Prentice Hall [Excerpts]
Chang, K.-T. 2003. Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, 2nd Edition. [City]: Prentice
Hall [Excerpts]
Campbell, J. 2000. Map Use & Analysis, 4th Edition. [City]: McGraw Hill [Excerpts].
ESRI. 2005. ArcGIS 9: ArcGIS Network Analyst Tutorial. Redlands, CA.
ESRI. 2005. ArcGIS 9: Using ArcGIS Spatial Analyst. Redlands, CA.
ESRI. 2005. ArcGIS 9: Using ArcGIS 3D Analyst. Redlands, CA.
Lecture slides [posted on WebCT]
SOFTWARE:
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ArcGIS 9.0 (available in Public Policy Department computer cluster and on class workstations)
Word processing package (MS Word) - needed for answers to some assignments
Spreadsheet package (MS Excel) – for viewing assignment gradesheets
Adobe Acrobat PDF Viewer to read assignments and course slides (download from
http://www.adobe.com)
Web browser- for access to course Web site and supplemental files
PKZip or WINZIP – to compress multiple files and folders into a single file for e-mailing
ASSIGNMENTS:
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GIS assignments build upon each other, so it is important to be up to date on your assignments.
No assignment will be accepted after the due date unless previously arranged with the
instructor.
Late assignments will be dropped one letter grade.
No assignments will be accepted one week after the due date.
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Assignments that are not submitted properly will be returned to the student.
Re-grading of assignments is done only in exceptional cases and must be coordinated through
the TA within one week of the assignment being returned.
GRADING POLICY:
Each student must do his or her own homework and case studies. Discussion among students on
homeworks and cases is encouraged for clarification of assignments, technical details of using
software, and structuring major steps of solutions – especially on the course's Web site. Students
must do their own work on the homeworks and exam. Cheating and Plagiarism are strictly
forbidden. Cheating includes but is not limited to: plagiarism, submission of work that is not the
student's own, submission or use of falsified data, unauthorized access to exam or assignment, use
of unauthorized material during an exam, supplying or communicating unauthorized information
for an assignment or exam.
GRADE ALLOCATION:
Homework
Case1
Case2
Exam
Class and Discussion Board Participation *
45%
10%
20%
15%
10%
QUESTIONS:
Questions of general interest and answers should be posted on the bulletin board on the course
website. Personal questions regarding the course should be directed to the instructor and TA. Both
TAs and the course instructor will be checking the discussion board Monday-Friday.
DISCUSSION BULLETIN BOARD:
A bulletin board for the course is on the course web page. This bulletin board is for you to interact
with others in the course. Post questions, comments, notices of items of interest on this bulletin
board. To access this bulletin board you must enter your WebCT ID and password.
CLASS SCHEDULE AND READINGS [“PDF” or “JPEG” means available on WebCT]:
Week 1: January 29
Introduction
Gorr and Kurland, Tutorial 1.
Chang, “Geographic Information Systems”, pp. 301 – 315 [PDF].
Week 2: February 5
Map Design
Gorr and Kurland, Tutorial 2.
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Monmonier and Blij, Chapter 4, “Blunders that Mislead”, pp. 43 – 57; Chapter 10, “Data
Maps: Making Nonsense of the Census”, pp. 139 – 162; Chapter 11, “Color
Attraction and Distraction”, pp. 163 – 173 [PDF].
Brewer, C. 2005. Designing Better Maps. Redlands, CA: ESRI Press. “RGB and CMYK
specifications for color-blind map readers” [JPEG].
Week 3: February 12 GIS Outputs
Gorr and Kurland, Tutorial 3.
Chang, Chapter 8, “Data Display and Cartography”, pp. 153 – 173 [PDF].
Week 4: February 19 Geodatabases
Gorr and Kurland, Tutorial 4.
Week 5: February 26 Importing Spatial and Attribute Data
Gorr and Kurland, Tutorial 5.
Clarke, Chapter 2, “GIS’s Roots in Cartography”, pp. 34 – 65 [PDF].
Campbell, Appendix A, “U.S. and Canadian Map Producers and Information Sources”, pp.
316 – 332; Appendix B, “Foreign Maps”, pp. 333 – 337 [PDF].
Chang, “Map Projections and Coordinate Systems”, pp. 19 – 36 [PDF].
Week 6: March 4
Digitizing (Case 1 Assigned)
Gorr and Kurland, Tutorial 6.
Clarke, Chapter 4, “Getting the Map into the Computer”, pp. 100 – 127 [PDF].
Week 7: March 11
Work on Case 1
Week 8: March 18
No class – Spring vacation
Week 8: March 25
Geocoding
Gorr and Kurland, Tutorial 7.
Week 9: April 1
Spatial Data Processing
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Gorr and Kurland, Tutorial 8.
Week 10: April 8
Spatial Analysis
Gorr and Kurland, Tutorial 9.
Clarke, Chapter 10, “The Future of GIS”, pp. 267 – 301 [PDF].
Week 11: April 15
Extensions Overview
ESRI. 2005. ArcGIS 9: ArcGIS Network Analyst Tutorial. Redlands, CA [PDF].
ESRI. 2005. ArcGIS 9: Using ArcGIS Spatial Analyst. Redlands, CA [PDF].
ESRI. 2005. ArcGIS 9: Using ArcGIS 3D Analyst. Redlands, CA [PDF].
Week 12: April 22
Written and Lab Exam
Week 13: April 29
Exam Review (Case 2 Assigned)
Week 14: May 6
Work on Case 2
Week 15: May 13
Work on Case 2 (Due)
(No final exam)
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