Syllabus
Course Name: Mathematical Principals of GIS
Course Number: GIS 220
Course Prerequisites: MAT 265 (or MAT 270)
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Instructor and contact information:
Instructor: Jay Laura
Office hours: Via email or scheduled via Google Hangout or Phone
Email: [email protected]
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Course description:
Contemporary research in analytical an quantitative geography has placed an increasing demand on the computational skills of its practitioners. The advances in spatial data analysis and geographical modeling depend upon fundamental mathematical principals. This mathematical knowledge is a fundamental component of a well rounded social or physical scientist. Students undertaking research are often confronted with the prospect of applying geospatial methods without fully understanding the underlying mathematics or attempting to implement and apply methods available only within the geography literature. This course is designed to provide the foundational knowledge to support the student in both of these cases.
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Course learning outcomes:
For geography students, refresh the basic mathematical principals of notation, algebraic manipulation,
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Grading Policy:
Grading in the course will be based on the following point system:
| Component | Points |
|---|---|
| 12 Exercises | 480 |
| 12 Discussion Posts | 120 |
| Exam 1 | 200 |
| Exam 2 | 200 |
| Total | 1000 |
Exams will be based on the readings, discussion forum posts, and exercises. All exams are cumulative. Late exams will not be accepted.
Exercises will be posted on Blackboard every Monday and are due the following Monday. Exercises are available for unlimited attempts during that time. Late assignments will not be accepted. A total of 13 exercises are assigned. The lowest exercise grade will be dropped.
Discussion Posts will be due the same day as the associated assignment. A discussion post is assigned each week in the checklist section of each chapter. Students are required to post a new, unique discussion and reply to one of their classmates posts.
There are no extra credit assignments to make up for poor performance on exams, exercises, or missed in-class activities.
At the conclusion of the semester points will be converted to Final Letter Grade using the following:
| Letter Grade | Points |
|---|---|
| A+ | 970 - 1000 |
| A | 930 - 969 |
| A- | 900 - 929 |
| B+ | 870 - 899 |
| B | 830 - 869 |
| B- | 800 - 829 |
| C+ | 770 - 799 |
| C | 730 - 769 |
| C- | 700 - 729 |
| D | 650 - 699 |
| E | 0 - 649 |
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Required Texts
For this course, we utilize a number of web resources, including a freely available text book: https://jlaura.gitbooks.io/gis220/content/
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Weekly activities
| Week | Date | Topics | Assignment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (8/17 - 8/21) | Orientation | |
| 2 | (8/21 - 8/28) | Functions, Variables, and Polynomials | E1 Algebra Review |
| 3 | (8/28 - 9/4) | Summation and Notation | E2 Descriptive Statistics |
| 4 | (9/4 - 9/11) | Probability | E3 Probability |
| 5 | (9/11 - 9/18) | Distributions and Sampling | E4 Point Patterns I |
| 6 | (9/18 - 9/25) | Computational Geometry I | E5 Point Patterns II |
| 7 | (9/25 - 10/2) | Computational Geometry II | E6 Geometric Operations |
| 8 | (10/2 - 10/9) | Exam 1 | Exam 1 |
| 9 | (10/9 - 10/16) | Matrices I | E7 Matrices |
| 10 | (10/16 - 10/23) | Matrices II | E8 Applied Linear Regression |
| 11 | (10/23 - 10/30) | Matrices III | E9 Eigen Values and Vectors |
| 12 | (10/30 - 11/6) | Systems of Linear Equations | E10 Linear Programming I |
| 13 | (11/6 - 11/13) | Systems of Linear Equations II | E11 Linear Programming II |
| 14 | (11/13 - 11/20) | Graphs and Networks I | E12 Network Characteristics |
| - | (11/20 - 11/27) | Thanksgiving | - |
| 15 | (11/27 - 12/4) | Graphs and Networks II | E13 Network Characteristics |
| 16 | (12/4 - 12/8) | Exam 2 | Exam 2 |
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Technology Support For this iCourse you will require access a computer capable of running any modern web browser and an active internet connect. The course text is available as standard HTML webpages that have been tested using the Chrome, Firefox, and Safari web browsers. If you encounter issues with the online text, please contact me directly or utilize the online BlackBoard forums.
For additional technical support: https://asuonline.asu.edu/student-resources/technical-support
Academic integrity
Academic honesty is expected of all students in all examinations, papers, and laboratory work, academic transactions and records. The possible sanctions include, but are not limited to, appropriate grade penalties, course failure (indicated on the transcript as a grade of E), course failure due to academic dishonesty (indicated on the transcript as a grade of XE), loss of registration privileges, disqualification and dismissal. For more information, see https://provost.asu.edu/academic-integrity
Disability accommodations
Students who feel they will need disability accommodations in this class but have not registered with the Disability Resource Center (DRC) should contact DRC immediately. The DRC Tempe office is located on the first floor of the Matthews Center Building. DRC staff can also be reached at: (480) 965-1234 (V) or (480) 965-9000 (TTY). For additional information, visit: www.asu.edu/studentaffairs/ed/drc.
Policy Against Threatening Behavior
All incidents and allegations of violent or threatening conduct by an ASU student (whether on-or off campus) must be reported to the ASU Police Department (ASU PD) and the Office of the Dean of Students. If either office determines that the behavior poses or has posed a serious threat to personal safety or to the welfare of the campus, the student will not be permitted to return to campus or reside in any ASU residence hall until an appropriate threat assessment has been completed and, if necessary, conditions for return are imposed. ASU PD, the Office of the Dean of Students, and other appropriate offices will coordinate the assessment in light of the relevant circumstances.