PrintGEOG 484 Student Readiness Self-Assess
Offered by: Penn State's Online Programs in Geographic Information Systems
Penn State's Certificate Program in GIS is a 12 credit program that takes approximately one year to complete. The Certificate Program is the first year of the Master of GIS (MGIS) Program.
The typical first year schedule that our students follow is:
GEOG 482: Making Maps that Matter with GIS (3 credits) or GEOG 864: Professionalism and Ethics in Geographic Information Science and Technology (3 credits)
GEOG 483: Problem Solving with GIS (3 credits)
GEOG 484: GIS Database Development (3 credits)
GEOG elective (3 credits)
An alternative schedule might be:
GEOG 482: Making Maps that Matter with GIS (3 credits) or GEOG 864: Professionalism and Ethics in Geographic Information Science and Technology (3 credits)
GEOG elective (3 credits)
GEOG elective (3 credits)
GEOG elective (3 credits)
Which option is best for me? For most people the answer will be the typical first year schedule, which includes GEOG 483: Problem Solving with GIS and GEOG 484: GIS Database Development.
For people with years of hands-on GIS experience, GEOG 483 or GEOG 484 might be skipped.
How to decide?
Before you enroll in GEOG 484 without having taken GEOG 483 you should:
- be confident that you have at your command the skills listed in the GEOG 483: Problem Solving with GIS Learning Objectives list. Go tot he GEOG 483 course syllabus: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog483/syllabus
- be confident that you could complete the GEOG 483 final project assignment. See https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog483finalproject/
- be comfortable with the Esri ArcGIS for Desktop (Advanced) software interface:
- The difference between a GIS between data set and an Esri Map Document file
- Folder/file navigation within ArcCatalog and ArcMap
- Aspects of ArcMap: table of contents, data frame, adding data, accessing toolbars, the Data and Layout views, Extension activation
Next, self-assess whether you should take GEOG 484.
The lessons in Geography 484 cover creation and editing of vector data layers; georeferencing image files; principles of relational database design; acquiring data via the Internet; managing the coordinate systems of datasets; metadata creation and editing; attribute and spatial joins, and thematic mapping for the sake of analysis; and much more. The course is ten weeks in length and the final project spans the last four weeks of the course. The course syllabus for Geography 484 can be found at http://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog484/syllabus
The next two pages describe the GEOG 484 Final Project. If, after reviewing the Syllabus for GEOG 484, you still wonder what you should have a good grasp of, read through the next two pages.
If you have any questions or if you would like to request the GEOG 484 Final Project, data please feel free to ask the instructor at info@gis.psu.edu. (Be certain to add a pertinent subject line to your e-mail.)
ArcGIS for Desktop is required to complete this project.
This site is part of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences' Open Education Resources (OER) initiative.
http://open.ems.psu.edu/