You are a GIS Manager for a non-profit environmental organization where you lead a small team of GIS Analysts. A pre-proposal your organization submitted for a funding opportunity made it past the first round of review. You received an invitation to present your proposal to a panel of reviewers, who will choose between your organization and a pool of competitors for the project award.
Your job is to design a GIS work plan, summarize it in a visual presentation, and convince the panel of judges that your team is the best choice. Your role as a leader is to think through the potential opportunities and obstacles, provide a vision for your team to implement and bring in the project.
At the successful completion of the Final Project, you will:
If you have questions now or at any point during this lesson, please feel free to post them to the Final Project Discussion.
This lesson is two weeks in length and is worth a total of 200 points. Please refer to the Course Calendar for specific time frames and due dates. To finish this lesson, you must complete the activities listed below. You may find it useful to print this page out first so that you can follow along with the directions. Simply click the arrow to navigate through the lesson and complete the activities in the order that they are displayed.
If you have questions now or at any point during this lesson, please feel free to post them to the Final Project Discussion.
SDG image retrieved from the United Nations [1]
You have been applying spatial problem-solving skills throughout this course. In previous lessons, I provided step-by-step workflows illustrating how to use GIS to explore specific environmental scenarios.
Now, it is your turn to apply your spatial skills by designing a workflow from scratch. Workflow planning is not a linear process. It involves loops and iterations, and some dead ends along the way.
There are also multiple correct paths in GIS that will lead to the same end product, so you may need to think through a few different options. I find it easier to design a GIS workflow if I create a visual map of the process like the example shown here, from Lesson 3.
Prezi.com is a great tool for planning complex processes. The program makes it is very easy to compile several ideas in one workspace, rearrange them into groups, and add more details later on as your plans solidify. Unlike Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, Prezi does not impose a linear order on your information. Another helpful feature of Prezi is the ability to include relative scale in your brainstorming map, so main ideas are larger than minor details. This approach makes it easier to break your analysis into several pieces, then focus on one piece at a time. With Prezi, you can also embed screenshots, videos, and other media to keep track of your ideas in a visual manner.
You may make a copy of a Prezi blue circles template [2] and then edit it for your own project. If you are not a Prezi fan, I also recommend Canva.com [3] or ArcGIS StoryMaps [4]. Canva is a cloud-based program that also allows you to map out your own ideas or use built-in templates. And, you will read more about ArcGIS StoryMaps in the required readings and videos section [5].
GIS professionals who communicate well are the ones who get ahead. Effective communication in the GIS field involves researching your audience, choosing language that appeals to them, and communicating how you add value. Most clients and end-users are not interested in the nuts and bolts of GIS. They want to know how they can make better decisions, save money or time, more easily share information, or better reach their organization's goals. A general rule to follow is "simpler is better." The more you can make your products self-explanatory and appealing to your target audience, the more likely your audience is to use them and value your work.
My first boss told me a story that has stuck with me for many years. He said:
"When you take your car to the auto shop, do you want to receive a lengthy report about the model number of the tools the mechanic used, how high they had to raise your car on the lift or the particular order of steps they followed to change your oil or rotate your tires? Probably not. You likely just want to know when you can get your car back, how much it costs, any serious issues you need to address and what will happen if you wait too long to fix them. It's the same with GIS. Your client hired you to handle the technical details because it is not something they are particularly interested in, have time for, or are good at themselves. It's your job to apply your skills to their problem, then translate the results into terms that they care about."
I frequently experience GIS students and professionals tossing around data formats and Esri command names as though they were common verbs and nouns. To most prospective clients and proposal review teams, these are unknown terms. and they will quickly lose interest. My advice here is to avoid them, but when you feel they are necessary, you must remember to provide a definition.
You will need to apply these skills often - for example: when pitching a new project to a client, convincing your boss that your GIS department or team should receive funding, writing grant applications, responding to Request for Proposals (RFPs), presenting your work at technical conferences, or marketing your own portfolio and skills to potential new employers. Creating a communication plan is also an iterative process. Rarely is a first draft a final product.
Consider the questions below as you design your work plan. (You need to demonstrate evidence in your visual work plan that you considered questions in each section for full credit).
Tables | Vectors | Rasters | Present & Share |
---|---|---|---|
Field Calculator | Clip | Raster to Polygon | ArcGIS Explorer Online |
Summary Statistics | Union | Reclassify (Unique Values & Ranges) | Google Earth |
Join | Merge | Reclassify NoData to Values | Screen Captures/Videos |
Calculate Geometry | Dissolve | Tabulate Area | Prezi |
Recode Missing Data | Buffer | Environment Settings | Animations |
Convert units | Feature to Raster | Mosaic | Multi-Dataframe Maps |
Plot X,Y Coordinates | Interpolate to Raster | Raster Calculator - Clip | Graphs |
Change Projection | Raster Calculator - Mathematical Overlay | ArcGIS Online Maps | |
Export Selection | Raster Calculator - Select by Expression | ArcGIS Online Web Apps | |
Region Group | Publish Web Services | ||
Zonal Geometry | |||
Zonal Histogram | |||
Slope | |||
Extract by Attributes | |||
Change Projection |
In the Final Project, we applied spatial problem-solving skills and concepts covered in the course to design a GIS work plan from scratch and pitch it to a client.
The Final Project is worth a total of 200 points (20% of total course points).
Work Plan (Mastery) | Demonstrates conceptual understanding of GIS concepts and operations. (25pts) | Demonstrates an understanding of most GIS concepts, but appears unclear about some. (15pts) | Demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of most GIS concepts and operations. (0pts) | 25pts |
---|---|---|---|---|
Work Plan (Accuracy) | Work plan accurately represents a real-world scenario. (25pts) | Work plan is incomplete or is in some ways unrealistic. (15pts) | Work plan is not plausible to a real-world scenario. (0pts) | 25pts |
Work Plan (Creativity) | Work plan is designed in a creative way utilizing a variety of tools. (15pts) | Work plan shows some creativity but is largely out-of-the-box ArcGIS. (8pts) | Work plan contains little creativity beyond basic ArcGIS tools. (0pts) | 15pts |
Work Plan (Effective Communication) | Work plan is designed in a way that effectively communicates the scenario. (15pts) | Work plan communicates all required information but is a bit hard to understand. (8pts) | Work plan is poorly designed and is confusing or overwhelming to the reader. (0pts) | 15pts |
Work Plan (Follow Instructions) | Work plan includes all required elements (Prezi/Canva/StoryMap, raster/vector/xy, >5 steps, 3 screen captures, etc.). (20pts) | Work plan is missing an element or two. (10pts) | Work plan is missing several required elements. (0pts) | 20pts |
Video Presentation (Effective Communication) | Video conforms to instructions and was produced in a manner that renders it compelling and informative. (25pts) | Video adequately meets requirements but appears hastily produced making it more difficult to follow and understand. (15pts) | Video was poorly produced making it difficult or impossible for the audience to understand the work plan. (0pts) | 25pts |
Video Presentation (Follow Instructions) | <5-minute video is linked. (25pts) | Video is linked but does not conform to instructions. (15pts) | Video is missing. (0pts) | 25pts |
Reflection | Post includes 200-300 words sufficiently discussing the favorite, hardest, and easiest parts of this project. (25pts) | Post is present but does not adequately discuss the experience of working on this project. (15pts) | Posting is missing. (0pts) | 25pts |
Peer Review | A 200-300 word post about another student's project is present and includes 2 positive comments and 1 suggestion for improvement. (25pts) | Post is present but does not adequately evaluate another student's project. (15pts) | Post is missing. (0pts) | 25pts |
TOTAL | 200pts |
If you have anything you'd like to comment on, or add to the lesson materials, feel free to post your thoughts in the Final Project Discussion. For example, what did you have the most trouble with in this lesson? Was there anything useful here that you'd like to try in your own workplace?
This page includes links to resources such as additional readings and websites related to the lesson concepts. Feel free to explore these on your own. If you'd like to suggest other resources for this list, please send the instructor an email.
Links
[1] https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/news/communications-material/#FAQ
[2] https://prezibase.com/shop/blue-circles-free-prezi-template/
[3] https://www.canva.com/
[4] https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/arcgis-storymaps/resources
[5] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog487/node/177
[6] https://community.esri.com/t5/esri-training-blog/use-the-five-step-gis-analysis-process/ba-p/899436
[7] http://www.directionsmag.com/articles/thinking-spatially/123985
[8] https://mediaspace.esri.com/media/t/1_873kz7cj
[9] http://storymaps.esri.com/downloads/Building%20Story%20Maps.pdf
[10] https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/story-maps/mapping/5-principles-of-effective-storytelling/
[11] https://youtu.be/8wY14zHDmEs
[12] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dwZZPj707I&feature=share&list=PL4F5158389507E395
[13] http://storymaps.esri.com/downloads/Telling%20Stories%20with%20Maps.pdf
[14] https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/arcwatch/add-audio-to-your-esri-story-map-tour-app/
[15] https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/2a13814196244a15b185563628593d00
[16] https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstorymaps.arcgis.com%2Fstories%2F42b1a6fe6a524b578becd12c0bee4b4c&data=05%7C01%7Cmgz1%40psu.edu%7C22c6b666f3c64f141b8608dbc05780c5%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C638315254272430239%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2FhHUghuCxD5w1hkjRQAAiqIJFuWTmsDfLJTTe9si7Cs%3D&reserved=0
[17] http://www.audubon.org/plover
[18] https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/insider/five-compelling-story-maps-for-earth-day-2015/
[19] https://youtu.be/sVHmptWMo_U
[20] http://www.arcgis.com/apps/Compare/storytelling_tabbed/index.html?appid=f537896f8e30481e901938eb049a73a0
[21] https://www.duarte.com/resources/books/slideology/
[22] https://hbr.org/2020/01/what-it-takes-to-give-a-great-presentation
[23] http://grants.gov/
[24] https://www.techsoup.org/support/articles-and-how-tos/overview-of-the-rfp-process