ES - TLT 368, Summer 2013 - Course record

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Last updated: Jun 17, 2013Version comment
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 Session 1 - Wednesday, 22 May

Before class

  • If you can, get into CourseSite and poke around

During class (ppt)

  • Introductions
  • Going through the first part of the syllabus
  • Online resources for you to use
  • Software tools–things you might want to download are here.
  • Going through second half of syllabus: Assignments we'll be doing
  • Topics of interest in this course
  • Guiding principles for the course
  • Activity: Where should we place the SuperMart? Here are the handouts (instructions, analysis form); choose your dataset
  • Back to "Topics of interest"
  • Closure

After class

  • Reading
    • Bodzin & Cirucci, 2009
    • Broda & Baxter, 2003
    • Optional: Snyder & Hammond, 2012
  • Assignments
    • Download and mess around with Google Earth (brief video introduction); find your Birthday Coordinates!
    • WTL
      • Post your selected Birthday Coordinates to the WTL thread.
      • Brainstorm topics for your upcoming assignments (Google Earth & GIS) and final project

 

 

No class on Memorial Day, MONDAY, 27 May.

 



 Session 2 - Wednesday, 29 May

Before class

  • Complete reading
  • WTL
  • Download and try out Google Earth

During class (ppt)

  • Housekeeping
  • Conceptual work
    • Opening activity: Let's go outside! Scaffolded geocaching
    • De-brief of activity
    • Learning the concepts: Spatial thinking is...
    • Learning the tools: Google Earth how-to: You've collected your data, now what?
      • Example of a Google Earth project I'm fiddling with: Energy extraction in Pennsylvania – here's my current draft of the file. 
    • Learning the pedagogy: Examples of K-12 instructional sequences following recipe #1 (students' hands-on collect / plot / interpret)
      • Trees, cars, and carbon activity. The webpage calculator I'm using is here.
      • Broughal: Online resources here. (See publications cited for more info)
      • Bodzin: Stream monitoring (see optional reading to follow up from this session)
  • Closure

After class

  • Reading
    • Ferster, 2013, Ch. 1
    • Optional: Golledge, 1995
    • Optional: Bodzin, 2008 (the stream study)
  • Assignments 
    • WTL – try reading and responding to a classmate's topic ideas
    • Download (and try out, but you may want to hold off) a GIS – see links in CourseSite. My recommendation is My World GIS, version 4.1, but you can choose whatever you like. 

 Session 3 - Friday, 31 May

Before class

  • Complete reading

During class (ppt)

    • Housekeeping
      • Everyone is launched in CourseSite -- don't forget to keep up with WTL
      • How is everyone for software?
        • Google Earth
        • AEJEE
        • My World (using trial download)
      • Sign up for meeting times next Wed. 
    • Conceptual work from last class: Reviewing pedagogy, focusing on recipe #1 (collect - plot - inspect)
      • Trees, cars, and carbon activity. The webpage calculator I'm using is here.
    • Conceptual work: Moving from Google Earth into GIS: AEJEE, and My World
      • Organizing framework for geospatial tools: LINIQES: Load, interface, navigate, inspect, query, edit, save
      • Google Earth
        • Load
          • Mix of client-side and server-side data.
          • Satellite imagery: What are we looking at? Mix of current and dated material (see imagery date in lower left); it's only as good as "they" let you have (e.g., contrast One Observatory Circle vs. 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW)
          • Layers -- my recommendation is to turn OFF as much as possible. But I do like leaving 3-D buildings on...sometimes turns up fun surprises (for example, Amsterdam!).
          • File > Open to load a .kml or a .kmz. For our demo, we'll use this file that I created while trying to craft a lesson about energy extraction in Pennsylvania. It's interesting b/c it has points, lines, associated links, uses the history feature, etc.
        • Interface
          • Sidebar vs. display area vs. toolbar
          • Sidebar on and off
          • Navigation tools on, off, or auto
          • Sidebar fields: Search, My Places, Layers
        • Navigate
          • Search box, or
          • Double-click on an item in a list (Search or My Places)
          • Double-click on any point on the globe to go there.
          • Navigation tools: Tilt/pan, move NSEW, zoom in/out
        • Inspect
          • Single-click to open up info box.
          • Right-click and select "Properties" or "Get Info" -- gives more access to point/line/polygon data (e.g., lat/lon, URL of any imported images). More importantly, you can EDIT items in this mode (see below)
        • Query
          • Actually, not much we can do here beyond typing in search terms.
          • Some of the other tools are handy--use the ruler to measure, use the time-of-day feature to look at shadows, historical imagery to see earlier images, and the newest Easter egg that I've found: Show elevation profile (draw a path and right-click it!)
          • (And of course Google Earth is not just Earth -- View > Explore gives you options of Earth, Sky, Moon, and Mars!)
        • Edit
          • Add something new: either
            • Search for it and then drag it into My Places and work on it, or
            • Click on Add Placemark, Add Polygon, or Add Path.
          • Editing something once it's been created: Open up Properties (or Info) and modify.
        • Save
          • For our purposes: Right-click the item, folder, or file name and "Save Place As"
          • You can also
            • Save out snapshopts
            • Record a tour
            • Move into Google Maps
      • AEJEE - Note that this runs on Java, so it requires a Java Runtime Environment...and some patience.
        • Load
          • All client-side data. We'll start by loading a blend of demo, downloaded, and self-generated data.
            • Loading demo data: File > open > us_hd.axl. (In case you need to browse to this: The file path is ESRI\AEJEE\Data.) What you're looking at: spreadsheets rendered visually. But we'll get to this in "Inspect"
        • Interface
          • Similar to Google Earth: tools across the top, left-hand layers, main area = display
          • Note importance of layers
            • Turn on/off
            • Re-order (e.g., pull cities layer down in the stack)
        • Navigate: Move about the map in at least three ways
          • Drag the map around
          • Zoom in/out
          • Zoom to full extent or active layer
          • BEWARE getting zoomed in or out too far -- correct using "Zoom to" tools (select layer and then zoom to it)
        • Inspect
          • Identify tool ('i') -- can be hard to use unless you're properly zoomed in.
          • Finder (Binoculars)
            • Try looking in the 'cities' layer for 'Denver'
            • Repeat this for 'San' -- select all the results and look at them on the map. What was expected? What was a surprise?
        • Query
          • Query-builder: Try POP_CLASS = 10. Repeat with POP_CLASS = 9, POP_CLASS >= 9
          • Table of results and displays on map.
        • Edit
          • Modify visuals
            • Right-click cities and select 'Properties'
            • Code cities by POP_CLASS, all one size, use color to differentiate ranks (e.g., red for highest rank -- largest cities -- and green for lowest rank)
            • Right-click states and select 'Properties'
            • Bring up 'Labels' tab and select STATE_NAME
          • Modify data -- all done in spreadsheet editor
            • Add new fields to existing layers: add a column, don't make the new column name more than 10 characters! Save as tab-delimited text
            • Creating new layers: MUST edit outside of AEJEE, bring it in.
              • Can add point data fairly easily -- just give it a lat and a lon
              • Adding lines or polygons is much trickier. Take a look at the demo files of 10grid_hd.axl and 10gridpn_hd.axl to get a sense of this.
        • Save
          • Saves out as ArcXML (axl) files; viewable in Arc products.
          • HOWEVER: Note that each project file is pretty tiny (just a couple kilobytes) -- they're referencing the REAL data sources, down in the data folders. So if you're trying to move data around, move both the project file and the data sources.
      • Transitioning from AEJEE to My World: Just to demo the limitations of AEJEE, let's load some non-demo data
        • Here is a web directory with files with the streets for our immediate surroundings.Go to the directory and download the listed files (Note that part of the challenge in using AEJEE is just file management....)
          • Lehigh County streets
            • Lehigh shp
            • Lehigh shx
            • Lehigh dbf
          • Northampton Country streets
            • Northampton shp
            • Northampton shx
            • Northampton dbf.
        • WHAT TO DO WITH THESE FILES
          • Download them all to the same folder / location, make sure you know how to find them.
          • Hit the "Add data..." button (between 'Print' and 'Remove layer') and browse to where you stored the data; you should see the .shp files there. Select them and they will become new layers.
          • And here is our scaffolded geocache data as tab-delimited text. Save this file to your machine, then do View > Add Event Theme. Browse to where the .txt file is, select it. BE SURE to specify 'lon' as the X Field, and 'lat' as the Y field.
          • Given that this is pretty boring (b/c we can't see Iacocca Hall -- we don't have the satellite image here, and we don't have a polygon for Iacocca), you can also look at some (very dirty) sewer data for the Southside: sewers.txt – use the same process as before.
      • My World
        • Load
          • Here, everything is built in: The "Construct" tab is where you assemble your data. You can add your own custom data, but for the moment, just
            • Set the Library to "United States"
            • Pull the following to the "Layer List" column: U.S. States, Counties, Rivers, Major Highways -- whatever you like.
            • To get our geocache data: Do File > Import Layer From File. Browse to wherever you stored the file, and note that this program is a little smarter -- given lat and lon, it recognizes them automatically.
        • Interface: You have the usual menus, but the tabs are the key
          • "Construct" is where you assemble the dataset
          • "Visualize" gets you more screen space and lets you see what's in each data layer. This is also a good place to re-order / re-stack layers, adjust colors, icons, turn layers on/off, etc. (You can do these in "Construct" as well, but you'll have a more cramped screen.)
          • "Analyze" is where you run your queries.
          • "Edit" lets you change your data set or add new layers from your own data.
        • Navigation:
          • The same tools and concepts apply: drag, zoom, zoom-to-active
          • Important new tool: Step forward / step back among views
        • Inspect: You still have an Inspect tool, but you can do a lot more browsing using the records fields to the right.
        • Query
          • This is actually pretty different: The Analyze tab is where you do this, and it's all split out by function. Note that this tool lets you do a lot of math (calculations, graphs) as well as maps. For example: Figure out a series of steps to see if the %age of older persons really is higher in Florida, Arizona, etc.
          • Another bit of added value: You can save your queries / analyses as new layers. For students, this is VERY handy.
        • Edit
          • Obviously, the Edit tab is the place to be. Double-click on a layer and you can see the spreadsheet, add new records (entries) or new fields (characteristics to existing records).
            • Time permitting: Example of adding new data to an existing data file: I've done a little work moving some Holocaust data into GIS. Sources are these two graphs from Yad Vashem: 1, 2. Finished version of file:Jewish populations circa Holocaust ver01a.m3vz
          • You can make an entirely new layer (points, lines, polygons, etc.) by clicking the "Create A New, Empty Layer" button (the sheet-of-paper looking thing)
        • Save
          • The important thing here is to do "Save Project As..." to preserve (a) the integrity of the original data, and (b) whatever changes / analyses you've made.
    • Closure: More thinking about assignments

After class

  • Reading
    • Ferster, 2013, Ch. 2
    • Doering & Veletsianos, 2007
    • optional: Edelson, 2004
  • Assignments
    • WTL
    • Work on Google Earth assignment

 

 Session 4 - Monday, 3 June

Before class

  • Complete reading

During class (ppt)

  • Housekeeping
  • Conceptual work
    • Re-visiting our GIS discussion, this time with a mandated hands-on component: Download and try out this file: Af-Am_pop_1790-1870_ver02.m3vz. Basically, put this assertion to the test.
    • Main idea: A geospatial tool is only as good as its data. Especially a GIS. (Google Earth has such a wealth of info built in, from the satellite imagery to the terrain features to elevation to the layers that you can usually make SOMETHING good happen. But yes, a little external data goes a long way.)
    • Data-searching
      • It's a mess. Case-in-point: Federal Geographic Data Committee. Aim = "'one-stop'access to all registered geographic information and related online access services within the United States." Their portal (gos2.geodata.gov as of this writing) doesn't load. Best case scenario = hit-or-miss
      • US = most data-rich environment; Europe also pretty good. China = black hole. Other parts of the world: Data exists for some topics, depending on if a govt or NGO has taken an interest. 
      • My master list = http://delicious.com/tchammond/dataSources+TLT394, but we can break it down for a little additional clarity.
    • Proving to yourself that you can do this
    • Finding maps
      • Advice
        • First, know what's in the built-in libraries for My World, AEJEE, ArcGIS, etc. In general, you can get a map from any one system into another
        • Things to know about going in: Map projections. Unfortunately, I don't have any slick suggestions with this. Just pay attention to the documentation, play around with it to get it to work. Or else cross your fingers and hope you get lucky. 
      • Strategies
    • Finding fields
      • Advice
        • Again, pay attention to what's in the built-in data for your software.
        • Things to know about going in: You might get the data in a spreadsheet, not a GIS file. You then play with it to get it into your GIS, but that's a second step. First, just get your hands on it; worry about how to import and display it later.
      • Strategies
  • Closure on data-searching: Very much a topic in evolution. I learn from others (e.g., Shannon White: http://www.geog.missouri.edu/grad/white.html – see her delicious list at http://delicious.com/shwhite...it has 3500+ links!!). Talk it through, support one another, browse the master list (http://delicious.com/tchammond/dataSources+TLT394) and web-walk through delicious or other sources to find the right stuff for you. This is one of the biggest time sucks of geospatial tools, but there's no easy, magical way through it short of changing topics to something with more accessible maps or data fields.

After class

  • Reading
    • Edelson, Smith & Brown, 2008
  • Assignments
    • WTL
    • Complete and turn in your Google Earth proof-of-concept!

 

 Session 5 - Wednesday, 5 June – class canceled due to travel. Meetings instead moved to Friday, June 7

Before class

  • Complete the reading.
  • Complete and turn in your proof-of-concept Google Earth documents

During class (no ppt)

  • Meetings
    • 4:00-4:20 = Tierney G.
    • 4:20-5:00 = Susan E. & Tiffany S
    • 5:00-5:20 = (open)
    • 5:20-5:40 = Matt S.
    • 5:40-6:00 = Adi A.
    • 6:00-6:20 = Joe K.
    • 6:20-6:40 = Yesenia A.
    • 6:40-7:00 = Dan P.
    • 7:00-7:20 = Karina T.  

After class

  • Reading – none
  • Assignments
    • WTL
    • Complete and turn in your Google Earth assignment. Don't forget the commentary / reflection file!

 Session 6 - Friday, 7 June

Before class

  • Complete and turn in final Google Earth assignment. If you need more time, let me know. 

During class (no ppt)

  • Meetings
    • 4:00-4:20 = Tierney G.
    • 4:20-5:00 = Susan E. & Tiffany S
    • 5:00-5:20 = Dan P.
    • 5:20-5:40 = Matt S.
    • 5:40-6:00 = Adi A.
    • 6:00-6:20 = Joe K.
    • 6:20-6:40 = Yesenia A.
    • 6:40-7:00 = Dan P.
    • 7:00-7:20 = Karina T.  

After class

  • Reading
    • (posted late): Read Milson, Demirici, & Kerski, Ch. 1. Read or skim two other chapters, just to get a sense of different models of instructional GIS use around the world. Some chapters are pretty boring / thin; others offer a lot of interesting detail. For example, the South Africa chapter offers three case studies that give a sense not just of the models of GIS use but also the very different educational ecosystems that exist within that country. 
  • Assignments
    • WTL
    • (If you haven't already) Turn in your final Google Earth project. 
    • Work on GIS assignment. Proof-of-concept is due Wed, 12 June!

 Session 7 - Monday, 10 June

Before class

  • Complete readings
  • Turn in assignment
  • WTL

During class (ppt)

  • Housekeeping
  • Conceptual work: Geospatial technologies: GPS, Google Earth, GIS...what else?  Basics of map design
    • Web-based geospatial tools
      • What are we talking about?
        • Well, first let's observe one of our client-side tools as it grabs data from the web: Dynamic data links in Google Earth. Where is this data coming from? Why does this matter? 
        • Now let's go the other way: Take a client-side tool and stick it in the browser: Google Maps, individuals' maps, & mash-ups. As an example of a pretty hot new mash-up: Mapnificent. How is this like a GIS?
        • A counter-example: this is NOT what we're aiming for: US Holocaust Memorial & Museum - Holocaust History - Animated Maps.
      • The importance of going online
        • What's awesome: Ubiquity, data-updating
        • What's less-than-awesome: Browser-/plug-in-dependence, locked-off datasets, designer-limited controls.
        • Let's discuss these trade-offs in the context of the Environmental Literacy & Inquiry project, using the Energy unit's online map: gisweb.cc.lehigh.edu/energy.
      • A sampling of browser-based tools
        • Light-weight, mark-up and display only
        • Heavier-duty, analytical tools
          • Fieldscope.us 
            • Collaborative effort among National Geographic, ThinkFinity, and others. Note that this is where the thinking behind My World has gone: Education Foundation Board.
            • Lots of static material, and look-what-we're-going-to-do stuff. Example of printable map builder: MapMaker 1-page maps.
            • Heart = online datasets+world map: MapMaker Interactive.
          • Esri goes online
            • (First, know that the ELI materials you looked at last week are all a local install of these same tools.)
            • ArcGIS.com.
              • Like Fieldscope, voila an interactive map with different datasets to overlay on it. 
              • Different from Fieldscope (at least as of June, 2012): Can create custom maps, don't just have to use pre-existing content: Example custom map using our scaffolded geocache dataset. 
              • And now to pivot towards map design: Here's another map in ArcGIS.com, this timeCivil War Eastern Theater battlesites.
                • I want a basemap circa 1861...where can I get one???
                • I want a color scheme that doesn't go through something ridiculously light-colored – how can I get one??
            • ArcWeb Explorer. (Note: When i try to launch it, I get an error message!)
          • VisualEyes. Sample project: Thomas Jefferson's travel and correspondence, spring of 1786. And here's how things work on the back end, building the map+datasets that you see. 
          • And something else entirely: GapMinder.org. Does this count as a geo-spatial tool? Kind of. What they've done, though, is favor other dimensions (e.g., time) over the geospatial dimension – they're using X-space and Y-space to capture cross-referenced data over time, not over space. Same data structure, different visualization choice.
      • The future of geospatial tools = mobile, web-based; personalized? 
    • Map design
      • Quickie overview of visual design
        • ...apologies for repeating items from TLT 406, but they're necessary stage-setters
        • To discuss correlation vs. causation, in addition to Snow's cholera map, I'm lifting a map from this article about maps and advocacy in The Economist.
      • Map design issues, examples
      • Playing with perception
  • Closure

After class

  • Reading
    • Ferster, Ch. 6
  • Assignments
    • WTL
    • Complete and turn in proof-of-concept of GIS assignment. If you're working in My World, that's just a single GIS file. If you're working in another GIS, you'll have to turn in multiple files (e.g., .shp, .dbf., .shx, and the project file)
    • WTL

 Session 8 - Wednesday, 12 June 

Before class 

  • Complete reading
  • Complete and turn in your proof-of-concept GIS assignment

During class (ppt)

After class

  • Reading – none between now and Monday
  • Assignments
    • WTL
    • Sign up for a meeting slot for Monday.
    • Complete and turn in your final GIS assignment
    • Start working on your final project!

 Session 9 - Monday, 17 June

Before class

  • Complete reading

During class (no ppt – just meetings)

  • Meeting times
    • 3:30 - 4:00 = Dan P.
    • 4:00 - 4:15 = Matt S.
    • 4:15 - 4:30 = Tierney G.
    • 4:30 - 4:45 = Karina T.
    • 4:45 - 5:00 = Susan E.
    • 5:00 - 5:15 = Tiffany S.
    • 5:15 - 5:30 = Joe K.
    • 5:30 - 5:45 = Yesenia
    • 5:45 - 6:00 = Adi A.
    • 6:00 - 6:15 = Raj R.
    • 6:15 - 6:30 = (open)
    • 6:30 - 6:45 = (open)
    • 6:45 - 7:00 = (open)

After class

  • Reading
  • Assignments

 Session 10 - Wednesday, 19 June 

Before class

  • Complete readings

During class (ppt)

  • Housekeeping
  • Conceptual work
  • Closure

After class

  • Reading
  • Assignments

 Session 11 - Monday, 24 June 

Before class

  • Complete reading

During class (ppt)

  • Project presentations
    • Dan P.
    • Karina T.
    • Raj R.
    • Matt S.
    • Tierney G.

After class

  • Reading
  • Assignments

 Session 12 - Wednesday, 26 June

Before class

  • Complete readings

During class (ppt)

  • Project presentations
    • Joe K.
    • Yesenia A.
    • Susan E.
    • Tiffany S.
    • Adi A.

After class

  • Reading
  • Assignments

 

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