Key facts

Type	Online and Distance Learning
Location	Online
Dates	Wed 2 Oct to Fri 13 Dec 2013
Subject area(s)	Physical Sciences
CATS points	10
Fees	From £220.00
Application status	Applications being accepted
Course code	O13P456BIV
Course contact	If you have any questions about this course, please email onlinecourses@conted.ox.ac.uk.

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Overview

Investigate the power of maps and spatial data to document and illustrate local and global issues. Learn how to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to explore the world around you and share ideas. Apply GIS principles and tools to create your own maps from freely-available online spatial data.

Please note to complete this course you will need to be a reasonably competent and confident computer user. You will also need a computer that conforms to our minimum spec as outlined in the Your computer, http://onlinesupport.conted.ox.ac.uk/TechnicalSupport/YourComputer.php section of the online support site, with one additional requirement for 1GB of free hard disk space (rather than the usual 500MB). Note you must have a broadband connection to study this course as you will be asked to download files over 100 MB.

This course requires downloading 3 items of free software as below, please note you cannot study the course without these.

1. Quantum GIS (QGIS) www.qgis.org/wiki/Download


2. wxGIS http://code.google.com/p/wxgis.


3. Lazy Renamer http://code.google.com/p/lazyrenamer/

You are not required to install these programs before the course begins and the course will instruct you on how to download and install these programs on to your computer.

To the best of our knowledge you should be able to study this course using a MAC, PC or Linux OS. Full instructions are provided for all activities in the course materials. However it is worth noting:

• not all activities on this course are possible using the Safari browser. If this is the browser you currently use we recommend using Firefox which can been downloaded for free from http://www.mozilla.org.


• you will required to download .tar files for some activities, standard windows zip software does not open this file type so you will need to install 7-zip www.7-zip.org.

As before full instructions are included in the course materials.

While TALL IT help will make best efforts to offer assistance as usual, it is unable support using the GIS software itself. Some technical support is available from your tutor and fellow students, but this is not their main purpose on the course and so this should be considered when consulting them. Technical queries beyond the expertise or time constraints of the tutor and fellow students can be addressed to the broader QGIS user community, who may respond at their discretion – instructions on how to engage with this will be provided in the course.

Description

Discover the diverse uses of mapping, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial data, and how they underpin decision-making in every aspect of our lives. Explore and critically appraise maps to gain a better appreciation of the world around you. Learn how to use free open-source software (Quantum GIS) to import, display and analyse spatial data. Collect and integrate spatial data from a variety of sources. Experience realistic tasks in the context of international case studies, which range from resource management, wildlife conservation and leisure hiking to archaeology and disaster relief. Apply your learning to create maps which illustrate your own interests or hobbies, based on sound cartographic principles.

Programme details

Course content:

1. What are spatial data and Geographic Information Systems?
2. Who uses spatial data, maps and GIS, and what for?
3. Understanding spatial reference systems
4. Representing spatial features
5. Interpreting maps
6. Working with raster layers
7. Working with vector layers
8. Introduction to symbology and cartography
9. Making maps
10. Introduction to spatial analysis


1. What are spatial data and Geographic Information Systems?
Explore how maps and spatial analysis pervade our world, and consider the use of maps in the media. Install the GIS software and take your first steps in displaying spatial data.

2. Who uses spatial data, maps and GIS, and what for?
Consider how GIS is used in different industries and leisure activities. Encounter the power and versatility of maps and GIS to illustrate patterns, exploring osprey migration routes in a wildlife case study.

3. Understanding spatial reference systems
Learn how to refer to the spatial location of objects on the earth’s surface, and understand how this translates to locations on a flat map. View and overlay data from a range of spatial reference systems, based on an archaeological case study of Stonehenge artefacts.

4. Representing spatial features
Grasp the difference between discrete spatial objects and continuous surfaces, and learn the characteristics of the two primary data formats (vector and raster) which represent them. Practice working with both data types in a resource management case study on an English farm.

5. Interpreting maps
Interpret the symbols, contours and scale on a topographic map, and learn how to navigate using a compass. Plan travel routes and camping locations for a wilderness hike through Monongahela National Forest, USA, as part of a leisure case study.

6. Working with raster layers
Experience the power of remotely sensed imagery to visualize environmental patterns. Manipulate raster layers in a disaster relief case study, to assess the extent of catastrophic flooding in Pakistan.

7. Working with vector layers
Generate and edit your own vector data by hand-digitizing, and add non-geographic information to your new layers. Extend the Pakistan disaster relief case study by calculating the area affected by flooding.

8. Introduction to symbology and cartography
Explore the art of cartography, and discuss how to communicate your message to a specific audience. Change the way map features are displayed to identify spatial patterns in health risks in Togo, an international development case study.

9. Making maps
Learn how the key elements of a map (scale bar, legend, graticule) allow viewers to interpret your map and understand your message. Apply cartographic principles in a tourism case study to create and export your own map of tourist attractions in Melbourne, Australia.

10. Introduction to spatial analysis
Discover how the utility of GIS extends far beyond map-making. Explore concepts in spatial analysis that will allow you to create new data, identify patterns, and support future decision-making. Propose the location of a new recycling facility in an urban planning case study.

Course aims

This course aims to:
Introduce students to the basic concepts and diverse uses of mapping, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial data, and equip them with the knowledge to create robust, well-documented spatial data and maps for their own purposes.

Assessment methods

Assessment for this course is based on two written assignments (approx 1000 words in total). Students will have about two weeks to complete each assignment.

Level and demands

FHEQ level 4, 10 weeks, approx 10 hours per week, therefore a total of about 100 study hours.

Recommended reading

To participate in this course you will need to have regular access to the Internet and you will need to buy the following book:
Longley, PA, Goodshild, MF, Maguire, DJ & Rhind, DW (2010) Geographic Information Systems & Science, 3rd edition, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, USA.

Teaching outcomes

By the end of this course students will be expected to understand:

- The diverse ways in which spatial data and GIS analyses are applied to help people better understand the world around them,
- How they might source, edit and use spatial data in their own context,
- Good practice for managing spatial data,
- The definition of projections, datums and coordinate systems, and how knowledge of these allows different data sources to be mapped together,
- The importance of metadata to record the source of data, and the degree of precision and uncertainty of spatial or attribute data,
- The difference between raster and vector data formats, and the advantages and disadvantages of each,
- The difference between a GIS layer and the data it represents.


By the end of this course students will be expected to have gained the following skills:

- Locate and acquire online data relevant to their personal interests,
- Import their own data into a GIS from: GPS, hard-copy maps, digital imagery, shapefiles and XY coordinates,
- Manage the spatial references of different data sources to align them within a GIS,
- Manipulate and interrogate layers in a GIS,
- Create basic maps with the elements necessary for readers to interpret them.

Fee options

Programme Fee

Home/EU Fee: £220.00

Non-EU Fee: £295.00

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