Grades for undergraduate students:
A series of labs, exams, projects and class participation according to the following proportions:

Unit	Proportion
Labs	50
Quizzes	10
Class Participation	10
Mid-Term Exam	15
Final Exam	15

Grades for Graduate students:
Similar components to above with the addition of a semester project which will entail a poster and presentation at the end of the semester.

Unit	Proportion
Labs	50 (40 with class projection option)
Quizzes	10
Class Project (optional)	(10)
Class Participation	10
Mid-Term Exam	15
Final Exam	15

Labs exercises will be a series of assignments requiring you to apply your knowledge of GIS theories and problem solving skills using ArcGIS and other software. A portion of the regular class lectures will be dedicated to software techniques, but you will also be required to independently learn certain software techniques on your own. The lectures will give you sufficient understanding to complete the assignments conceptually and teach you how to use software resources to accomplish specific tasks. This will give you the background necessary to expand your knowledge beyond the content of the course. See the policies page for information regarding late penalties.

Quizzes are unannounced and focus on software steps. Mid-terms and exams focus on conceptual issues rather than software issues. If you rely too heavily on group work to complete your lab assignments you will find you have great difficulty with the quizzes.

The mid-term and final exam will cover a combination of readings, lecture and material from the lab assignments. The final exam is comprehensive.

Class Projects:

Students may optionally choose to complete a semester project in G538. I also encourage undergraduate students who have a special interest in GIS to also do a class project - but there is certainly no requirement for you to do so. While it seems a ways off, you should already be thinking about what kind of project you might want to do.

There are two types of projects that you can choose from:

1) Research project (poster + up to 15 page paper addendum excluding figures)
2) Build a GIS application (poster + up to 15 page paper addendum excluding figures)

The first project consists of a research question/topic, some data collection, analysis, and discussion of results. The basic outline for presenting your project is as follows:

1) introduction - describe research question, justification/rationale, relevant literature
2) study area
3) data
4) methods
5) analysis and results
6) discussion

The second is a bit fuzzier, but this is an option meant to accommodate students who may wish to build a user application within a GIS. An example would be building a GIS and graphical user interface that is used to query data for a certain topic. One student last year had a project where she compiled data on covered bridges in Indiana and built a user interface to access these spatial data.

For each of these types of projects your grade will be based on a poster (maximum dimensions 4' x 4') that describes your the project data, methods and results (see above outline), and an up to 15 page addendum that allows you to elaborate on points/issues you may feel are too briefly addressed in your poster. You will also do a brief presentation the last week of class that summarizes your project (this is tentative and subject to scheduling to be resolved later in the semester).

Grades will be assigned based on the following criteria:

1) Data and Methods (35%) - appropriateness, level of difficulty

2) Completeness (50%)- are the 6 major sections (Intro, study area, ...) addressed sufficiently? Does the discussion section convey an understanding of error issues and other shortcomings of the research?

3) Presentation (15%) - quality of poster, writing in addendum (coherence, organization, grammar)

You should turn in a one page abstract of your project by October 3. I'll use that to identify if your project looks too ambitious given the constraints of a semester long project. In particular, carefully consider what data you'll need for your project as data construction can be a huge time sink in GIS projects. The idea of doing a project at this point may seem daunting, but it is certainly possible to identify a concise, focused and feasible project that will hopefully address research you are or will do for your thesis/dissertation.

Please feel free to schedule a time to meet with me to develop your project concept and plan.

If you are having trouble developing a project on your own, or don't know where to find data, then come and see me and I can give you a few ideas using the copious amounts of data we have on various research projects going on here at IU. I am always willing to answer questions you may have about your processing challenges at any time. If these challenges can be addressed earlier rather than later in the semester then the chances of you developing a successful project will be dramatically improved.