Required Project - 2 options to choose from

• Option 1: Series of lab exercises in ArcGIS (These already include all necessary data.)
  • All labs must be completed by the end of Dead Week (take final exam)

• Option 2: Apply course concepts to your own project (including planned thesis or dissertation). And then during Dead Week, present to the class a poster or web site based on the project, while also turning in an accompanying 10-20 page paper (no final exam). Students wishing to pursue this option MUST still complete the required Arc Marine data model exercise and Labs 1, 2, and 3. In addition, they MUST submit a project proposal with:
  1. Your name, department and email address
  2. Your previous PROJECT experience with GIS (project in a previous GIS course?, previous GIS project experience during an internship or job?)
  3. The question or problem that you would like to address during your analytical project.
  • This is critical! You must use GIS to answer a question. Note that making a map may only be a small part of this. Simply collecting data, putting it into GIS, and making a map, misses the point of this project option!!! The data should be used in such a way as to create new information and this new information should answer a question or result in a management decision. Think about not only answering the question "where is..." but also "where WILL there be...", "how many...", "how much..."
  4. The tentative or expected analysis steps that you will take in order to answer the question or solve the problem.
  5. If not already mentioned above, state where and how you hope to obtain your data, if you don't already have it in hand.

In order to fulfill project Option 2 you should take the knowledge and skills derived from class discussions and readings (perhaps also from the ArcGIS labs), and expand upon these in your project. The project must either incorporate actual GIS analyses or a discussion of planned GIS analyses.

Your Option 2 project for GEO 580 MUST involve FOUR deliverables:

1. ...the use of advanced features in ArcGIS, ArcView, or any other GIS package that you might be working with. And you must use a full-fledged, professional grade GIS, not an image processing package, not Adobe Creative Suite, not Matlab, etc.!
2. ...creating a poster presentation or web site. This will involve succinctly describing the analyses you performed, capturing some of the important graphics, and preparing an attractive presentation within a limited space.

   Here is an example of an excellent poster.

   
   (Click on image for full size)
   
   This is just one example of how you might organize your material: be innovative! Every poster or web site must include an Introduction, Methods, and Discussion/Results, along with your name and department and the words "GEO 580, Advanced GIS". The Methods section of your poster or web site will need to be particulary succinct. Perhaps all you will need for that section is a flow chart.

   Here is a great page on how to make a good poster (www.aspb.org/education/poster.cfm)

   And some tips on making great posters in PowerPoint (www.wfubmc.edu/biomed/tipsheets/ppt_poster.html) or (meeting.apsnet.org/callpapers/Powerpoint_posters.cfm)

   For on-campus students, since we have access to an excellent 36" plotter, you will probably find it much easier to create the entire poster as one document in PowerPoint, Freehand, or some other package, and send your poster document to that plotter.

   Please remember that you can also do your project as a web site instead of a paper poster.

   Need help with web page creation? Have no fear, click here!
   (http://dusk.geo.orst.edu/gis/page_help.html)

   At some point, you should consider developing your own home page, if you haven't done so already, that includes links to your resume/CV and your GEO 580 project. Home page design and creation is not only TONS of fun, but potential employers or major professors may be favorably impressed with a well-designed page that demonstrates your skills and talents.
3. ...preparing a 10-20 page discussion of your project. A Master's or Doctoral thesis proposal is acceptable only if you have never prepared one before, and only if it will have a significant GIS analytical component, to be developed while in GEO 580 (for Geosciences students, this means that you cannot just turn in your previous GEO 518 paper!). Your paper should discuss:
   • Why you selected the topic you did and what your main question or hypothesis is. Can the results be quantified? If so, how and by what measures? An indication that you have read the appropriate literature and carefully thought out your analyses must be clearly evident in your paper. You should also take the knowledge and skills derived from class lectures and associated readings (perhaps also from the ArcGIS exercises), and expand upon these in your project.
   • How you collected your data (already available? what formats, projections, precisions/accuriacies. Did you obtain or create applicable metadata?
   • How you processed your data (conversion to GIS format? importing? projecting or reprojecting?)
   • Steps taken in your GIS analysis (or planned steps). This MUST include a flow chart of the GIS analysis steps! An ArcGIS ModelBuilder diagram is an excellent example of a flow chart that should be included. This is essentially your GIS analysis model.
   • A general discussion of your findings and a summary or conclusion. What is the answer to your question or your final decision and why? What future steps need to be taken? Where do you need to go from here.
   
   Please include a title page, abstract, full list of references, and appropriate figures and/or tables. Please turn this paper in to me right after you give your oral presentation in class (i.e., have it done and ready to turn in before class that evening that you are presenting). You can also save a tree and email it to me right before class as an MS-Word attachment, which is actually preferred because then I can use MS-Word Track Changes to directly insert comments and return to you..

4. Presenting your poster or your web site to the class during Dead Week. Distance education students will "present" their projects to the class using the Discussion Board in Blackboard (logistical details on this forthcoming).

There are a large number of databases available on the Internet that you might use for your project. A good place to start is the campus GIS web page listing data sets available on campus. For instance, check out www.geo.oregonstate.edu/ucgis/datasoft.html. Other useful sites for data can be found on the GEO 456/565 site (dusk.geo.orst.edu/gis/projects.html#data). Another interesting place is the Manifold Free Data page (www.manifold.net/updates/data_downloads.shtml, but data are in Manifold GIS format).

Evaluation scale used for Option 2 projects (100 points possible):

Past Projects

Last update: April 10, 2011
http://dusk.geo.orst.edu/buffgis/project.html