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National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis

Core Curriculum-Geographic Information Science (1997-2000) bannerUC Santa Barbara

Core Curriculum-Geographic Information Science (1997-2000)

By the mid-1990s, interest was growing in geographic information science as a discipline based on fundamental geographic concepts that could engage student learning from early childhood to a life-time interest in the infrastructural and intellectual developments required for advances in the modeling of complex environmental and social processes. Seeking to accommodate this need, NCGIA adopted a new approach for a revised core curriculum. It was organized around four major themes:

(1) “Fundamental Geographic Concepts for GIS"—enumerating the concepts and describing their role in human cognition;

(2)"Implementing Geographic Concepts in GIS"—discussing the implementation and handling of geographic concepts in digital computers;

(3) "Geographic Information Technology in Society"—examining the management of these technologies, their implications for society, and the social context in which they are used; and

(4) "Application Areas and Case Studies"—critically examining how GIS is used in various applications.

Each of these four groupings consisted of self-contained teaching units based on a one-hour lecture format of approximately 7 pages of point-form text, with inline sketches and graphics. By placing the materials on-line, the potential existed for instructors or subsidiary project teams to develop supporting structures (e.g., hypertext) to organize the lecture notes and other on-line materials into interactive tutorial systems.

Cover page of Outline of the Core Curriculum in GIScience

Outline of the Core Curriculum in GIScience

(2015)

This outline gives an overview of the units that comprise the Core Curriculum in GIScience, along with hyperlinks to each. Note that hyperlinks are active only from the downloaded PDF document. 

Cover page of Introduction to the Core Curriculum in GIScience

Introduction to the Core Curriculum in GIScience

(2015)

This introduction provides context to the Core Curriculum in GIScience, including its design philosophy, organization of core concepts, editorial procedure, a development timetable, list of original developers and editorial notes. Note that hyperlinks are active only from the downloaded PDF document.

Cover page of Unit 187 - Managing Uncertainty in GIS

Unit 187 - Managing Uncertainty in GIS

(2000)

This unit outlines the issues behind the uncertainty debate; a strategy for managing uncertainty in GIS; approaches to uncertainty reduction and absorption; and future directions in uncertainty management.

Cover page of Units 012-017 - Position on the Earth

Units 012-017 - Position on the Earth

(2000)

Five topics are hilighted in this section: Unit 013 - Coordinate Systems Overview; Unit 014 - Latitude and Longitude; Unit 015 - The Shape of the Earth; Unit 016 - Discrete Georeferencing; and Unit 017 - Global Positioning Systems Overview. These cover topics that are fundamental to understanding the systems of locational reference used in GIS. 

Cover page of Unit 051 - Information Organization and Data Structure

Unit 051 - Information Organization and Data Structure

(2000)

This unit presents an overview of the terminology and concepts pertaining to information organization and data structure in the context of information science and management. The aim is to provide a general but articulate introduction to the principles and methods of information organization, with special reference to geographic information, that serves as a prerequisite for more advanced studies of data models and database in subsequent units.

Cover page of Unit 098 - Uncertainty Propagation in GIS

Unit 098 - Uncertainty Propagation in GIS

(2000)

This unit outlines an introduction to the problem of uncertainty propagation in GIS; the definition and identification of a stochastic error model for quantitative spatial attributes; a description of common error propagation techniques; applications of the theory; and how the results of an uncertainty analysis may be used to improve the accuracy of GIS products.

Cover page of Unit 148 - World Wide Web Basics

Unit 148 - World Wide Web Basics

(2000)

This unit explains the characteristics and the working principles of the World Wide Web as the most important protocol of the Internet. Topics covered in this unit include characteristics of the World Wide Web; using the World Wide Web for the dissemination of information on the Internet; and using the World Wide Web for the retrieval of information from the Internet.

Cover page of Unit 064 - Representing Networks

Unit 064 - Representing Networks

(2000)

This unit covers topics including the basic elements of a network; how networks are represented; commonly used shortest path algorithms; and common application areas in which networks are used.

Cover page of Unit 020 - Maps as Representations of the World

Unit 020 - Maps as Representations of the World

(2000)

This unit considers maps as representations and contrasts maps with other representations of the world. It also contrasts the representational view with other views of maps.

Cover page of Unit 183 - Transportation Networks

Unit 183 - Transportation Networks

(2000)

This unit presents an introduction to transportation networks; basic data structures and some analytical operations; and a discussion of data quality issues.

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