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Geography & Environmental Studies . . . . . . Northeastern Illinois University
Professor Erick Howenstine
SUMMER 2008 SYLLABUS
May 16 - June 24 6-9:25 MW Sci-242 Final: Wed. June 25
http://www.neiu.edu/~ejhowens/377

Learning Outcomes

Acquire and prepare base maps for a cartographic theme
Understand how various types of numeric and qualitative information is symbolized
Understand cartographic principles including use of text, color
Create a legend with all appropriate information
Control the visual appearance of maps to make them aesthetically pleasing
Gain experience creating a wide variety of map themes
Create, manage and display digital images with raster and vector graphic software
Understand cartographic conventions

Welcome to Computer Cartography. Assignments will be done with computer graphics programs, specialized peripheral equipment, and internet resources. Students will submit their maps by publishing to a web directory on their NEIU account. There are two examinations which will be based on lecture, readings, and practical skills developed by way of assignments.

Prerequisite: There is no course prerequisite for 377, but prior experience with computers and/or with maps will be useful.  Read HERE to find out what you should know in advance of the class or shortly thereafter.   The assignments, unless otherwise noted, are to be done independently.  Grades will not be based on the relative performance of  classmates.   This course will serve as a prerequesite for G&ES 387 (Interactive Cartography).

Meeting Place: The Smart Classroom S-242 in the Science Building is on the second floor just to the left as you come up the ramp. This room is equipped with 20 student workstations and a podium projection station. It is not available outside of class.

Lab: You will be given swipe card access to the G&ES, Computer Lab: S252. All necessesary software and equipment is found in that lab.

Instructor:

Professor Erick Howenstine
Office: 344A (3rd floor, NW corner Science Building).
Hours: MW 4-5:50 and easily by appointment.
Telephone + answering machine: (773) 442-5647
Email: E-Howenstine@neiu.edu
Email will be sent to your NEIU email address, if possible, in the case of cancellation.

Graduate Technical Assistant:

Matt Anderson -- Hours and information check here
Has office hours in the laboratory to assist students with their projects; helps maintain labs and performs technical services
Email: apollo5710@yahoo.com

Textbook: 

Required -- Dent, Borden Cartography: Thematic Map Design. 4th or 5th Ed.
Fifth edition is available at Beck's Bookstore.
Or order them in advance from Campus Book FindER or at BestBookBuys (cut & paste the ISBN number)The greatest difference between the two is the insertion of Chapter 6 (GIS) in the Fifth Edition and the combination of chapters 12 and 13, so when I refer to the Fifth Edition Chapters in the syllabus refer to the conversion table (right) for Fourth Edition.

Software:

The primary software for this course is Corel Draw 12.0, a vector graphics program that is similar in function to Adobe Illustrator or MX Freehand. Corel is now on ver 14, so older versions of Corel Draw are very inexpensive; the software is backward compatible. Students will also Corel Photopaint (which comes with the Corel Suite) Microsoft's Paint, Lview, Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer, Surfer, and FTP.

Meeting Places

Classes will take place in the Science Building Smart Classroom (S242)
This room is networked with 20 computers, and outfitted for demonstrations.
It is available to students only during class time.
Students will work in the G&ES Computer Cartography Lab (S-252)
This room has 10 networked workstations and peripheral equipment.
The lab phone is (773) 442-5651 -- ext 5651 on campus.
It allows swipe card access.

Rules

Back up yuor work on a hard drive and on a jump drive, CD-R, or send them via FTP to your university drive.
Shut down computers when finished working on them. Turn off monitors separately.
Don't cover air vents on equipment.
Report any problem to the technical assistant or instructor immediately.
No food or drink is allowed in S-252.
Help to monitor room usage to keep it clean and problem-free.
Substantially presenting someone else's work as one's own will result in an F for course.
Helping one another is encouraged after one's own work is finished, but don't do someone's work for them.
If you are falling behind, let the instructor know immediately. No Incomplete's will be given for procrastination.
Do not install any software on the computers in the lab.
Attendance is required.  Absence more than 3 of course meetings will affect your grade.

Grading

Each assignment will be given a grade with comments and if completed early enough may be resubmitted for more credit up to 6 points.  Each thematic map is worth 7 points, except for the finished direction map which is worth 15.  Exams are worth 15 and 20 percent of the grade, and are a combinaton of multiple choice, matching, true/false, map work, short answer, fill in the blank, and sometimes a small project.  All scores are factored together with their weights but one point can be taken as about 1% of the grade. There may be minor changes to this grading system, as announced in class.

Typical grading scale begins B's at 85%, C's at 75%, D's at 65% and F's under 50.

Attendance will be taken. Missing three classes unexcused will result in one letter deduction. Notify instructor in advance of a class with reason for absences. Missing a half class will be considered an absence.

Preparation for assignments

Lecture outlines and detailed assignments are available from this syllabus by selecting the numbered buttons in the bottom frame. Print handouts and read through them shortly before the class in which they are assigned, and refer to them while completing assignments. There may be changes or additions to the handouts until class time; the date of the last revision to the page will appear at the top or bottom of the assignment. Read the associated chapter of the text before completing the assigment and, if possible, before the lecture.

Submitting and revising assignments

Read this section carefully! Unless otherwise noted, all assignments are due 10 calendar days after they are given.  Until that time assignments may be improved and resubmitted to the instructor with the original comments for a maximum score of 6. To attain excellent grades complete assignments well and in advance of the deadlines, post them to your account and notify the instructor by e-mail.  To expedite matters, please paste the map's URL in the request.  After receiving specific criticism, you may make any necessary changes before the deadline, if time allows. On the other hand, it's not necessary to email a request for grades -- assignments posted without notice to the instructor will be graded after the deadline. Revisions posted after the deadline will not be graded.


I've made the changes you recommended to the map text.gif and would like you to give it a second look.  Below, I'm copying the comments you made earlier. Please see http://www.neiu.edu/~myloginid/377/textmap.jpg
-------------------------------
Michelle -- You've stretched the text over Finland, etc. instead of kerning it -- notice that the letters themselves are stretched.  And over Lapland you skewed the text, were you trying for italix?  Never skew text, and Lapland, a land mass, isn't italicized.  The North Sea is an area so capitalize it, same for all the ....

Graduate credit

Students wishing graduate credit for this course must notify the instructor on Day 1 or Day 2.  For graduate credit, all assignments and exams must be completed and the student must create at least one extra (exemplary) map to accompany his/her own research interests.  A written plan (e-mail) for this graduate level assignment must be approved in advance.  Students seeking graduate credit but not completing the final assignment will receive a grade for the course, but not graduate credit.

Schedule of Assignments


Meeting Activity Date Due Date
1 Mechanics/Intro May 19 May 29
2 Choroplethic May 21 May 31
MEMORIAL DAY
3 P. Circle May 28 June 7
4 Color June 2 June 12
5 Text June 4 June 14
6 Review / pencil direction map June 9 June 19
7 Exam (2 hr) -- scatter dot June 11 June 21
8 Direction map Corel Version June 16 June 25
9 Isarithmic (demo) June 18  
10 Work and review for exam June 23  
11 Exam (comprehensive)
Assignments Due		 June 25  

 

Schedule of Classes


Meeting Day 1

COMPUTING SKILLS: overview of course and mechanics
Windows basics/Unix accounts/e-mail addresses and swipe cards/navigation/file transfer/searching/screen capture/copyright/overview of course
Read: Chapter 1: Introduction to thematic mapping
Read Chapter 7: Mapping Enumeration Data


Meeting Day 2

RASTER GRAPHICS and CHOROPLETHIC: use of enumeration data to make a quick range graded map in grayscale
Base maps/attribute data/raster images/finding base maps/choroplethic mapping/ranges/grayscale/patterns/file conversions/posting assignments
Assignment: Use a base map (provided) to make a  choroplethic map for U.S. States.
Read: Chapter 9 -- Proportional Symbols

Meeting Day 3

PROPORTIONAL SYMBOL MAP Adjust the size of circles or other symbols so their area reflects a quantity
intro vector mapping/cartograms/proportional symbols

Corel Draw tools: sizing/alignment/duplication/grouping/deletion/shadow/masking/containers/exporting
Assignment: Create proportional symbol map with data and base map (provided).
Read Chapter 15: Color

Meeting Day 4

USE OF COLOR using two color themes on the same map
color theory/data types/4-, 8-, 24-bit images/resolution/color conventions/multiple themes/finding data
Assignment: Use a base map (provided) to present a theme using color for quantitative and qualitative information.
Read Chapter 14: Typographics

Meeting Day 5

USE OF TYPOGRAPHICS: text rules and conventions for labels titles and legends, text placement and style/fonts/size/color/alignment/families
Corel Draw tools: artistic & paragraph text/selecting font/new fonts/formating text/symbols/italix/bold/underline/capitalization

Assignment: Crate a text-rich country map using a base map (provided)
Review for exam
Read: Chapter 8:  Thematic Map Symbols

Meeting Day 6:

REVIEW FOR EXAM

and work on maps in class

 

Meeting Day 7

EXAM (2 hr)
STREET DIRECTION MAP: Designing a direction map for a single destination, use of insets
line symbols/detail/landmarks/key points/destination symbol/insets

Assignment: With pencil and paper, create a map to direct people from all distances and directions to a single point.

Read Chapter 4:  Mapping Point Phenomenon

Meeting Day 8

DOT MAP: representing enumerated data with scattered symbols
dot value/dot size/edges/placement/legend

Assignment: Create a scattered dot map for U.S. states or Community areas
(base maps provided)
Read Chapter 13: Elements of Composition


Meeting Day 9


SCANNING AND "HEADS UP" DIGITIZING: use of scanner to create virtual light table for tracing.
resolution/format/overview/adjustments/importing/locking/tracing/viewing working image/exporting.

Assignment: Scan the directional map produced in an earlier assignment, import it to Corel Draw and render it again with vector graphic tools.

More Corel Draw tools for the direction map
special fills and edges/railroads/photos/grids/curves/special symbols/masking roadsigns

Read Chapter 10: Isarithmic Mapping

Meeting Day 10

ISARITHMIC MAPPING: contour mapping and 3D surfaces interpolated from scattered data points
grid interpolation/surface interpolation/z-scale/rotation/perspective vs. orthographic/contour labels, lines, and fills

Assignment: No assignment in the summer term. Demonstration and lecture only.

SHORT REVIEW for final comprehensive exam.

Meeting Day 11:

Final Exam.  All assignments due today
Final Comprehensive Exam schedule: Wed June 27 in S-242: Normal Class time

© Erick Howenstine -- Geography & Environmental Studies 1997-2007
Northeastern Illinois University: (773) 442-5647 Email: E-Howenstine@neiu.edu
not to be used without permission