GRADUATE STUDENT ADDENDUM
G&ES 387: Interactive Cartography

Syllabus addendum for graduate students:Applied Research Project and Presentation

In addition to all the assignments required of undergraduate students, graduate students, with supervision, must develop a new lesson which will be presented by the student near the end of the term. Graduate students will investigate a new capability of cartographic software, a new data source or mapping package available on the internet, or a new technique. They will present this to the class, with original handouts, with a demonstration and question/interactive exploration session.

The topic must be approved by the instructor. The research will be supervised by the instructor and the and presentation/demonstration should be well organized, rehearsed, and probably 30-45 minutes in duration. This will be followed by student-led question/answer, discussion, or practice. The graduate student must provide original handouts describing the technique or software thoroughly so that students can replicate the technique or use the software on their own.

Justification:

This assignment elevates the course experience for graduate students in three ways.
Graduate students must use research tools and initiative to locate advanced cartographic tools and methods.
They must evaluate these tools and techniques to identify at least one which is appropriate for G&ES 387 in that it builds upon and extends students’ skills. This will require knowing their classmates. They must independently test these tools or techniques to the point of mastery. They must create written documents describing the technique and clearly guiding students through the process should they try it themselves.

EVALUATION:

Graduate student presentations will be factored in as 25% of their grade, scaling down the weight of all other requirements proportionately. The grade will be a combination of peer evaluation and instructor evaluation.

Students and instructor will assess the presentation on the criteria listed below.

  1. Valuable and relevant technique or skill
  2. Clear, effective presentation
  3. Thorough responses to student questioning
  4. Quality of original materials
For each component a grade of A - F will be given

A. Excellent
B. Very good
C. Good
D. Lacking
E. Missing or very bad