Dr. Jeremy W. Crampton
Associate Professor, Dept. of Geosciences
350 Sparks Building. Office Hours T 1:30 - 2:30
404 413-5771
Email: jcrampton [at] gsu.edu

Required Texts:
Map Use and Analysis, John Campbell 4^th Edn

USGS Topographic Quad (7.5 inch 1:24,000 scale) Milstead, GA. $8 (purchased separately).

Book Website: http://www.mhhe.com/earthsci/geography/campbell4e/

Source: Tom Patterson

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Course Description

What is a map?

We use them almost everyday but what do we really know about them? What is the world's oldest map? What's the most unusual map that's ever been made? What are the different kinds of maps? How is modern digital technology changing maps?

This course provides the fundamental skills, background concepts, and software exposure to maps and geographic information science (GISci). It also covers the skills which will allow you to critically examine maps and geographic approaches and to find their weaknesses and strengths. Among the topics receiving special emphasis will be questions on where to get spatial data, how to map spatial data (how to make digital maps), earth imaging and remote sensing, digital mapping techniques and an introduction to GISci. With all this, you can confidently go on to take other digital cartography and GIS classes.

Grades

Your grades will be determined by your performance on three exercises, a Midterm and Final, as well as five short quizzes on a 100-point scale, as follows:

A = 93% - 100%
A- = 90% - 92%
B+ = 87% - 89%
B = 83% - 86%
B- = 80% - 82%
C+ = 77% - 79%
C = 73% - 76%
C- = 70% - 72%
D = 60% - 69%
F = < 60%

See http://www.gsu.edu/es/20425.html for more information:

"Courses that require a grade of a "B" or a "C" will continue requiring the same. A "B-" or "C-" will not fulfill the requirement.

For the purposes of awarding HOPE, all plus and minus grades will be stripped from GPA calculations. For example, if a student has all B- grades at a HOPE audit and a GSU GPA of 2.70, that student will still maintain HOPE with a HOPE GPA of 3.0. Students will have two GPA’s, one for HOPE that strips all plus and minus from the grades and the other for transcripts and all other matters of academic standing."

Failure to turn work in by the due date will attract a penalty of ten percentage points for every day the work is late. If you do not turn the work in, eventually you will receive a 0% for that assignment.

The Small Print

Attendance

Attendance is required. There is a participation grade in this class (12%), made up from attendance, in-class participation and completion of the labs. I take attendance. For every unexcused absence from class, or incomplete lab, 2 percentage points will be dropped from your participation grade. An excused absence can only be issued prior to the class being missed, or, with proper medical documentation afterwards in cases of medical absences. In cases of prolonged or repeated medical absence (as defined by the instructor, but no less than two absences), the instructor may issue a medical withdrawal. Please turn off all cell phones, beepers and PDAs. This class has a waiting list and if you do not attend during the first week the instructor will drop you from the class.

Math

There is some math in this class: cross-multiplication, ratios and scales. No more than might be expected in high school.

Cheating, Academic Honesty, Plagiarism

This class follows the Georgia State University policy on cheating. A copy of this policy is available on the Web at the GSU section on Academic Regulations or in the Undergraduate Catalog. If you have questions about cheating (or about plagiarism in particular) please do not hesitate to ask me about them. Please be aware that a violation of this policy will result, at a minimum, in a grade of F in this course.

The following language is taken from the Undergraduate Catalog, 2009-10.

"Academic Honesty

I. Introduction
As members of the academic community, students are expected to recognize and uphold standards of intellectual and academic integrity. The university assumes as a basic and minimum standard of conduct in academic matters that students be honest and that they submit for credit only the products of their own efforts. Both the ideals of scholarship and the need for fairness require that all dishonest work be rejected as a basis for academic credit. They also require that students refrain from any and all forms of dishonorable or unethical conduct related to their academic work.

The university’s policy on academic honesty is published in the Faculty Affairs Handbook and On Campus: The Student Handbook and is available to all members of the university community. The policy represents a core value of the university and all members of the university community are responsible for abiding by its tenets. Lack of knowledge of this policy is not an acceptable defense to any charge of academic dishonesty. All members of the academic community — students, faculty, and staff — are expected to report violations of these standards of academic conduct to the appropriate authorities. The procedures for such reporting are on file in the offices of the deans of each college, the office of the dean of students, and the office of the provost.

In an effort to foster an environment of academic integrity and to prevent academic dishonesty, students are expected to discuss with faculty the expectations regarding course assignments and standards of conduct. Students are encouraged to discuss freely with faculty, academic advisers, and other members of the university community any questions pertaining to the provisions of this policy. In addition, students are encouraged to avail themselves of programs in establishing personal standards and ethics offered through the university’s Counseling Center.

II. Definitions and Examples
The examples and definitions given below are intended to clarify the standards by which academic honesty and academically honorable conduct are to be judged. The list is merely illustrative of the kinds of infractions that may occur, and it is not intended to be exhaustive. Moreover, the definitions and examples suggest conditions under which unacceptable behavior of the indicated types normally occurs; however, there may be unusual cases that fall outside these conditions that also will be judged unacceptable by the academic community.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is presenting another person’s work as one’s own. Plagiarism includes any paraphrasing or summarizing of the works of another person without acknowledgment, including the submitting of another student’s work as one’s own. Plagiarism frequently involves a failure to acknowledge in the text, notes, or footnotes the quotation of the paragraphs, sentences, or even a few phrases written or spoken by someone else. The submission of research or completed
papers or projects by someone else is plagiarism, as is the unacknowledged use of research sources gathered by someone else when that use is specifically forbidden by the faculty member. Failure to indicate the extent and nature of one’s reliance on other sources is also a form of plagiarism. Any work, in whole or in part, taken from the Internet or other computer-based resource without properly referencing the source (for example, the URL) is considered plagiarism. A complete reference is required in order that all parties may locate and view the original source. Finally, there may be forms of plagiarism that are unique to an individual discipline or course, examples of which should be provided in advance by the faculty member. The student is responsible for understanding the legitimate use of sources, the appropriate ways of acknowledging academic, scholarly, or creative indebtedness, and the consequences of violating this responsibility.

Cheating on Examinations: Cheating on examinations involves giving or receiving unauthorized help before, during, or after an examination. Examples of unauthorized help include the use of notes, computer-based resources, texts, or “crib sheets” during an examination (unless specifically approved by the faculty member), or sharing information with another student during an examination (unless specifically approved by the faculty member). Other examples include intentionally allowing another student to view one’s own examination and collaboration before or after an examination if such collaboration is specifically forbidden by the faculty member.

Unauthorized Collaboration: Submission for academic credit of a work product, or a part thereof, represented as its being one’s own effort, which has been developed in substantial collaboration with another person or source or with a computer-based resource is a violation of academic honesty. It is also a violation of academic honesty knowingly to provide such assistance. Collaborative work specifically authorized by a faculty member is allowed.

Falsification: It is a violation of academic honesty to misrepresent material or fabricate information in an academic exercise, assignment, or proceeding (e.g., false or misleading citation of sources, the falsification of the results of experiments or of computer data, false or misleading information in an academic context in order to gain an unfair advantage).

Multiple Submissions: It is a violation of academic honesty to submit substantial portions of the same work for credit more than once without the explicit consent of the faculty member(s) to whom the material is submitted for additional credit. In cases in which there is a natural development of research or knowledge in a sequence of courses, use of prior work may be desirable, even required; however, the student is responsible for indicating in writing, as a part of such use, that the current work submitted for credit is cumulative in nature."

Undergraduate Catalog, 2009-10, pp. 83-4.

Withdrawal

The University policy on withdrawal will be followed. Prior to the first exam, any student who withdraws is entitled to a “W.” After the first exam, a “W” will be assigned only if the University policy is followed and the student has an average grade greater than or equal to 60. A “WF” will be assigned if the student has a grade less than 60 and completes the formal withdrawal procedure. If a student does not withdraw formally but stops attending class, an “F” will be assigned.

Computer skills

It is a requirement of this class that you possess the following computer skills:

1. Navigating in windows operating systems (Windows 2000 or later)
2. Creating, moving, deleting or transferring files in Windows
3. Attaching files to an email message using GSU student email system
4. Some experience with spreadsheet software such as Excel
5. Using the Internet (Internet Explorer), downloading images, search engines

If you do not have these skills you will need to acquire them to do well in this class. GSU offers computer classes covering the above topics.