Course Outline for AGSC 140
COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN PRECISION FARMING II
Fall 2000
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. Walid H. Shayya |
Instructor Contact Information
|
GENERAL COURSE DESCRIPTION:
AGSC 140 is the second of two one-credit courses in the laptop curriculum of Agriculture Science involving the application of selective computer software in site-specific crop management. The course builds on the basic knowledge acquired by the student in AGSC 130 on global positioning systems (GPS) and geographic information systems (GIS). Students enrolled in AGSC 140 will pursue projects that involve the use of GPS and ArcView GIS software. Students will work in groups of 3 to 4 and are expected to present a team report at the end of the course and make presentations in the class using PowerPoint. Each student will also acquire some working knowledge with spreadsheet and database software to complement the computer tools discussed in both AGSC 130 and AGSC 140.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
OFFICE HOURS:
The instructor's designated office hours are on Tuesday (2:00 to 4:00 p.m.), Wednesday (11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon), and Thursday (3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.). Given the nature of the course, students are encouraged to see the instructor on regular basis, during and even outside the scheduled office hours. Students with disabilities who require accommodations to fully-participate in the course activities are requested to contact the instructor within the first two weeks of the semester.
CONTACT HOURS AND CLASS SCHEDULE:
This is a one-credit hour course. The class is scheduled on Tuesdays, 6:00 to 6:50 p.m., Room 201, Charlton Hall. Initially, the contact hour will be used for lecture. Eventually the scheduled hour will be used for group discussions and class presentations.
TEXTBOOK(S):
There is no textbook to buy. Some reading material will either be made available on-line or placed on reserve at the library. However, students enrolled in AGSC 140 will have to be actively involved in acquiring pertinent knowledge from the on-line resources available on web. The following publications may serve as references:
ESRI. 1986-2000. Using ArcView GIS. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, California.
Hurn, J. 1989. GPS: A Guide to the Next Utility. Trimble Navigation, Sunnyvale, California.
Shayya, W.H. 2000. An Introduction to ArcView GIS (web tutorial).
CLASS POLICIES:
GRADE COMPOSITION:
GRADING SCHEME:
The distribution of grades in this course will be based on the A-F College grading scheme. The letter grades correspond to the following percentage scale: A (90-100%), A- (87-89.9%), B+ (83-86.9%), B (80-82.9%), B- (77-79.9%), C+ (73-76.9%), C (70-72.9%), C- (67-69.9%), D+ (63-66.9%), D (60-62.9%), and F (<60%).
TENTATIVE OUTLINE OF TOPICS:
|
|
1 | Introduction to AGSC140 |
2 | Review of GPS |
3 | Review of DGPS and Forming Project Teams |
4 | GPS Equipment and Exercise (to download instructions for using the GPS system in 'pdf' format, click one of the following links: Operating Rover, Operating Base Station, Processing GPS Data) |
5 | Field Data Collection (2-hour exercise) |
6 | Installing ArcView and Quick Introduction to GIS |
7 | Review of GIS (GIS.COM, USGS) |
8 | Using ArcView GIS I |
9 | Using ArcView GIS II |
10 | Field Data Collection |
11 | GIS ArcView Demonstration |
12 | GIS ArcView Extension Demonstration |
13 | Thanksgiving Recess (No class) |
14 | GIS Presentation Using PowerPoint and Group Discussion |
15 | Precision Farming and Course Evaluation |
16 | Project Presentations (Thursday - December 14) |
Individual Team Member Critique Due Date: Friday - December 15 | |
Final Report Submission Due Date: 10:00 a.m. on Monday - 18 December |
*The topics
and corresponding dates listed in the table above are tentative and may be
subject to change during the semester.