GIS Workshops for enhancing spatial analyses in the classroom

Project Report:
29 July 2000

Following up the successful Mellon GIS workshops and seminars of the Summer of 1999, this year Denison and Kenyon offered a one-day seminar at Kenyon College and a five-day workshop at Denison. Joining Dr. Karl Korfmacher as an instructor was Dr. Siobhan Fennessy, a participant of last year’s five-day workshop. Following last year’s workshop, Dr. Fennessy submitted a grant to the Denison/Kenyon Mellon Initiative requesting funds to purchase ArcView at Kenyon. This established a common GIS platform at both schools and enabled this year’s seminar to be conducted at Kenyon.

Four Denison faculty, two Kenyon faculty, and one Kenyon student researcher attended the one-day seminar. Topics covered were examples from the previous year’s workshops, applications in biology, socioeconomic analyses using TIGER census data, and exposure to easily accessible GIS databases (Digital Elevation Models, Digital Line Graphs, Digital Ortho Photo Quads, Digital Raster Graphics, TIGER Census Data, Landsat Imagery, and several Ohio databases available from state agencies). We also exposed the participants to thematic mapping, database query, and printing maps.

The five-day workshop expanded on the one-day seminar by working on one major GIS application per day. Topics by day were 1) importing, creating and organizing a geographic database, 2) working with tabular attribute data (tables), 3) working with map layouts, 4) advanced GIS analyses, such as overlays, buffers, unions, and splits, and 5) printing and exporting maps and images for use in research and teaching. Part of each day was set aside for work on personal projects.

Two Denison faculty, three Kenyon Faculty, two Denison Student researchers, and two Kenyon Student researchers participated in this workshop. Two Denison students served as teaching assistants. Each participant was required to develop a project or application for the workshop, for use in research or teaching functions. At least once a day, participants were requested to share with the others their progress, breakthroughs, and/or roadblocks. Several projects involved collaboration between the students and faculty for a total of six projects:

• An economic/demographic analysis of funeral homes in the South
• A pilot project identifying types of wetlands around Denison and Kenyon
• Creating a digital database for Kenyon’s environmental center
• Creating a digital elevation model for the four quad sheets surrounding Kenyon (and a comparison area in Maine for use in a geology course)
• Digitizing a specific study area for a geologic study in Utah (research and class assignment)
• Creating a basemap and model components for a farmland preservation study/model.

  Karl Korfmacher, Denison University

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