Computer Mapping
Computer Mapping is designed to teach you three core skills that will allow you to better understand the world around you.
These include:
- collecting, sorting/filtering, and exploring data
- analyzing data to answer a question
- displaying your findings to share with others
The course is designed to allow you to explore your own interests and answer your own questions. Your final capstone-style project (think PBA) will showcase what you have learned by requiring you to identify an interest, draft a proposal of how to explore that interest, collect and clean the data you will use, analyze the data, and finally create a visualization of findings to share with the class. We will utilize Excel/Sheets, Tableau, and ArcGIS online to handle data analysis, create dashboards, and publish maps for the world to see.
The course will follow a repeating model of:
- A short demonstration of the new skill/concept
- Learning the skill/concept
- Practicing the skill/concept
- Use/demonstrate understanding of skill/concept in a short mini-project
Each skill/concept will be added to your toolbox and will help you produce more interesting and useful mini-projects as you progress throughout the year. Most educational research has demonstrated that repetition of tasks, with intervals in between, leads to the best retention of material. I will endeavor to make skills show up again and again so you will keep them in memory and make completing a final project easier.