As someone who had no background working with GIS or similar software, I managed to get through the course just fine. Its main strength for me was that it was interesting. Otherwise, the way it was taught was less than ideal.

Lecture slides are not very well organized and there can be a lot of going back and forth on concepts. Some of the content didn't even feel relevant to GIS at all. The labs are incredibly useful though, dare I say more useful than the lectures. Even then there was not enough time to spend playing around with the software.

The way Dr. Scott lectures makes it feel like you should already be aware of certain mapping or computer jargon. It is off putting and difficult to grasp when the course is starting out. He seems happy to answer questions when approached. Overall, I have no strong opinions.

Review and annotate lab assignment sheets prior to your lab slot to make the best use of your time with the TAs. Skimming slides before lectures as well.

Overall, I liked this course more than I expected to. Had to take it for my major, but after taking this, it's made me want to pursue the GIS certificate. GIS seems to be a useful skill and the prof certainly highlighted all the future opportunities and how many job opening there are for it. I enjoyed the labs, getting to actually mess around and use the software itself is where I learned the most.

There's a lot of information to take in and remember. I learned mostly from doing, so the labs were very useful. Did great on the assignments (92-97% on all, due every two weeks at first then last few due weekly, TA basically walked us through last few completely so they're fairly easy, plenty of time to complete them during the lab slot) but found the midterm and exam harder, (class average was 62% for midterm). Lots of info to take in from all over the place, but I suppose it is an intro course and GIS seems to have a lot of different uses, types of data, maps etc. so trying to fit it all into one course can be a lot. Pretty much no math, at least in this course, just a few very simple calculations on exams (one was just calculating area). I did appreciate that he did it so only what was...read more

I don't have a strong opinion. He was a fine prof, TA's marked all the assignments and midterm. He has a nice voice idk it was kinda soothing lol. He seemed approachable, and understanding that most people were going into the course with very little to no knowledge. He's obviously been working with mapping and GIS for a while, so seems to know his stuff.

The lectures are important for the midterms, so don't fall behind and try to make sure you understand the concepts. Assignments are good for studying over too, exam asked a few questions directly related to how one of the assignments was done and reused some of the multiple choice questions. Read through assignment guidelines before lab for best use of lab time, especially if the labs are your only access to the software (ArcGIS not available on Mac)