[Fwd: Re: [OSGeo-Edu] Curriculum review]

[Helena Mitasova]

Charlie and all,

Regarding the grassbook NC data set, there is also a simpler version  
available here
http://grass.osgeo.org/download/data.php
(I can provide it as shape files and ArcGrid ascii or other raster  
format as well
if there is an interest)
You may remember my suggestion to create data sets with the same names
as in this data set for different geographical locations and countries  
so that
a single tutorial can be used with data from different places. This  
should make
the development of tutorials more efficient and the students can do  
the assignments
with data from the country they can relate to.

For the larger data set I will be cleaning up the shapefiles and  
rasters as needed and
  adding the official metadata directly to the files. I am also adding  
more
specialized mapsets, such as time series of coastal, lidar based DEMs  
for more
advanced courses.

So what I wanted to say is that I am actively maintaining the data  
sets and have
a lot of class material based on it available (mostly based on the  
grassbook
examples but I keep adding and modifying it as GRASS and our GIS  
program evolves)
and I will be happy to make adjustments or additions
(that do not break existing course and book material) as needed


Helena

Helena Mitasova
Associate Professor
Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
North Carolina State University
1125 Jordan Hall
NCSU Box 8208
Raleigh, NC 27695-8208
http://skagit.meas.ncsu.edu/~helena/

email: hmitaso at unity.ncsu.edu
ph: 919-513-1327 (no voicemail)
fax 919 515-7802




On Nov 4, 2009, at 9:12 AM, Charlie Schweik wrote:

> Hi All,
> I meant to reply to the list, not just to Tyler. For those  
> interested in the Curriculum discussion, see the attached two posts.
> Let's see how far we can take the curriculum effort with a target of  
> a real accomplishment for next year's FOSS4Geo meeting.
> Charlie
>
> From: "Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo)" <tmitchell at osgeo.org>
> Date: November 3, 2009 11:40:13 PM EST
> To: Charlie Schweik <cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu>
> Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Edu] Curriculum review
>
>
> Hi Charlie,
> Not sure if you meant to take this offline. If not, you can move the
> following discussion back onto the list.
>
> We mainly talked about the BoK stuff during the BoF :) My hope in  
> using it
> is that we then at least have something to aim for. So I hope to  
> have some
> well defined thoughts by Friday on a couple aspects of the BoK  
> curriculum.
>
> == Data ==
> 1 - to be able to describe the types of sample datasets required for  
> each
> section (I'll focus on the technology parts of the curriculum, as  
> opposed to
> the more philosophical ones). This way the precise dataset becomes  
> less
> important and other potential contributors can use their favourite  
> if they
> like.
>
> 2 - use the NC Grass dataset as a reference for above
> (http://www.grassbook.org/data_menu3rd.php)
>
> I see the above two points as core and useful, aside from further FOSS
> teaching.
>
> == Tools ==
> 3 - describe the types of tools and, generically, the steps required  
> to
> teach the concept of a section. Likewise with #1, this will follow  
> more of a
> pattern, with #4 teaching a specific. I'm sure it won't be perfect,  
> but
> should let others contributors customise the results to their  
> software of
> choice.
>
> 4 - use a particular OSGeo tool to show #3.
>
> I'll try to use consistent tools and datasets wherever possible, so  
> that
> they flow generally between sections without huge breaks. Also, I  
> will not
> be writing anything about installing or generally using a particular
> software package - that can be another job in the future or may be  
> done
> already for many projects elsewhere.
>
> My hope with the above is that it is somewhat education level  
> independent -
> instead focusing on the GIS&T concepts instead of a particular  
> domain or age
> level. Naturally we could plug/pull differetn datasets or technology  
> to make
> things harder/easier depending on audiences. But I hope that this  
> will be a
> good first start, with a recognised univ. curriculum backing it. How  
> we
> package it and who we package it for may be deferred - at least I  
> hope so
> ;-)
>
> I really would support a funded workshop and will do all I can to  
> help make
> it fly - keep me posted.
>
> Tyler
> ----------------original message-----------------
> From: "Charlie Schweik" cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu
> To: "Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo)" tmitchell at osgeo.org
> Date: Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:16:27 -0500
> -------------------------------------------------
>
>
>> Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo) wrote:
>>> Just an FYI that over the next couple days I'll be meeting with  
>>> Scott
>>> Emmons, a GIS colleague (and fellow FOSS enthusiast) from one of my
>>> nearby universities (http://www.unbc.ca/). A few of us will be
>>> going over some of the curriculum ideas and the Body of Knowledge
>>> guide in face-to-face meetings on campus. I'll be looking a bit  
>>> closer
>>> at some of the points we discussed at FOSS4G and will report back  
>>> here.
>>>
>> Great Tyler. I was thinking that the Body of Knowledge document  
>> might be
>> a good place to start. Another (compatible?) idea might be to try and
>> define
>> curricula for various levels
>>
>> High school
>> Undergrad
>> Graduate
>>
>> (I also find myself wondering what might be different for people
>> studying in different fields. E.g., Geography, versus other natural
>> resource management fields, or some social science fields (e.g.,
>> Anthropology, Public Policy/Administration), etc.)
>>
>> This could get complicated, so perhaps we need to start off with a
>> concrete focus -- e.g., a Certificate Program in GIS supported by  
>> open
>> source technologies -- and then move "outward" from there.
>>
>> From that we might be able to inventory links to content that provide
>> useful information for instructors, such as what we saw in a few  
>> recent
>> posts on the OSGeo listserv. I say these points without refreshing
>> myself on what was said in the BOF -- but hopefully I am in line with
>> what others might be thinking.
>>
>> In short, have your discussion and then let's plan to hold some  
>> kind of
>> group conference call (could we use Skype for something like that  
>> with a
>> potentially large group?).
>>
>> I'd also like to formulate a 2-3 page proposal for a Workshop on
>> curriculum design and see if we can get some US National Science
>> Foundation support for it.
>> I don't know if anyone on this list has access to comparable European
>> (or other country) funding agencies. But what we need first, I think,
>> is a short description of the ideas we have and then what we want  
>> to do
>> in a face-to-face workshop.
>>
>> Cheers
>> Charlie
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
> <cschweik.vcf>_______________________________________________
> Edu_discuss mailing list
> Edu_discuss at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/edu_discuss