Published on GEOG 588: Planning GIS for Emergency Management D7 Upgrade (https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog588)

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Lesson 10: Term Project

Lesson 10 Overview

Long and winding road at South Point [1] on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Source: Anthony Robinson.

This week concludes our course on planning GIS for emergency management. There is no new content to cover this week. Instead, you will be finishing your term project report and developing a short video presentation of your term project to share with your classmates. We will have a mini-conference where we will view the videos you make and discuss them.

Objectives

At the successful completion of Lesson 10, students should be able to:

  • complete your final term project report;
  • create a presentation that describes your term project;
  • participate in a mini-conference with your classmates by sharing your presentations.

Questions?

If you have questions now or at any point during this week, please feel free to post them on the Lesson 10 Questions and Comments Discussion in Canvas.

Checklist

Lesson 10 is one week in length. Please refer to the Calendar in Canvas for specific timeframes and due dates. To finish this lesson, you must complete the activities listed below. You may find it useful to print this page first so that you can follow along with the directions.

Steps for Completing Lesson 10

Step Activity Access/Directions
1 Work through Lesson 10. You are in the Lesson 10 online content now. The Overview page is previous to this page, and you are on the Checklist page right now.
2 Finish Revising your Term Project. On Page 5, I provide some tips for finishing your Term Project. When you are ready, submit your final Term Project according to the instructions given on Page 5.
3 Participate in a Mini-Conference. On Page 3, you will find instructions for creating a short video presentation on your Term Project. You will submit this video in the dropbox I've provided in Canvas, and we will all have an opportunity to view the full collection of Term Project videos on a special page I will create on Page 4.
4 Complete the course evaluation. Go to Page 6 for instructions on where to find and complete the course evaluation for GEOG: 588

 

Mini-Conference Assignment

Mini-Conference Assignment

As indicated in the term project assignment instructions at the start of this class, I want to cap off this term with an online mini-conference. Each of you will have the opportunity to present a very brief slideshow to your classmates that describes your term project.

The most reasonable way for us to see multiple presentations given our scheduling constraints is for each of you to record your short talk on your computer and upload a video to Canvas. I will then create a video collection here that all of us can easily browse.

Guidelines for your video:

  • Must be no longer than five minutes (no exceptions!)
  • Outline the topic you chose, brief background, and key contributions of your work.
  • Your voiceover should cover the details, use your slides for key points only and to present graphics and photos that help explain the story.
  • Do not try to go into extreme detail in five minutes - the idea here is to provide a quick teaser to your work that would entice someone to read your final report.
  • Creativity is encouraged!

To make your video:

  • First, you have a few options for screen capture tools. I recommend using Jing [2], which requires a small download, but works quite nicely. 
  • Second, record your screen with Jing while you give your five-minute presentation.
  • Third, check your video to make sure the slides are visible and the audio is clear. Using a headset microphone is normally the best way to ensure decent audio quality.
  • Fourth, if you are using Jing, click the "Save" button to save your video locally. Jing generates .SWF files, so you should end up with a presentation with that file extension.
  • Finally, you should upload your saved video file to the Lesson 10 Mini-Conference Dropbox in Canvas.
  • Once I see your video in the dropbox, I'll add it manually to the Mini-Conference page for everyone to see.

Term Project - Final Version

This week provides you with your last opportunity to finish revising your term project paper. Make sure you have addressed the issues I pointed out in my review of your first draft. If you have questions about your changes that you'd like me to answer, make sure you ask soon so I have time to get back to you before the due date.

Once you have made it through the edits I suggest, consider the following ideas for enhancing your final project:

  • Include images, links to multimedia, and other content that would help a decision-maker understand the context of your report.
  • Include citations to relevant scientific literature to bolster your arguments.
  • Make sure that the formatting of your report is consistent and elegant - make it look professional.
  • Ask a classmate, colleague at work, or someone else who would be reasonably familiar with the content to read your report and provide feedback.

Term Project - Final Draft Submission Instructions

When you're finished with this assignment, submit your outline to the dropbox I've created for it in Canvas.

Save your files in the following format:

L10_tp_firstinitialLastName.doc (or .jpg or .pdf or .tiff).

For example, my file would be named "L10_tp_rmbeaty.doc" - This naming convention is important, as it will help me make sure I match each submission up with the right student.

Submit your assignment to the Lesson 10 Term Project Final Full Draft dropbox in Canvas. See our Canvas Course Calendar for specific due dates.

Term Project - Final Draft Grading Criteria

Please refer to the project rubric  (PDF, 200k) [3] for the final draft grading criteria.

GEOG 588 Conclusion

Wrapping Up

This week, you have finished work on your term project and shared your findings with your classmates. I hope you have found this experience to be intellectually stimulating. Throughout this course, I have tried to balance multiple learning objectives, and I appreciate your patience with me as I have refined things a little as we progressed through the material. Every class I teach is different from the last instance, as I like to keep things as fresh as possible.

I think it's clear that GIS can be shaped in a wide range of ways to fit various types of emergency management tasks. Emerging technology trends like volunteered geographic information and homebrewed UAVs will allow future GIS systems for emergency management to be flexible and responsive to dynamic and complicated crisis situations. Now that you have completed this course, you should have the ability to plan new GIS systems that take into account the real world constraints of a disaster scenario and blend together off-the-shelf GIS tools with creative solutions that leverage new technologies and data sources. I wish you the best of luck in your future work! Please stay in touch and let me know how you're doing.

I will work quickly to evaluate your final project materials and post your grades in Canvas. In the meantime, please complete the course evaluation that you are sent automatically and provide honest, constructive feedback for the material as well as my performance. Your feedback makes it possible for future students in this course to benefit from your experiences.

 


Source URL: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog588/l11.html

Links
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka_Lae
[2] https://www.techsmith.com/jing-tool.html
[3] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog588/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog588/files/file/Term%20Project%20Rubric.pdf