This has been an interesting and productive semester for me, and I hope for you as well. It involved a combination of lectures, instructional sessions, and exercises. It was at once work and fun.
As mentioned all along, geography takes place outdoors. All too many learning experiences take place indoors, on desks, tables, or laboratory counters. The data used in these settings has already been collected, usually by others. But who are these others? And, how do they collect those data? Well, they are us. And, now we have some knowledge of how the data are obtained.
This course has focused on some data collection techniques. It has not dealt with all techniques and has not dealt with methods. The idea was to provide a comprehensive introduction. It was not a specialized and advanced course. Some types of data collection require highly refined skills which can only be learned through much intensive study and practice. Here, the emphasis was on getting some basic experience first-hand.
Two things critical to geographers were singled-out. The first part of the semester covered introductory concepts and mapping. I took you through the steps, helping you gain experience with the tools and techniques used in the construction of maps. You should now feel confident in your field mapping skills. Rest assured, you will not embarress yourself through ignorance when an employer asks you to map an area, or work with a team who has that job. The same holds true when she or he asks: "Can you operate a total station?"
The second part of the semester was devoted to gathering environmental data which could, but need not, be mapped. Should you find yourself in a position where you are expected to, need to, or simply want to collect data on soils, erosion, hydrology, or vegetation, you now know what to do and how to do it. You also know something about measuring environmental changes and human impacts and imprints.
Perhaps more than anything else, you should now have a pretty firm grasp of the concept of "professional judgement." Indeed, I like to think of college-educated people as akin to chefs who make creative choices in their use of ingredients and not like cooks who merely follow recipes.
Well, that's about it. Oh, yes; the final exam. It will be comprehensive, covering everything from our first meeting until today. It will have 100 short answer questions. Some of these will be practical exercises which will take you outdoors. Some will be questions to test your knowledge of the information covered in this course. The questions are listed chronologically, in the exact order we covered things in class--the first question comes from the first class, the last one comes from today's class. It should not take 3 hours to complete the exam, but it will take a while. When you come to the final bring your final exercise.
Created by William E. Doolittle. Last revised 10 July 2013, wed