National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis

An outline of the GIS Core Curriculum for Technical Programs, organized by topic, is presented with hyperlinks to each unit's material on eScholarship. Note that hyperlinks are only active if the PDF file is downloaded.

This introduction provides a historical overview of the GIS Core Curriculum for Technical Programs. It describes the working group and initial work session where a framework for the curriculum was developed, and it includes a task list outlining the topics originally intended for the curriculum.

This unit discusses the difference between computer-aided drafting (CAD) and GIS, and how data generated in CAD software can be used in GIS software. It describes the process of registering CAD data, how CAD entities relate to GIS features, CAD file types and how CAD data is organized thematically. Several example applications are outlined that illustrate these concepts.

This unit describes the map scanning process with attention to map preparation, scale and accuracy, image types, file considerations, spatial resolution as it relates to map scale, hardware, and post-processing considerations. Image enhancement techniques such as contrast and brightness adjustment and gamma correction are noted.

This unit identifies the fundamentals of surface derivatives that those familiar with GIS should know. It describes some methods by which they are calculated and measured, introduces ways in which they are used in GIS analysis and identifies some challenges to using them.

The Core Curriculum for Technical Programs (CCTP) concentrates on providing course content assistance for instructors. It is intended to support a full range of courses that would be taught at a 2-year college. This guide is designed to provide a quick overview for the GIS instructor on the use of the CCTP resources to create GIS course modules and design GIS courses.

This unit introduces the mechanics of scanning and the concept of resolution. It discusses scanning hardware, how to select the appropriate resolution for a scanning project and image file formats.

This unit describes types, example uses and implementation of different overlay operations. Using commands in ESRI’s Arc/Info, it summarizes necessary pre-overlay and overlay tasks in an example application in which locations for Gypsy Moth traps must be determined.

This unit focuses on methods for acquiring GIS data over the Internet, including understanding Internet data transfer methods and developing skills in manipulating a variety of data formats. Procedures for connecting to remote computers, locating desired data sets, retrieving data in various formats and preparing data sets for transfer to other users are described.