PL431/PL531: MAP ANALYSIS AND SITE PLANNING
SYLLABUS for
FALL 2006
Credit hours: 4
Class meets: Mon/Wed
12:40 – 2:40 pm
Location: SBS
West Room 207 (lecture) / room 011 (labs)
Instructor: Ruihong
(Ray) Huang, Ph.D.
Email: Ruihong.Huang@nau.edu
Phone: (928)
523-8219
Office: SBS
West (Bldg. 70) Room 240
Office hours: TU 12:30
– 2:00 pm / stop by / appointment
COURSE
OBJECTIVES:
In this class, you will:
1. Learn/refresh cartographic
fundamentals
2. Use GIS software to design maps
3. Get familiar with maps for planning
4. Learn Computer Aided Drafting
software AutoCAD
5. Be able to use AutoCAD to draw a
precise cadastral maps and site plan maps
6. Become familiar with site
development processes in the City of
ASSUMPTIONS/PREREQUISITES:
Students
are expected to have:
TEXTBOOK &
MATERIALS:
LABS
During the labs you will be
expected to work through the textbook and the exercises on your own with my
supervision. Different students will learn AutoCAD at different rates. Some of
you may never have to ask for my help at all (and may wonder why you need an
instructor for this class -- this is the main complaint I get from student
evaluations about this class.) At the
other extreme are students who I will not only need help in class, but will
need to arrange additional hours to meet with me outside of class for help in
understand what is going on -- this has been less of a problem since I
tightened the course prerequisites for this class.
NOTE: You are not permitted in any of the
Labs unless there is a Lab Attendant present. Lab Attendants include Lab
Monitor hired by the College, a Lab Teaching Assistant hired to assist a class,
or a Class Instructor. This policy applies to everyone in the GIS Lab.
The second half of the
course is essentially a LAB Course. YOU SHOULD EXPECT TO PUT IN EIGHT HOURS (or more) OF LAB TIME
A WEEK OUTSIDE OF CLASS TIME.
(That is two hours for each hour of class time). The actual amount will vary
from week to week, with more hours likely at the beginning of the semester than
toward the end. Note that each week's work builds upon the previous week. If
you fall behind you will find that it takes an enormous amount of time to catch up. Therefore, DO NOT
FALL BEHIND. As the course progresses, you will be doing increasingly more work
that applies what you are doing in your textbook to mapping and public planning
applications.
The Lab will NOT be
available when a Class is in session, such as ours.
BACKUP FILES
FINAL PROJECT
You will identify a vacant
parcel from one of the property plat maps that I have. Your task is to put a
commercial building on that parcel. You will use information that you learned
from PL401 to design your building footprint and all other requirements
(parking, landscaping, ingress/egress). That is why the Land Development Code
is a required text) to select a site plan from a collection that I have. The
building must also be compatible with surrounding structures (the REAL THING)
and actual zoning.
CO-CONVENING PL431 / PL531: This class is co-convened with
PL431 and graduate students are expected to meet the same prerequisites for the
co-convened class. Graduate students will learn the same material, but will
supplement this with additional readings from professional journals. An
additional paper will be
due at the end of the class based on these readings. In addition, the grade
point distribution for graduate student emphasizes the Final Project and Final
Written Exam to a greater degree than for undergraduate students.
ATTENDANCE:
ATTENDANCE
IS REQUIRED for all class sessions. Please provide your Instructor with an
Institutional Excuse form if you are going to miss class. The class will
meet in room 207 for the map analysis part and move to the GIS Computer Lab
(011) for AutoCAD.
You are required to work
during the lab time -- you are not excused to leave after the
lecture/demonstration portion of the course. Students who leave early without a
proper excuse will be marked down on their Weekly Assignments - no matter how
well the assignments was done.
GRADING for PL 431 Students (1000 pts total):
Exercises/Project Work:
- Weekly Assignments = 650 points
- Final Project = 100 points
Exams:
- Midterm Exam = 100 points
- Final Exam = 100 points
Attendance: 50 Points - minus 5 point for each
day absent, up to 10 days
GRADING for PL 531 Students (1200 pts total):
Exercises/Project Work:
- Weekly Assignments = 650 points
- Final Project = 100 points
- Graduate paper = 200 points
Exams:
- Midterm Exam = 100 points
- Final Exam = 100 points
Attendance: 50 Points -
minus 5 point for each day absent, up to 10 days
GRADE
DISTRIBUTION
A
= 90% to 100%
B = 80% to 89%
C = 70% to 79%
D = 60% to 69%
F = < 60%
LATE ASSIGNMENTS and
PLAGIARISM
Due dates and times are
posted on the schedule page and the calendar page. Be watchful for the
deadlines. Late assignments will receive a SIGNIFICANT grade reduction. Unless specifically told so, you are
required to do your own work. If you try to pass off someone else's work as
your own, BOTH of you will receive a grade of "0" points. Depending
on the serious of the violation, you may both receive a reduction in your final
grade or be expelled from the class. The Geography Department and
the University may take additional punitive measures.
Your
points will be reduced 50% for each Week they are late.
AUTOCAD Compatibility
We will be using the latest
version of AutoCAD LT, which is 2006 LT. Drawings created on AutoCAD 2006
LT can be opened in AutoCAD 2000, AutoCAD 2002, and AutoCAD 2004. The Save As
function allows drawings to be converted to AutoCAD release 14 format, which
can also be read by AutoCAD LT 98. These other versions of AutoCAD can
sometimes be purchased from the NAU Bookstore and elsewhere at considerably
discounts (LT2006 Student Portfolio Version sells for $147 (perpetual) and $395
(unlimited). Older versions can be found on eBay and elsewhere
online). You can look for a student version of AutoCAD LT 98 (fully release 14
compatible) -- which has received rave reviews. The major difference with LT is
that it only does 2-D instead of 3-D drawings, which is fine since we will not
be doing 3-D in this class. General AutoCAD 2002 product information is available
from the Autodesk
website.
We Will NOT be covering
3-D, Rendering, AutoLISP, Solid Modeling, Customizing Menus and the Tablet,
External Linkages and Attributes, Viewports, and Paper Space in this class. All
of theses topics are in your text if you wish to pursue them on your own. As a
follow-up to this courses, you may wish to consider taking Construction
Management's CM 330 which is an AutoCAD 3-D course.
COURSE FEE
The course fee that you
paid when registering for this course is primarily used to support software and
hardware upgrades on the AutoCAD stations in the
AUDIT Students
NAU policy requires that
students taking a course for Audit must attend the class on a regular basis or
they will receive a grade of F. In addition, I expect Audit students to (1) buy
the required books, and (2) do all of the in-class work as the other students,
including taking exams. All of these materials must be turned in and overall,
of the work turned in must receive an average grade of D or better, otherwise
you will be given an F for the class.
Safe environment policy, students
with disabilities, institutional review board, academic integrity - and more...