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Geographic Information Science

Ethics for GIS Professionals

Final Syllabus
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Instructor: Dr. Dawn Wright, dawn@dusk.geo.orst.edu, 114 Wilkinson, 737-1229

Course Overview: The goal of "Ethics for GIS Professionals" will be to foster students' ability to recognize and respond appropriately to ethical problems encountered in professional practice, and to understand the bases of ethical practice in philosophy and law. As a vehicle for achieving this goal, seminar students will be challenged to specify the objectives and content of a public-domain workshop on ethics that can be offered by higher education institutions and professional organizations.

The course will be a "virtual seminar" offered to universities in the 70-member University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS), of which OSU is a founding member. So most of the time you will be "in class" on the web with students from all across the country at other UCGIS institutions. The idea for this course was inspired by the new GIS code of ethics for GIS professionals, and the online portion of the course will be hosted by Penn State University. Students and faculty members nationwide will be able to access a full syllabus, course calendar, assignments, and communication tools through Penn State's web-based course management system when they become available. Other media, including desktop web conferencing and streaming video, may also be employed as appropriate.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing at OSU or enrollment in the GISci Professional Certificate Program.

This course will also be accepted as an elective in the geographic information science (GIScience) concentration within the geography M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs or as an elective in the graduate and professional certificate programs in GIScience.

Class Meetings and Office Hours: Class meetings (Mondays, 4:00-5:20) will be augmented by web-based group discussions. Faculty will hold discussion periods and electronic office hours available to all participating students across the nation. Nationwide student interaction will be encouraged.

Assignments: Readings and assignments will be provided on the web. You will be expected to contribute to class discussions, to make regular contributions to the online discussion forum, and to contribute to a group web project at the end of the term.

Return From Whence You Came!