GEOG19021 - Geographic Information Systems

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) power decision making for a massive raft of Earth and human-system interactions in research, government and industry – far beyond the cartographic public face that is Google Maps. You will gain introductory practical skill in making electronic maps and analysing geographical data. You will explore key mapping concepts that underpin GIS, as well as practice some of the key map communication standards that are as important today as they were for Gerardus Mercator in the 16th century.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026


Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Practical Assessment 20%
2. Practical Assessment 40%
3. Practical Assessment 40%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 70.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 25.53% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Student feedback.
Feedback:
 To assist the distance education mode of learning for GEOG19021 more 'how to do ArcGIS digital mapping task' videos are required.

Recommendation:
 Create more 'how to do ArcGIS digital mapping task' videos.

Action Taken:
 The creation of more 'how to' video instruction was accomplished by a careful selection of tutorial material.
Source: Student feedback.
Feedback:
 Student feedback suggested different online ArcGIS Pro tutorials would solve software use issues and confusion.

Recommendation:
 The unit coordinator will replace some of the ESRI ArcGIS Pro tutorials.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: Student feedback.
Feedback:
 Student feedback suggested that there were too many online ArcGIS Pro tutorials.

Recommendation:
 The unit coordinator will reduce the number of ESRI ArcGIS Pro tutorials.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Explain how earth measurement theory underpins the production of electronic maps
  2. Replicate a range of GIS mapping operations using point, line, polygon and raster data samples
  3. Reproduce GIS-based maps that meet cartographic theory, standards and practice
  4. Solve introductory spatial analysis problems using GIS data management and manipulation functions.

Nil

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Practical Assessment •
2 - Practical Assessment •
3 - Practical Assessment • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication •
2 - Problem Solving • • •
3 - Critical Thinking •
4 - Information Literacy •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10