Assessment

Hadleyville Cemetery

1. Prior to this activity, how would you rank yourself in knowledge about the topic. (1-No knowledge at all, 2- very little knowledge, 3- some knowledge, 4- a good amount of knowledge, 5- I knew all about this)

I would like to say that I am at a 4. I really enjoy data collection in the field and I think that I am familiar with creating GIS in ArcMap. I had experience this summer with digitizing which helped me in this exercise.

2. Following this activity, how would you rate the amount of knowledge you have on the topic. (1- I don't really know enough to talk about the topic, 2- I know enough to explain what I did, 3- I know enough to repeat what I did, 4- I know enough to teach someone else, 5- I am an expert)

I think that I am at a 4 again. The only issue that I would have is creating the arial image that we used because I have never had experience with a drone.

3. Did the hands-on approach to this activity add to how much you were able to learn. (1- Strongly disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- No real opinion, 4- Agree, 5- Strongly agree)

I am at a 5. I see myself as a hands on learner. I like to do things as I am learning it. I actually enjoy digitizing because the repetition helps me to get better.

The only thing that I would change about this project if I could go back is to take more time to prepare for the data collection portion. It would have been nicer if we didn't have to go through the normalization process after we had already gone to the cite and collected the data.

Sandbox Survey: Part 1

Prior to the DEM data collection lab, I would say that I had some knowledge of the topic. I have worked on surveying similar to this is some other classes. I have never gone out and done it on an actual landscape though.

Following this lab, I would say that I have a good knowledge of this topic. This was the most in depth survey that I have had to do. I still haven't surveyed an actual landscape yet.

The hands on approach to this activity absolutely added to the learning of this activity. I wouldn't have learned half as much if we weren't able to use a hands on approach.

The only thing that I could think of to make this activity even better might not be possible but if the opportunity presented itself to survey and actual large landscape over a longer period of time would have given a great experience.

Sandbox Survey: Part 2

Prior to this activity, I would say that I had some knowledge. Most of the knowledge I had was how to import the data points into ArcMap and create the DEMs. The knowledge that I wasn't very comfortable with was how the different interpolation methods worked. 

Following this activity I would say that I have a good knowledge of the topic. I took the time to look up how the interpolation methods work and what they will produce and the experience of working with then has made me more familiar. 

The hands on approach helped a lot with this project because we knew what our models should look like in the end. We created the landscape with our own hands after all. 

I think that it would help if the different interpolation methods were gone over in detail in the class room. This way everyone would have a good understanding of them and what to expect when using them.

Distance Azimuth

Prior to this activity, I would say that I had very little knowledge of the topic. I had not worked with collecting azimuth angles out in the field. 

Following this activity, I would say that I now have a good knowledge of the topic. Overall, this isn't an overly complex topic. In this lab we didn't use many origin points which makes things less complicated. I do think that, if I had to, I could go out and teach someone with no knowledge of the matter how to recreate this lab or something similar. 

The hands on approach was hands down the best approach for this activity. Going out into the field so that we could get a visualization of the locations of our surveyed trees made it much easier and more interesting to map out the final data. Being able to use some of the lower tech equipment was also important. I found the compass that could find azimuth angles very interesting to use.

Microclimate 

Prior to this activity, I didn't have a good knowledge of Arc Collector. I had never used it before. Luckily, it is relatively simple to use if you have used any other ArcGIS product before. 

Following this activity, I think that I have a good knowledge of Arc Collector. It seemed simple to used. One thing I would like to experiment with is how it holds up in a more complex survey and data collection process. 

The hands on approach is pretty much the only way to do this. I wouldn't have learned much about Arc Collector if we didn't get to actually go out and work with it. 

I think the only thing that could have increased the learning in this project would be a little more complex data collection process. The current project is just very repetitive so it became easy to work with.