Blended Course Map: ECON 690 — GIS Analysis and Big Data

Name: Matthew Friedman
SCID: College of Letters & Science
Department: Economics
Course Name: ECON 690 — GIS Analysis and Big Data

Supported Program Outcomes:

• SPO1: Construct and evaluate economic models, their assumptions, and their conclusions.
• SPO2:Acquire a diverse set of skills and strategies in mathematical reasoning/statistical and computational techniques/deductive logic/problem-solving.
• SPO3: Use mathematics/computational/statistical techniques to analyze real-world situations and policies.

Course Objectives:

• CO1:Acquire knowledge and interest in approaches to economic analysis that leverage large collections of [geospatially detailed] data
• CO2: Draw connections between the most innovative products and services on the market today and the big data behind them
• CO3:Understand how GIS technology can aid critical evaluation of economic outcomes and policies
• CO4: Develop competence in compiling, combining, manipulating, and evaluating large [geospatial] datasets
• CO5:Obtain project management experience by working collaboratively with peers to complete a diverse set of highly specialized programming and analysis tasks
• CO6:Value economic models, their assumptions, and conclusions. Students will also relate theoretical models to real-world data sources in order to support or invalidate their conclusions through empirical testing
• CO7: Engage with communities of professionals and other resources that can help further their big data wrangling skills long after successfully completing ECON690

Course Units:

• CU1: Introduction to Geospatial Information Systems (Practice)
• CU2: Using GIS to conduct economic analysis (Place)
• CU3: Basic programming tools for unlocking Big Data’s insights (Programming)
• CU4: Big Data Rent: How profit maximizers leverage information (Prices)
• CU5: Leveraging Big Data to measure preferences and predict trends (Prediction)
• CU6: Evaluating, Visualizing, and Presenting Big Data Effectively (Presentations & Pratfalls)

Unit Being Redesigned:
PLACE

Unit Objectives:

• UO1: Understand how economists are utilizing GIS data to more accurately describe human interactions
• UO2: Appreciate how spatial detail can enhance traditional economics analysis
• UO3: Classify geospatial tools, identify their effective uses, and outline how each tool can be used to generate new data
• UO4: Deconstruct the price of a composite good into the value attributable to each of its constituent parts
• UO5: Summarize how GIS applications enhance economic efficiency by matching trading partners in space
• UO6: Conduct basic spatial operations to generate new variables