Syllabus

GEOG 312: Introduction to GIS Programming Fall 2026 · 3 Credit Hours · Letter Graded Department of Geography and Sustainability · University of Tennessee, Knoxville

📄 Download the syllabus as a PDF

The PDF is the version of record and is also posted on Canvas. This page mirrors it; if the two ever disagree, the PDF on Canvas wins.

Course and Instructor¶

Course Description¶

An in-depth introduction to GIS programming with Python. Students learn to use open source Python libraries to read, process, analyze, and visualize geospatial data, starting from programming fundamentals and progressing through vector and raster analysis, interactive and 3D web mapping, cloud-based geospatial computing, and reproducible workflows. No prior programming experience is assumed. (3 credit hours)

Course Purpose¶

GEOG 312 is a programming course taught through geography. You will spend the first half of the semester learning Python itself and the second half applying it to real geospatial data with the open source tools that working geospatial analysts and researchers actually use. Nearly every meeting involves writing code in class. The course aims to:

1. Build a working command of Python from the ground up: variables, data structures, strings, control flow, functions and classes, file handling, exception handling, NumPy, and Pandas.

2. Give you practical fluency with the open source geospatial Python stack (GeoPandas, Rasterio, Xarray, Leafmap, MapLibre, WhiteboxTools, geemap, and DuckDB) so that you can pick the right tool for a problem instead of the only one you know.

3. Move you from following tutorials to solving your own problems, through weekly labs and a final project of your own design that you present to the class.

Student Learning Outcomes¶

By the end of the semester, you will be able to:

• Write, debug, and document Python programs that use variables, data structures, control flow, functions, and classes.

• Read, write, and convert common geospatial data formats (Shapefile, GeoJSON, GeoParquet, GeoTIFF, Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF, and NetCDF) using GeoPandas, Rasterio, Xarray, and GDAL/OGR.

• Perform vector and raster analysis in Python, including spatial joins, reprojection, clipping, zonal statistics, and terrain analysis with WhiteboxTools.

• Build interactive 2D and 3D web maps with Leafmap and MapLibre, and publish them as reproducible notebooks or dashboards.

• Access and analyze cloud-hosted geospatial datasets using Earth Engine, geemap, and DuckDB.

• Use virtual environments, version control, and exception handling to produce code that other people can run and that fails gracefully when data is missing or malformed.

• Independently research, evaluate, and apply an unfamiliar geospatial Python library to a problem of your own choosing, and communicate the result.

Materials and Preparation¶

Required Textbook¶

Wu, Q. (2025). Introduction to GIS Programming: A Practical Python Guide to Open Source Geospatial Tools. Independently published. ISBN 979-8286979455 (print), 979-8993859712 (PDF).

See the textbook page for print, PDF, and EPUB options, the free code examples, and the companion video tutorials.

Course Websites¶

• Course site: https://gispro-fall26.gishub.org for the syllabus, schedule, lecture notebooks, lab assignments, and video recordings.

• Canvas: https://utk.instructure.com for announcements, lab submissions, quizzes, and grades.

• GitHub Discussions: https://github.com/giswqs/gispro-fall26/discussions for all technical questions and answers, plus the course source code.

Software and Hardware¶

• Bring a laptop to every meeting. This is a hands-on class and you will be typing code during class time. If you do not have a laptop you can use, tell me in the first week and we will arrange one.

• You will install Miniconda (Python 3.12 or newer), Visual Studio Code, and Git, and create a free GitHub account. We do this together in Week 1, so do not worry if none of that means anything to you yet.

• Everything we use is free and open source and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Google Colab is a fully browser-based fallback if your machine gives you trouble. QGIS and ArcGIS Pro are useful companions but are not required.

Weekly Preparation¶

Read the assigned chapter before the first meeting of the week and run its notebook. Class time builds on the reading rather than repeating it; the students who read first are consistently the ones who finish labs in an hour instead of an evening.

Course Format¶

We meet twice a week for 75 minutes. Meetings combine short explanations with live coding: I write code on the screen, you write it along with me, and it breaks in interesting ways for both of us. Bring questions about anything that did not work when you ran the notebooks on your own. Debugging someone else’s error in front of the room is one of the most useful things we do.

Labs are started in class and finished on your own. You are encouraged to talk with each other about approaches and to help each other debug; the code you submit must be your own. See Academic Integrity and Use of AI Coding Assistants below for where that line sits.

Requirements and Grading¶

The course is worth 1,000 points, distributed as follows.

Labs¶

Ten lab assignments, one roughly every week, each worth 60 points. Labs are distributed as Jupyter notebooks on the course site and submitted through Canvas. Each is assigned in the week shown on the schedule and is due the following week; the exact date and time are posted on Canvas. Late labs lose 10% per day. Once an assignment has been graded, additional files will not be accepted. See the submission instructions.

Quizzes¶

Ten short in-class quizzes, 10 points each, covering the assigned reading and the previous week’s material. Quiz days are announced at least one class in advance. Quizzes are closed-book and closed-assistant.

Midterm Exam¶

One midterm exam on Thursday, October 8, covering software setup and Python programming fundamentals (the first half of the book). It must be taken on the scheduled day unless you make arrangements with me beforehand; an unexcused absence on exam day earns a zero. See the make-up policy below.

Final Project¶

An individual project on a geospatial problem of your own choosing, using the tools from the course. A one-page proposal is due Thursday, November 5. You will present your work to the class in the final two weeks and submit a notebook and short written report by Friday, December 4. Projects are graded on technical execution, reproducibility, and how clearly you explain what you did and why.

Extra Credit¶

Up to 30 extra credit points (3% of the total grade) are reserved for students who actively and helpfully answer other students’ questions on the GitHub Discussion board. Answering a classmate’s question well is worth as much to your own learning as finishing your own lab, which is why it is worth points.

Grading Scale¶

Regrade Requests¶

If you believe an assignment was graded incorrectly, tell me within one week of the grade being posted. Requests made more than one week after grading will not be considered.

Attendance and Participation¶

Attendance is expected at every meeting. Because so much of the work happens live in class, missing sessions is the single strongest predictor of struggling in this course. A student who misses more than 25 percent of the meetings without a valid university excuse will receive a grade of F.

If you must miss class, tell me in advance and I will help you catch up. Absences for illness, religious observance, university-sanctioned travel, conference presentation, or family emergency are expected and easily accommodated. The only thing I ask is that you let me know.

Make-up Exams and Quizzes¶

Exams and quizzes may be made up only with a valid university excuse and supporting documentation:

• Medical: documentation on official letterhead, signed and dated by a licensed medical or mental health provider, including dates of treatment and the anticipated return date. Do not send medical records; they will not be accepted.

• Death in the family: an obituary, memorial service program, or similar item identifying you as related to the deceased, with the date and location of the service.

• Military or legal obligations: military orders or court papers, signed and dated by a commanding officer, designee, judge, or lawyer, including dates of departure and return.

• Academic conferences: tell me at least two weeks before the exam or quiz and provide a letter from a faculty member explaining the importance of the conference.

Illness¶

Use of AI Coding Assistants¶

AI coding assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, GitHub Copilot, and their successors) are now a normal part of professional geospatial work, and pretending otherwise would not serve you. In this course they are permitted on labs and the final project, under three conditions:

1. You must be able to explain every line of code you submit. If you cannot explain it, you did not write it, and it does not count as your work.

2. Disclose it. Add a short note at the top of your notebook naming the tool and what you used it for. Disclosure costs you nothing; undisclosed use is an integrity violation.

3. Never on quizzes or the midterm. Those are closed-assistant, and they exist precisely to check what you can do unaided.

A word of advice, offered rather than enforced: in the first half of the semester, reach for the assistant last rather than first. The syntax you struggle through is the syntax you keep. Once you can read code fluently, an assistant makes you faster; before that, it mostly makes you dependent.

Classroom Conduct¶

This will be a professional, comfortable, and safe environment for everyone in it. Programming classes attract students with wildly different levels of prior experience, and a beginner’s question is never a waste of anyone’s time. Disagreement about ideas and approaches is welcome; disrespect toward the instructor or your peers is not. A student who is disrespectful will be spoken with after class or asked to leave.

Academic Integrity¶

You are held to the standards of the university’s Honor Statement: “An essential feature of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is a commitment to maintaining an atmosphere of intellectual integrity and academic honesty. As a student of the university, I pledge that I will neither knowingly give nor receive any inappropriate assistance in academic work, thus affirming my own personal commitment to honor and integrity.”

Discussion among students is enthusiastically encouraged, and helping a classmate find a bug is a good thing to do. Copying a classmate’s solution, or handing yours over to be copied, is plagiarism, and all involved parties are penalized under the Academic Integrity Policy. Reusing code you find online or in documentation is fine and normal; cite it in a comment. When in doubt, ask me before you submit rather than after.

• Hilltopics: http://hilltopics.utk.edu/academics

• Academic dishonesty procedures: https://studentconduct.utk.edu

Accessibility and Accommodations¶

The University of Tennessee seeks to comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Students requesting accommodations based on the impact of a disability must register with Student Disability Services (SDS), Blount Hall first floor, 1534 White Avenue; 865-974-6087; sds@utk.edu; https://sds.utk.edu. Please share your accommodation letter with me as early in the term as you can so that arrangements are in place before you need them. If something about the format of this course (the pace of live coding, the color scheme of the slides, the screen readability of the notebooks) is creating a barrier, tell me even if you are not registered with SDS.

Title IX and Nondiscrimination¶

The university does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or veteran status. Sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating and domestic violence, and stalking are prohibited. As an instructor I am a mandatory reporter: if you disclose an incident of sexual misconduct to me, I am required to share it with the Title IX office. If you would prefer to speak with someone confidentially first, the Student Counseling Center is a confidential resource. Title IX: 865-974-9600, titleix@utk.edu, https://titleix.utk.edu.

Civility¶

Civility is genuine respect and regard for others. It enhances academic freedom and integrity and is a prerequisite to the free exchange of ideas and knowledge in a learning community. Affirming the value of each member of the university community, the campus asks that all of its members adhere to the principles of civility and community adopted by the campus: https://civility.utk.edu.

Well-being and Campus Resources¶

College is demanding, and asking for help early is a skill rather than an admission of weakness. If you are struggling, academically, financially, or personally, please come talk to me, and use the resources below.

Communication¶

• Technical questions go on GitHub. All course-related questions, including installation problems, error messages, and “why does my code do this,” belong on the GitHub Discussion board so that everyone benefits from the answer. Others have almost certainly hit the same error, and searching the board before posting is a real skill worth practicing.

• Private matters go to email. Anything personal or private, such as grades, accommodations, or family circumstances, should come to qwu18@utk.edu with “GEOG-312” in the subject line. I reply within one business day and ask the same of you.

• Canvas and email. Announcements, grades, and lab submissions live on Canvas. Check Canvas and your UT email at least once each weekday.

• Office hours. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. in BGB 309, or by appointment. You do not need a reason to come, though bringing broken code is a perfectly good one.

Schedule¶

See the weekly schedule for topics, readings, and due dates.

Course Assessment¶

At UT it is our collective responsibility to improve the state of teaching and learning. During the semester you may be asked to assess aspects of this course, either in class or at its completion. Please respond; feedback about pacing, lab length, and which tools were worth the time genuinely shapes how this course is taught the next time around.

Syllabus Change Policy¶

I may adjust this syllabus during the semester if doing so serves the course. Any substantive change will be announced in class and posted on Canvas, and the revised syllabus will replace this one in the Canvas site.