Proposed Airport Expansion

This week’s lab was, in my opinion, ridiculous. I understand that this class is an introductory course into GIS, but the frustration, stress and overall feeling that I took away from this lab was over all very negative. I understand that learning programs such as ArcGIS take time and literally just practice and repetition, but when the learning is condensed into short intervals and the software is located at a specific location, such as the computer labs, it creates enormous stress. However, overall the lab was an excellent learning experience. The first thing that I found positive when dealing with the lab was that all fifty eight pages of the PDF were very concise and simple instructions to follow. Not only was the tutorial very nurturing, it had ample pictures to make sure you were absolutely doing everything correct. I know some might scorn that as “babying,” my style of learning really needs clarification on things of this nature.

Now I know I said that the lab over all was a great learning experience, but the individual processes to finishing it were sheer hell. On the day of lab section and after getting through the first 5 pages of the PDF, it was pretty simple albeit extremely time consuming. Seeing as how I only had around two hours I was unable to finish. The next time I tackled it was on the weekend, with no TA and no fellow students in the lab. An hour into further working on it I ran into a snag. An error of my data’s source literally brought my lab to a halt. Unable to troubleshoot with anyone, I had to save my work and wait to discuss it with a TA. I even googled the error to see what fellow Arc users had to say, but was unable to fix it.

When it comes to ArcGIS, the advantages are clear. This program and skill is extremely valuable. In a competitive market, having a skill such as this is very important. However, for someone who does not have the luxury of taking an introductory GIS course, the software can be extremely overwhelming, but not impossible. ArcGIS is simply something that one has to take time to get accustomed with and learn the ins and the outs of it. I feel that if I had to deal with this software every day, then in a month or so I would be proficient to an extent.

In terms of this lab specifically, it seems that it was more hassle and stress for everyone than anything else. Having spent time in the computer labs both during lab time and just during random hours of the day, as well as having met with my TA and been in the lab when Erin was there helping, it seemed very crazy. I know that I was not the only one to have immense difficulties with everything, and from what I observed, Erin was having a rough time running from hand to hand trying to help people usually with similar issues.