Seminar 15 October: Usability issues in Geoinformation Science research

Seminar by Dr Ioannis Delikostidis on the 15th of October from 4-5pm in Cotton 304, Victoria University, Kelburn campus.  

http://www.victoria.ac.nz/sgees/about/events/vuw-ged-seminar-usability-issues-in-geoinformation-science-research

Upcoming Seminar by Dr Ioannis Delikostidis on Usability Issues in Geoinformation Science Research

VUW GED Seminar

Thursday 15^th October 2015, 4-5pm

Cotton Seminar Room CO304, Kelburn Campus

Usability issues in Geoinformation Science research

Speaker: Dr Ioannis Delikostidis

Canterbury University 

It has been more than half a century since Human Computer Interaction (HCI) started becoming an integral part of GIS and Geo-information Science. This relationship kept evolving to meet what is now called “democratization of Geographic technologies”. It reflects the transformation of a closed, expert’s domain (Geography/GIS), into an open, multi-disciplinary mosaic of various fields and practices, animated by rapid advances in technology. We all now talk about volunteered geographic information, internet of things and UAVs, virtual environments and natural user interfaces as a means to interacting with a wealth of information largely interwoven with “location”. Buzz words such as “big data analytics” strive to get a real meaning inside a complex ecosystem overwhelmed with technology, where the end users of the derived information (eminently geo-information) are mostly regarded as consumers rather than inspirers. Research in both Geo-information Science and HCI, although widely related, still lacks an integrated theoretical grounding to support new findings. Moreover, usability of geo-information and its applications is still not viewed as a core principle when conducting research, restraining the communication channels between research and society. What could be done to change the current situation?

Biography:  Dr. Ioannis Delikostidis is a lecturer in Geo-Information Science in the Department of Geography of the University of Canterbury. Prior to this position, he worked for the Greek Government for several years and was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Muenster, Germany. He obtained his MSc. and PhD in Geo-Information Science from the University of Twente, the Netherlands, and he holds a BSc in Electronic and Computer Systems Engineering. Dr. Delikostidis’ research has been focusing on improving the usability of pedestrian navigation systems, developing context-sensitive means for interaction with geographic information and implementing sound methods and techniques for assessing them. He has also done research on immersive virtual environments (IVEs) to accommodate user interactions with location-based systems inside the lab. His main research interests lie around User-Centred Design, use, users and usability research in Geo-Information Science, crowdsourcing strategies, technologies and issues, sensor networks and data transferring technologies, and physical computing.

ALL WELCOME

Those pesky conclusions

I've always found finishing a chapter or paper to be somewhat problematic.  This blog post is a nice way of thinking through your concluding options.

https://medium.com/advice-and-help-in-authoring-a-phd-or-non-fiction/seven-questions-to-ask-about-how-your-chapter-ends-262d5ad5e653

Is university worth it?

Yes if your degree is in geospatial!

According to an online article from December 2014.

http://geospatial-solutions.com/is-college-worth-the-price-yes-if-your-major-is-geospatial/

Summer Scholarship - Heather Campbell - Changing Travel Patterns

Heather Campbell comments on her summer scholarship research:

During the summer of 2014-2015 I received a Summer Research Scholarship with Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) and Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) to explore the GWRC’s 1988 and 2001 Household Travel Survey datasets.

The main aim of this project was to explore changes in travel patterns in the Wellington region between 1988 and 2001, by identifying statistical patterns and producing map visualisations of these patterns.  An additional aim of this project was to integrate this Household Travel Survey (HTS) data into the Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation’s Wellington Spatial Econometric Transportation (W-SET) model.  Currently based on the Ministry of Transport HTS, W-SET models residential choice, car ownership and commute mode decisions within Greater Wellington.

The GWRC HTS datasets are based on surveys of residents within the Greater Wellington region about their trip making behaviour. The data consists of information about each participant in the survey and the trips they made over the survey period.  Using these datasets I compared travel patterns between 1988 and 2001, with a focus on commuting patterns.  In particular, I compared changes in modal choices, car sharing patterns, vehicle ownership, time trips are made, trips per person and commute times and distances (using network analysis).  These patterns were also compared with data from the Ministry of Transport HTS for years 2003/04 and 2009/10.  By using statistical tests and producing visualisations of these patterns, many interesting changes in travel patterns within the Wellington region were able to be explored – in terms of both overall patterns and spatial patterns.

Heather's project was supervised by Mairead de Roiste and Toby Daglish.  The industry advisor for the project was Nick Sargent.

First Master of GIS crosses the stage

Reproduced from VicNews 18 May 2015

Victoria University of Wellington’s first Master of Geographic Information Science (GIS) was capped at one of the May graduation ceremonies. Andrew Clouston, Geospatial Team Manager at Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), was the first person to graduate with a Masters degree at Victoria University since the programme’s inception in 2012.

Carrying out his studies part-time was a challenge but well worth the effort, says Andrew. “I was juggling my studies with full-time work, family and a commute from the Wairarapa. I received a great amount of support which enabled me to complete my Master’s in just over three years.”

Programme Director Dr Mairead de Roiste says the programme attracts recent graduates and professionals like Andrew who are already in the workforce and looking to upskill.

“A number of government departments, such as LINZ, have actively encouraged staff through sponsorship to take part in the programme. The programme benefits from a great richness of student experiences and perspectives, such as surveying in Andrew's case, conservation, education and consulting in others.”

Andrew’s thesis explored the issues of including citizen data collection or crowdsourcing in government datasets with a specific focus on the New Zealand Cadastre (the system responsible for recording land surveys and property boundaries information).

“In addition to being topical and relevant for New Zealand, the conversations generated as a result of his work have advanced New Zealand's thinking on how we can maintain our authoritative databases to a high international standard in light of changing technologies and expectations”, says Dr de Roiste.

The Master of GIS, introduced in response to a national geospatial skills shortage, is a collaboration between Victoria University, the University of Canterbury and AUT.

“It’s a unique programme internationally. We make use of innovative technologies to join students and staff based at the three different institutions into the same courses and programme,” says Dr de Roiste.

“The skills our students gain are invaluable – in fact we've had the unusual problem of a number of our students getting jobs before they've finished.” 

Interesting take on learning to programme

http://worrydream.com/LearnableProgramming/

I enjoyed this article on the importance of thinking about how learners learn programming - worth a look if you are either taking or designing a programming course!

With thanks to Richard Law for the link.