Spatial Computing

Individual Course Descriptions (2009 Catalog)

Individual Course Descriptions (2009 Catalog)

The online graduate catalog contains the individual graduate course descriptions including the listing of any prerequisite courses. Descriptions are provided here as well for the convenience of students.

Note: A student with an undergraduate degree in a specific field (e.g. business, computer science, education, engineering or new media) will likely have an easier time meeting graduate course prerequisites in that field than a student from another undergraduate field.

REQUIRED COURSES

ELECTIVE COURSES

BUSINESS

BUA 638 – Model-Based Decision Making (3 credits)
Examines formulation, analysis, and solution of computer-based optimization and simulation models for decision support and economic resource allocation. Emphasis on applications in accounting, finance, economics, marketing, project management and production management. This course will include hands-on application of state-of-the-art technologies.
Prerequisites & Notes: BUA 601, BUA 337 or equivalent; and permission of the University of Maine Business School; must have graduate standing.

BUA 661 – Knowledge Management and Decision Support Systems (3 credits)
Designed to facilitate understanding of knowledge management, decision support systems and how they are integrated to support decision making at the corporate level. Includes the theory and components of the knowledge spiral, mathematical decision models, applicable artificial intelligence, applicable cognitive theories and integrative architectures.
Prerequisites & Notes: BUA 135 or BUA 335 or equivalent or BUA 605; and permission of the University of Maine Business School; graduate standing.

BUA 664 – Databases and Data Mining in Industry (Oracle I, 3 credits)
Provides a fundamental understanding of relational databases and the concepts of data mining, with emphasis on database design, database queries, market/profit segmentation, data warehousing and data mining approaches. Includes a comprehensive case study that integrates the concepts of the course as well as general business principles.
Prerequisites & Notes: BUA 135 or BUA 335 or equivalent or BUA 605; and permission of the University of Maine Business School; graduate standing.

BUA 465 – Business Systems Development (Oracle II, prereq is BUA664, 3 credits)
Designed to integrate the areas of technology, systems analysis, systems design, project management and organizational behavior to aid the student in developing information and decision support systems. Features the design and development of a major software system.
Prerequisites & Notes: BUA 267 or BUA 364 and senior standing. Students with graduate standing in the MSIS program may be admitted to the course upon successful completion of BUA 664

BUA 668 – Electronic Commerce (3 credits)
Prepares current and future managers to gain an understanding of how e-commerce and technologies have radically altered the business environment and how to succeed and thrive in this new economy.
Prerequisites & Notes: BUA 605; or BUA 335 and BUA 370 or equivalents and permission of the University of Maine Business School; must have graduate standing.

COMMUNICATION

CMJ 480 – Media Theories and Research Methods (3 credits)
Examines and applies major theories and research methods in mass communication, analyzing media texts, industries and audiences.
Prerequisites & Notes: Junior or senior standing.

COMPUTER SCIENCE

Any formally approved 400 level COS courses and above

EDUCATION

EDT 520 – Methods of Teaching with Computer Technology
Provides practical and understandable information about integrating technology in K-12 classrooms. Examines tool applications (WD, DB, SS and Telecommunications), multimedia and categories of software. Explores ways these support learning.

EDT 616 – Seminar in Educational Media (3 credits)
Discussions and individual reports on current research and activities in the field of instructional technology.
Prerequisites & Notes: EDT 520.

EDT 545 – Information Security in the Educational Environment (3 credits)
Covers privacy and security in the educational environment from several perspectives: legal issues, social and ethical concerns, standards and policy development.
Prerequisites & Notes: EDT 520 or permission of instructor.

EDG 657 – Educational Practicum (3 credits)
Supervised practice in applying professional skills to administration, supervision, science education, social studies, special education and language instruction. Activity will be selected by the student and advisor.

ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING

Any 400 level ECE courses and above

INTERDISCIPLINARY

INT 400 – Pop! Tech: The Impact of Technology on Society (3 credits)
A unique, interdisciplinary, online experience designed around the annual Pop! Tech Conference in Camden, Maine. Explores the impact of technology on society, environment, governance, ethics, and other aspects of our personal, professional, and civic lives – both for our world today and the future we have a hand in shaping.
Prerequisites & Notes: Junior standing or permission.

INT 601 – Responsible Conduct of Research (1 credit)
Key topics in conducting research responsibly. Guidelines, policies and codes relating to ethical research. Skills development for identifying and resolving ethical conflicts arising in research. Address case studies in the context of ethical theories and concepts.

NEW MEDIA

NMD 570 – Intermedia Studio I (3 credits)
Intended to provide an environment for guided independent art/research/production in intermedia. Emphasis placed on the conceptual and interdisciplinary nature of this art form, awareness and manipulation of traditional art boundaries, and the exploration of non-traditional art media. This is an advanced graduate-level studio course emphasizing independent levels of work, theoretical engagement in the creative process and an ongoing commitment to individual studio praxis.
Prerequisites & Notes: Graduate Standing and permission.

NMD 597 – Independent Study in New Media
Graduate level study and research in New Media or related areas directed by a graduate faculty member in New Media.Prerequisites & Notes: Graduate Standing and permission.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

PAA 516 – Information Technology and Public Policy (3 credits)
Impact and design of information systems in public and non-profit organizations.
Prerequisites & Notes: Graduate Students or permission.

SPATIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

SIE 503 – Experiment Design (1-3 credits)
forthcoming

SIE 506 – Formal Foundations for Geographic Information Systems (1 credit)
forthcoming

SIE 509 – Principles of Geographic Information Systems (3 credits)
Covers foundation principles of geographic information systems, including traditional representations of spatial data and techniques for analyzing spatial data in digital form. Combines an overview of general principles associated with implementation of geographic information systems and practical experience in the analysis of geographic information. Not open to those who have taken SIE 271.
Prerequisites & Notes: Graduate standing or instructor permission.

SIE 510 – Geographic Information Systems Applications (3 credits)
Introduces both conceptual and practical aspects of developing GIS applications. Covers application areas from natural resourse planning cthrough transportation, cadastral and land information systems and their spatial modeling requirements, and application development from requirement analysis to database design and implementation.
Prerequisites & Notes: ISE 201 or SIE 509 or permission.

SIE 512 – Spatial Analysis (3 credits)
Introduces students to techniques for spatial analysis. Covers methods and problems in spatial data sampling, issues in preliminary or exploratory analysis, problems in providing numerical summaries and characterizing spatial properties of map data and analysis techniques for univariate and multivariate data. Students will be responsible for completing several hands-on exercises.
Prerequisites & Notes: An introductory statistics course, graduate standing or instructor permission.

SIE 526 – Cadastral and Land Information Systems (3 credits)
Colonial Spanish, English, French land records traditions and alternatives reviewed; goals and purposes of land tenure systems with attention to social, political, legal, economic, organizational, technical issues examined; U.S. modernization efforts and problems of developing countries explored. (Offered alternate years.)

SIE 555 – Spatial Database Systems (3 credits)
Covers internal system aspects of spatial database systems. Layered database architecture. Physical data independence. Spatial data models. Storage hierarchy. File organization. Spatial index structures. Spatial query processing and optimization. Transaction management and crash recovery. Commercial spatial database systems.
Prerequisites & Notes: SIE 550 and programming experience in Java, C++ or C.

SIE 556 – Information Systems Architecture (3 credits)
Covers aspects of data sharing and computation in centralized and distributed information system environments. Communication network protocols; layered architecture of distributed information systems; types of distributed system architectures; name spaces, data replication, and caching; inter-process communication, scalability and performance of distributed information systems; middleware; open distributed information systems; interoperability aspects. Data dissemination, and emerging distributed information systems.
Prerequisites & Notes: Programming experience in Java or C++, permission of the instructor.

SIE 565 – Reasoning With Uncertainty in Spatial Information Systems (3 credits)
Information systems and artificial intelligence approaches to uncertainty handling in spatial information systems. Typology of uncertainty: imprecision, inaccuracy and inconsistency. Representing and reasoning with spatial uncertainty in information systems. Logics of uncertainty, probabilistic and Bayesian approaches, Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence. Spatial vagueness. Handling conflicting information.
Prerequisites & Notes: SIE 550, graduate standing or instructor permission.

SIE 570 – Spatial Cognition (3 credits)
forthcoming

SIE 590 – Information Systems Internship (3-6 credits)
Utilization of knowledge gained from the information systems graduate program within a business, non-profit or government organization and acquisition of practical training.
Prerequisites & Notes: Successful completion of nine credits of required courses in the MSIS program. Sample Syllabus and Forms