onGEO Professional Certificate Course: GEO-PAGE 424, Python & ArcPy Geoprocessing

Summer 2024, Second Session: Syllabus

Instructor: Mr. Yousef Khajavigodellou, [email protected]

Course Description:
This course will introduce students to Python scripting, the script writing process using the ArcPy module, and how to
manipulate and analyze GIS data using scripts. Students will learn how the Python scripting language can automate GIS
tasks in ArcGIS Pro. No previous programming experience is required.

Course Audience:
Professionals and students who are currently working in fields that use geospatial technologies and pursuing training
opportunities (required or by choice), professionals and post-baccalaureates looking to advance or revamp their current
career path, teachers pursuing continuing-education credits, and international students seeking an educational
experience and certification from an American university.

Course Goals:
The purpose (goals) of this course is to develop students:
● Understanding of the basic terminology of the Python scripting language
● Understanding of some of the most frequently used techniques of programming
● Ability to write code snippets using the Python window in ArcGIS Pro
● Ability to write a script using the ArcPy module
● Ability to perform batch geoprocessing with spatial data
● Familiarity with the role of cursors in updating records
● Familiarity with programming environments (known as Integrated Development Environments), primarily
PyCharm
● Ability to manipulate and analyze GIS data using scripts
● Ability to create scripts written in PyCharm
● Understanding of the role of Python scripting in working with GIS

Course Learning Outcomes (Objectives):

By completing this course, students will be able to:
1. Execute simple, one-line code blocks from within ArcGIS Pro
2. Execute a simple geoprocessing script from within PyCharm and view the results in ArcGIS Pro
3. Understand Python as a language
4. Understand and describe the differences between data types, classes, functions, and objects
5. Understand Python syntax
6. Loop through lists of data using ArcPy
7. Automate the use of ArcPy functions over multiple feature classes
8. Use functions in ArcPy to operate on data and display information
9. Understand the basics of automation by using if/else conditional statements
10. Write dynamic scripts
11. Understand methods of user input in a dynamic script
12. Load a script as a geoprocessing tool to create a script tool
13. Use the data access module
14. Create their dynamic script in PyCharm

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Course Requirements and Recommendations:

Required
There are no required textbooks for this course. Instead, you will see links within the course material that will take you
to helpful readings.

Recommended
• Textbooks:
- Python Scripting for ArcGIS Pro, 2nd Edition by Paul A. Zandbergen 2020. ESRI Press, Redlands, CA.
(ISBN: 9781589484993).

• Technological:
o Computer – A PC or Mac can be used to access D2L for lesson material. All online labs will be conducted on
the remote Windows-based server. To access the remote server, you need to use Remote Desktop Connection
on your Windows or Microsoft Remote Desktop on your MAC.
o Web browser, preferably Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, or Microsoft Edge. Use of other browsers may lead
to activity malfunctions.
o Applications/plugins (see the Computer Setup page in D2L for details).
• General:
o You are required to complete each lesson and are responsible for all of its associated components.
o You are also required to submit assignments ON TIME.

Internet Requirements
• HIGH-SPEED internet connection - You will need a high-speed internet connection to take this course. Access to the
remote server will be handled entirely online, so you will need to have a secure, reliable internet connection to access
the materials for this course.

Please Note:
All course emails will be sent to your Michigan State (mail.msu.edu) or Community ID email account only via the
D2L system. You will need to check this email account at least once a day for emails from your Instructor and
Online Geography staff. If you need to, please set your Michigan State account to forward your emails to an
account that you do check frequently.

Course Organization:
While a team of faculty and staff developed and continues to manage the course, an Instructor teaches each section.
Moreover, this course is delivered through a series of online lessons, activities, and supplemental readings. Course
assessments are accomplished through activities embedded in the lessons.

Your Instructor, Associated Staff, and Course Authors

This session, Mr. Yousef Khajavigodellou is responsible for this course, from the day-to-day management to the grading.
Mr. Khajavigodellou will take care of instruction, grading, any content/activity questions you may have, any questions
about how to work through the course, and final grades. ALL email correspondence should go to Mr. Khajavigodellou.

Dr. Yi Shi, Juliegh Bookout, and Beth Weisenborn are staff members of onGEO courses at Michigan State University, so
you may receive notices from them occasionally. These Online Geography (onGEO) staff members are not involved in the
day-to-day workings of the course -- your Instructor is responsible for course delivery and instruction.

Dr. Paul McCord is the author of the course content. Dr. Yi Shi and Ms. Beth Weisenborn produced the course. This

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course was created for the Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences at Michigan State University. An
earlier version of a similar course was authored by Dr. Jason Matney.

Lessons
This course consists of 4 units containing 8 lessons, 22 activities, and 1 final project.

Item Topic Supplemental Reading

-- Getting Started, Getting to Know You, Course Introduction --
Unit Python Basics --
L1 Using the Python Window in ArcGIS Pro & ArcGIS Notebooks In-lesson readings
L2 Setting Up PyCharm & Writing Basic Scripts In-lesson readings
L3 Ramping up Python Syntax learnpython.org readings/activity
Unit Dynamic Scripts --
L4 ArcPy Preparedness: 'While' Loops and 'For' Loops Codecademy readings/activity
L5 ArcPy Preparedness: Conditional Statements & Functions Codecademy readings/activity
L6 ArcPy Functionality: User Input & Data Description Codecademy readings/activity
Unit Cursors & ArcGIS Pro Toolbox --
L7 Cursors & ArcGIS Pro Toolbox In-lesson readings
Unit Application --
L8 Final Project None

Activities
You will be required to complete 22 entirely online activities and a final project and submit your answers in D2L by 11:59
p.m. (ET) on the date specified on the course schedule. The descriptions of these activities are embedded in your lesson
material. All of your activity grades will count toward your final-grade calculation. Flexibility on due dates for activities is
an option, provided you contact your instructor ahead of time.

As with any course, it is the responsibility of the Instructor to uphold the standards suggested by the grading rubrics
provided by the course authors. While your grade is determined by assessing the quality of your answers compared to
the grading rubric, the grading process is subject to the rigor of the Instructor.

The activities will be based on the material you cover in the lesson in which they are located. When appropriate, spelling
and grammar will count toward your score for written answers. Any form or degree of plagiarism will NOT be TOLERATED
and will result in 0 points.

Activities are independent exercises; you are not to collaborate with fellow students on them. The time required to
complete each activity will vary. Depending on your past experience, you may find some of the activities to be easier or
more difficult than others. However, keep in mind that even professional programmers rely extensively on Google to
search for solutions to problems. In fact, many ArcPy searches within Google will lead you to a single website -
Geographic Information Systems Stack Exchange. This is a question and answer site for cartographers, geographers and
GIS professionals. It is a niche site that is part of the larger Stack Exchange family of websites, of which Stack Overflow is
the most popular for general-purpose programming questions. Consider creating accounts within both GIS Stack
Exchange and Stack Overflow (you can easily link a pre-existing Google account) so that you can begin to engage with the
community of programmers on these websites and get ready to start solving problems independently. Check out this
tour of Stack Overflow to learn more.

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It is strongly suggested that you start your activities early so that you have enough time to ask your instructor any
questions you might have.

Course Policies:
Course Material in D2L
From the D2L Help Page (https://help.d2l.msu.edu/):

"Know your rights and University Policy: MSU expects that you will respect the rights of faculty and other
students as you participate in the educational process. Participating in an D2L course means that you may have
access to personal information and academic work produced by other students and faculty members, such as
discussion board postings, drafts of papers and other work produced in the course. Academic norms and MSU
policy require that you must not reveal any information about classmates, coursework, content, or its authors
to anyone outside the course."

ALL of our course material in D2L is copyrighted property of MSU. This means that ALL course material in the D2L course
site is protected and, other than one copy of the material for your own personal use, this material should not be
distributed or posted in any form.

Academic Integrity
You are expected to take this course in adherence to University and Department standards for Academic Integrity (The
Office of the Ombudsman at Michigan State University). Please visit this site for a more detailed explanation of academic
dishonesty and, especially, plagiarism -- two serious offenses from the viewpoint of onGEO, the Geography Department,
and the University.

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Grading:
Your final grade will be based on the following:

Assessment Points
Getting To Know You 5
Activity 1. Connect to the Remote Server 5
Activity 2. Connecting to the Course Data 5
Activity 4. Buffer Analysis 5
Activity 5. Making Use of the Package Manager 10
Activity 6. Special Learnpython.org Lessons 11
Activity 9. Mutable and Immutable Objects 5
Activity 10. Special Readings from Codecademy 10
Activity 11. Running DuplicateTrailPoints.py Script 10
Activity 14. Sample Script for For Loops 5
Activity 15. Special Readings from Codecademy 10
Activity 16. Rename Multiple Fields 5
Activity 17. Buffering Multiple Feature Classes with CampsitesTrailsBuffer.py script 10
Activity 18. Special Readings from Codecademy 10
Activity 19. User Input 5
Activity 20. Listing Data 10
Activity 21. Cursors 10
Activity 22. Make a Script Tool 10
Final Project. Script & Map 60
Total points possible in the course = 201

*Activities 3, 7, 8, 12, and 13 do not get submitted or graded, so they are not listed in the Grading section.

Students must complete all activities, at a level that demonstrates mastery of the material (at least 70% of the total
points per activity). Activities may be resubmitted once to achieve a satisfactory score.

All activities must be submitted complete, and at a satisfactory level (70% or above), within the seven week session in
order to pass the course. You can view your grades for the activities by accessing your personal online gradebook
(Assessments tab).

Extra Credit
Given the number of assessments and abbreviated length of the session, no extra credit work will be considered.

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onGEO Professional Certificate Course: ONGEO-PAPG424, Python & ArcPy Geoprocessing
Summer 2024, Second Session: Syllabus

Due dates for assessments (due by 11:59 PM (ET) on the due date provided):
F, June 28 Activities for Lesson 1. 1-4
M, July 1 Activities for Lesson 2. 5
Tu, July 2 Getting To Know You
F, July 5 Activities for Lesson 3. 6-9
F, July 12 Activities for Lesson 4. 10-14
F, July 19 Activities for Lesson 5. 15-17
F, July 26 Activities for Lesson 6. 18-20
F, Aug 2 Activities for Lesson 7. 21-22
F, Aug 9 Project

Below is the schedule for the entire session. Rows are listed in order by assignment/due date. Two columns from left to
right are date (assigned or due) and content item.

Date Content Item

Assigned 6/24 Units: Getting Started; Getting To Know You; and Course Introduction

Unit. Python Basics

Assigned 6/24 Lesson 1: Using the Python Window in ArcGIS Pro & ArcGIS Notebooks
Assigned 6/24 Activities for Lesson 1. 1-4

Assigned 6/28 Lesson 2: Setting Up PyCharm & Writing Basic Scripts

Assigned 6/28 Activities for Lesson 2. 5
Th, July 4 -- University Closed
Assigned 7/5 Lesson 3: Ramping Up Python Syntax
Assigned 7/5 Activities for Lesson 3. 6-9

Unit. Dynamic Scripts

Assigned 7/9 Lesson 4: ArcPy Preparedness: 'While' Loops & 'For' Loops
Assigned 7/9 Activities for Lesson 4. 10-14
Assigned 7/16 Lesson 5: ArcPy Preparedness: Conditional Statements & Functions
Assigned 7/16 Activities for Lesson 5. 15-17
Assigned 7/22 Lesson 6: ArcPy Functionality: User Input & Data Description
Assigned 7/22 Activities for Lesson 6. 18-20

Unit. Cursors & ArcGIS Pro Toolbox

Assigned 7/29 Lesson 7: Cursors & ArcGIS Pro Toolbox
Assigned 7/29 Activities for Lesson 7. 21-22

Unit. Application
Assigned 8/5 Lesson 8: Final Project