Bachelor of Applied Geographical Information Systems

The Bachelor of Applied Geographical Information Systems requires three years of full-time study (or the equivalent part-time) and the honours program an additional year (or the equivalent part-time). 

The course is offered by the College of Science and Engineering. 

Enrolment in the honours program may be offered to a student who meets certain academic criteria and subject to appropriate resources and staff being available to supervise the program of study.

• Admission requirements
• Course aims
• Learning outcomes
• Program of study
• Honours
• Combined degrees

Admission requirements

The minimum requirements for consideration for entry to all undergraduate courses are specified in detail in the University Entry Requirements.

Course aims

The Bachelor of Applied Geographical Information Systems is designed to prepare students for a variety of career paths related to the capture, synthesis, analysis and communication of spatially related information.

Learning Outcomes

Graduates will be expected to be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of the nature of GIS, its historical development, capacity, advantages and disadvantages
• capture spatial information using a range of data capture techniques, validate and document this information and integrate it into a spatially related database
• analyse relationships between spatial and aspatial entities using GIS and a range of cartographic and statistical techniques, and communicate this information using a variety of digital and analogue techniques
• undertake modelling approaches for decision making and risk assessment
• demonstrate an understanding of remote sensing theory and its relationship with GIS
• design and implement a remote sensing or GIS project
• extract digital image information through a range of multispectral transformations, band ratios, and classification methodologies
• communicate results effectively in written and verbal form
• apply GIS knowledge and skills to the specific discipline area studied in the major
• appreciate the importance of ethical behaviour in scholarship and professional activity

Program of study

To qualify for the Bachelor of Applied Geographical Information Systems a student must complete 108 units, with a grade of P or NGP or better in each topic, according to the program of study below.   

Not all topics are necessarily available in a given year.

Students must complete the compulsory topics listed and the requirements for one Bachelor of Arts major or one Bachelor of Science major. To complete the 108 units, other topics may be selected from any offered by the University provided entry and course requirements are met and that at least 27 units of First Year topics are included. No more than 45 units of First Year level topics may be included in the 108 units for the degree.

Core - Year 1 topics

36 units comprising:

 INNO1001 Innovative and Creative Thinking: Recognizing Opportunities (4.5 units)
 STEM1002  Introduction to Geographical Information Systems  (4.5 units)
 STEM1003  GIS Airborne and Ground Data Capture for all Disciplines  (4.5 units)

plus one of

 INNO1003 Collaboration, Co-Creation and the Crowd: Leveraging your Ecosystem for Innovation (4.5 units)
 STAT1121  Data Science  (4.5 units)
 STAT1122  Biostatistics  (4.5 units)
 MATH1121  Mathematics 1A  (4.5 units)
or
4.5 units from a Bachelor of Science major

plus either

13.5 units from the selected Bachelor of Science major
or 18 units from the selected Bachelor of Science major
or 9 units from the selected Bachelor of Arts major

plus Electives from across the University for which pre-requisites are met, to take the first year total to 36 units

Core - Year 2 topics

36 units comprising:

 STEM2001  Remote Sensing for all Disciplines  (4.5 units)
 STEM2002  Applied Problem Solving with Computers  (4.5 units)
 STEM2003  Airborne Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry  (4.5 units)
 STEM2004  Advanced Geographical Information Systems  (4.5 units)

plus

 18 units from the selected Bachelor of Science major
or
 13.5 units from the selected Bachelor of Arts major
 plus 4.5 units of electives

Core - Year 3 topics

36 units comprising:

 ENVS3760  Environment Agency Placement  (4.5 units)
 STEM3003  Modelling in Space and Time, Geostatistics and GIS  (4.5 units)
 STEM3100  Research Project in Science  (4.5 units)

plus

 18 units from the selected Bachelor of Science major
 plus 4.5 units of electives 
or 
 13.5 units from the selected Bachelor of Arts major
 plus 9 units of electives

Bachelor of Science Major

Students may undertake a Bachelor of Science major selected from the following:

• Animal Biology
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Chemistry
• Cognitive Science
• Computer Science
• Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Environmental Geology
• Environmental Hydrology and Water Resources
• Environmental Management
• Geography
• Mathematics
• Microbiology
• Ocean and Climate Sciences
• Physics
• Plant Biology
• Statistics

Bachelor of Arts Major

Students may undertake a Bachelor of Arts major selected from the following:

• Applied Linguistics
• Creative Writing
• Criminology
• Drama
• English
• French
• History
• Indigenous and Australian Studies
• Indonesian
• Innovation and Enterprise
• International Relations
• Italian
• Law and Society
• Modern Greek
• Philosophy
• Politics
• Screen and Media
• Sociology
• Spanish
• Women's and Gender Studies

Students must select the topic that is consistent with their chosen major. Students are encouraged to discuss their program of study with the course coordinator.

Honours

Refer to Bachelor of Applied Geographical Information Systems (Honours)

Combined Degrees

The Bachelor of Applied Geographical Information Systems may also be studied in a combined degree program with

• another Bachelor degree in the College of Science and Engineering where the combination meets the requirements of the credit transfer policy
• Bachelor of Archaeology