this course is suitable for me, I recommended and appreciate my lecturer and all other Coursera teams. Because I covered with this course all my expectations, I got all quick overview of GIS and what's great about it, took a first look at ArcGIS and identify key elements in the interface, and define core geospatial concepts and terminology and also I discussed options for desktop GIS, the history of GIS and how it's used today, discussed resources and help that I can use, and lay out core skills that are relevant to you as a GIS analyst. You closed out by showing me how to get a copy of ArcGIS for this course, and with a tutorial on getting started in ArcGIS.

I have taken several online classes through Coursera, and this was the BEST CLASS I have ever taken. The instructor provided such great step-by-step explanations of every concept, the lectures were well thought out, and each unit built on the previous concepts extremely well. My level of engagement in this course was high in comparison to other online experiences I have had, and I attribute this almost entirely to Prof. Nick Santos - his lecture style was so personal that I almost felt like I was participating in person. I feel confident in my grasp of this material, and I'm really looking forward to completing all of the levels in this GIS Specialization.

I really liked this course - it's an introductory course but you get a real feel for the steps required to work through the whole process of GIS and by the end are able to navigate the software comfortably.

The fact you can get a license for ArcGIS is really great and means you are doing not just observing. ArcGIS is quite a computationally heavy package (for my laptop anyway) but you can usually follow the video lectures with it open and follow the commands which helps the learning experience.

The workload is just the right amount for an online course - not too much to do but enough to keep you busy.

I will be continuing on the specialisation.

I found this course immensely useful as a starting point for learning GIS and ArcGIS Pro software. Although the content was originally created for ArcGIS Desktop version, the supplementary videos linked to YouTube allow the student to navigate both the GIS concepts and ArcGIS Pro. Gaining a student license to the software is great, and Dr Nick Santos' videos are clear and easy to follow. I had some 'normal' setbacks downloading the software, activating the license and just navigating the course content, but they were all solvable and the forums were the key to finding solutions (and trying things multiple times). Thank you.

A great introduction to using ArcGIS software. You gain skills quickly through real-world, practical assignments. Nick is an excellent instructor who does a great job giving you just the right amount of detail you need to be successful. While you don't really gain a fundamental understanding of GIS software and the complex math/programming behind it, you will be able to use ArcGIS competently and confidently for most common tasks. Note that this review is really for the entire specialization as each course is fairly similar, and even the capstone contains a great recap of many of the lectures from the previous courses.

I've taken GIS courses before in college, but these were way more informative and way more interesting given the short period of time that he has to explain everything. I had some problems at the start because I am on a 2011 MacBook Pro, but I bought Parallels and it works perfectly fine with ArcMap. I tried to download Windows using Bootcamp, but it was a hassle (didn't switch to Windows when I wanted it to after restart or would just come up with an error screen) so I definitely think the Parallels investment is a go-to if you have an older Mac and want to continue with the rest of this Specialization.

Wonderful course. The structure of the course was very beneficial to me. There are non graded assignments that help you better understand the weekly material and practice basic workflows in GIS. There is only one grade assignment due at the end of the course. Also, you get to work with watershed data which was a plus for me since I am interested in water issues as it relates to public health and the environment. It is a foundational course so you will learn how to add data to your map and work with geoprocessing tools to make maps that are understandable and appealing. 5 stars!

This course provides a well-structured overview of geographic information systems, including core topics like spatial data types, coordinate systems, basic geoprocessing, and map design. The hands-on exercises using ArcGIS were especially helpful for building practical skills. Some lessons could go deeper in theory or real-world applications, but for beginners, it's an excellent foundation. I appreciated the balance of lectures, quizzes, and assignments. A bit more support or clarification around metadata standards and best practices would make it even stronger.

Instructor Nick Santos explains the concepts clearly and in detail and his referral to the book Getting to Know ArcGIS provided really helpful additional information and practice. Santos explained up front and periodically throughout the course that at times we will make mistakes and need help with finding answers, and he helped point us to many resources to help us find those answers. He even had a lesson solely focused on troubleshooting ArcGIS error messages. What a life saver! Thanks for a great course, really useful info, and for being a great instructor.

Although very focused on hydrology from a learning perspective, this course gave a lot of information which allowed me to complete all of the required tests and final assignment without issue, and I certainly felt like I refreshed my previously limited GIS knowledge whilst adding to it some new features such as how to add and modify metadata. I liked that it went out of its way to provide additional information to the user for further practise although this was focused on a single, quite expensive book. Looking forward to taking the rest of the specialisation.

The course was really good. I learned a lot of things related GIS. The most important thing is, you can learn about GIS from many sources but you may struggle to implement them in a good GIS software. This Course is so well organized that it will ensure that you understand how to use the software efficiently .Besides, The assignments were superb ! Whenever I face any difficulties in doing work in ArcGIS , I go through the assignment files. They are really helpful. will recommend everyone to give it a try. You will make the best use of your time surely. :)

As someone with a Science background, I know I could learn any new technical skill for my career growth. However, never did I ever imagine that I could do so within the shortest possible time. The course content was great, the video lectures were so easy to follow and understand, and the assignments really allowed me to easily apply the new concepts I learnt both in my work and personal study time. Thank you! so much, Coursera for the Financial Aid that made this possible. I will definitely recommend Coursera and this Course to my colleagues and friends.

This is a really well structured and well taught class! I really feel like I learned a lot in a pretty short amount of time. Also, if comes with arcgis, which normally is a huge barrier to learning as the subscription fee is crazy! Note though: If you have a mac, look into installation early because it's definitely more tricky to even get arcgis working and I didn't realize that until part way through the course. I'd recommend skipping to this section right away before starting anything to make sure you're good to go on that :)

Starting somewhere halfway, the method of seems to deviate a little from the initial follow along method. The project package file that was available for download initially was as how the video lecture starts and it lets me follow along and use tools as the lecture video shows. But later on, the project package file was the final result of the lesson shown. It makes it less convenient as I had to open another file with the same base map, start from scratch and try to make the initial map the same as the start of lecture video.

Great course, great presentations, great lecturer.

All the contents are pretty clear, very effective and detailed explanations and very high level in general, considering it's an introduction course.

It looks like they they care so much about it and there's a lot of hard work underneath.

I took some other courses of GIS in the past and I can say this is one of the highest quality.

Congratulations Nick Santos and all the UC Davis team involved that make it possible!

Can't wait to take the next one.

Juan Esteller,

Granada, Spain

It was really good course I have learned a lot. The lecturer is really wonderful Professor. The thing that I did not understand WHY I didn't get my certificate until now! I already submitted it before the deadline and also manage to review my colleagues work. I went for a holiday and come back yesterday to the website it says I didn't submit the assignment and didn't review any work!!!!!!! WHAT!!!!!!!! HOW COME!!!!!!! I have to re-subscribe and submit again! I tried to upload the PDFbut it doesn't work.

Really good course for those who have never worked with GIS and maps before. Covers al the basics, but isn't boring for those with some experience in the field.

I really enjoyed learning a bit about all of the different sides of GIS. The final project was a bit too easy.

I was a bit disappointed by the cartography aspect. As a designer I always find the end products of Arcgis to look a it stale. I didn't particularly find that the way in which symbology was implemented qualifies as good design.

Me ha parecido un curso excelente, los temas abordados, la enseñanza virtual ha sido de calidad, el material proporcionado durante todo el curso para realizar practicas de lo aprendido, el sistema de evaluación entre participantes me ha parecido muy novedoso.

En este corto tiempo, he aprendido muchísimo acerca de GIS y de las funciones básicas del software ArcGIS.

Felicidades al equipo que ha trabajado para hacer de este curso una experiencia única.

Muchas gracias Coursera por esta oportunidad.

This course was an easy and exciting glimpse into the world of GIS. I'm grateful for the instructor, Nick's, ability to take a complicated subject and break it down into simplified terms for someone as brand new to GIS as I am (as well as many others, I'm sure!). The layout, time/effort requirement, and quality of the course are commendable and I would highly recommend this course and Coursera to friends, family, and colleagues. Thanks so much, Nick, UC Davis, ESRI, and Coursera!

Like a lot of people, I started using GIS at work and was kind of thrown into it and fumbled my way through for a while. Going into this course I had a basic understanding of how to make maps and import data etc but I didn't really understand what it all meant. This course was extremely helpful for gaining insight and understanding into the basic why's and how's of this program. I highly recommend it if you use GIS at work but never received any real formal training.

This was a fantastic class. The instructor and those that constructed the lectures, exercises, quizzes and projects managed to put so much into very efficient, but complete packages that are really well organized. I was able to watch some on my phone, some on my tablet and many on my PC. Instruction was very clear and valuable. The exercises were great. The project at the end was challenging and interesting. I look forward to the next class in this specialization.

Instructor is fabulous. Very easy to listen to and informative. I learned a lot in 4 weeks. I was not a fan of the peer review process in regards to my project. I had all of the required elements and it was evident that one reviewer must not have even looked at my assignment. The other made a mistake in his review and looked at the wrong thing part for his grading, this is frustrating when you know you did everything correctly. It worked out, however.

This course stands true to its name. It covers all fundamental concepts of GIS and helps one become familiar with the software used by GIS specialists. The step by step instructions make the course very easy to follow. I was a little intimidated by the course content because long distance learning can be difficult as I do not have a GIS oriented study group of sorts and am now proud of the fact that I challenged myself with the course as it's just great! :)

I previously had some GIS experience, but it was two years ago and I hadn't used it since. This course was a perfect way of remembering what I learned while adding new skills. I loved the ability to go at my own pace and really think about why certain things worked the way they did. I would highly recommend to anyone who wants a GIS refresher. For people who have never used GIS it may be a little more difficult, but I still think it's completely do-able.

I recently completed this course, and I couldn't be more satisfied with the experience. The course content was well-structured, informative, and engaging, making complex topics easy to understand. The instructors were knowledgeable and passionate, providing clear explanations and valuable insights throughout the course and the assignments really helped solidify my understanding. I highly recommend this course to anyone looking to level up their skills!