Current instructor
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Class is well organized and labs are successful tools to challenge students and learn the material. I appreciated the specificity of this course to geography, particularly the real-life examples in labs and connections to previous GIS knowledge.Rate My Professors ↗
Professor Gao is a genuinely compassionate teacher. For some similar 'esoteric' courses in the past I've had professors get annoyed by more fundamental questions/when students are struggling to grasp a concept, but Professor Gao seriously valued every question I heard asked and gave encouraging and comprehensive answers.Rate My Professors ↗
Song is very knowledgeable and talented, with strong geospatial industry experience. I enjoyed his lectures a lot. It is not easy to get A in his class as it requires programming and heavy labs. You need to make great efforts and practice more to achieve the best grade.Rate My Professors ↗
This class is absolutely awful if you do not have prior CS experience. Having taken GEOG 377, I thought I would be prepared and I was dead wrong. The labs are astoundingly difficult (and I'm not dumb by any means, I literally had a 4.0, which this class ruined). Song is a terrible lecturer and I learned absolutely nothing in class.Rate My Professors ↗
This was a good class; I enjoyed it and felt like I learned a lot. I was thankful that the course was taught using Python3 and Jupyter Notebooks. these are great tools to use for spatial analysis and this course improved my abilities to use them for geospatial analysis, particularly Pandas and GeoPandas.Rate My Professors ↗
This was one of the most challenging classes I have taken but I feel more confident in my code writing and more prepared for my future career now because of it.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Pre-dissertator independent research supervised by a faculty member for students who have completed a master's degree but have not reached dissertator status.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Introduction to theory, techniques, and analytical methods for geospatial big data, covering storage, processing, analysis, and visualization using advanced Python programming.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Song Gao
Professor Song Gao taught a challenging course using Python3 and Jupyter Notebooks, with students noting the final project helped test new skills. Reviews described the class as well-organized, combining technical geocomputing with real-world applications, and praised the instructor and TA for providing useful academic materials.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Individual mentored study for seniors completing theses for Honors in the Major, arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Individual mentored study for seniors completing theses as arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Directed Study is an independent study course arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Research and Thesis provides individual mentored study for completing theses, as arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
INDEPENDENT WORK is an independent study course arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=1 letter grades).
No recorded grade history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI 899 | Pre-dissertator Research |
| Spring 2027 | GEOG 573 | Advanced Geocomputing and Geospatial Big Data Analytics |
| Spring 2027 | GEOG 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | GEOG 691 | Senior Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | GEOG 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2027 | GEOG 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | GEOG 999 | Independent Work |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 899 | Pre-dissertator Research |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 990 | Dissertation |
| Fall 2026 | GEOG 378 | Introduction to Geocomputing |
| Fall 2026 | GEOG 560 | Advanced Quantitative Methods |
| Fall 2026 | GEOG 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | GEOG 692 | Senior Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | GEOG 699 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2026 | GEOG 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | GEOG 999 | Independent Work |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
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