| Unit name | Study and Field Skills B |
|---|---|
| Unit code | GEOG25070 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Wadham |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
All units in Single Honours Geography Year 1 |
| Co-requisites |
All of Year 2 B Syllabus units |
| School/department | School of Geographical Sciences |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science |
The unit includes 2 elements: 1. Study skills: Tutorials - comprising fortnightly small group tutorial sessions, and 2. Field class - comprising of a 7 day residential field course in Arolla (Valais, Switzerland).
Study skills: Tutorials
Fortnightly sessions in small groups (average 5-6) with academic staff to provide further training and practice in study skills as introduced in GEOG 15040. A programme of work is developed in tutorials to further students' understanding of coursework in Syllabus B, to provide training in written and oral presentations in a formative assessment context and to broaden and deepen their portfolio of transferable skills: group work; time management; project planning execution and reporting; self and peer-group assessment; written assignments, reports and oral presentation. Students will be given responsibility for preparing and running some of the sessions. Each group will have specialist tutorials linked to all courses taken, given by the members of staff who teach on the courses. As such, groups rotate between staff in both semesters according to a published timetable and get the opportunity to obtain specialist and targeted tutoring from each of the two staff that teach on each of Hydrosphere, Cryosphere and Environmental Change. In addition, each group will have a pastoral tutor who oversees general issues of welfare and progress in year 2. Tutorial attendance is compulsory unless good cause otherwise, as is submission of a minimum of 6 pieces of assigned work during the session.
Field Class
The field class will be six days duration, and include preliminary introductory lectures, group field discussion, directed group research and an independent research project session.
A combination of staff-guided and self-directed group projects, undergraduates will enable students to learn about the varied physical environments of Arolla, in the Valais region of Switzerland. Staff-guided projects on each of the first three full working days will focus on the geomorphology, snow cover, glaciology and hydrology of the Arolla valley, and take advantage of the current weather and snow conditons. They are likely to include: snow processes in the Arolla valley, fluvial processes and sediment transport, and glacier and groundwater biogeochemistry. Students will undertake self-directed projects, initially in liaison and with the approval of staff, on the final two working days. These projects usually extend on aspects of the field work during the first three days that capture the imagination of particular cohorts of students. These projects provide invaluable experience for those undertaking field work when conducting their Dissertations and Extended Research Projects. Full briefing on health and safety aspects of the projects are given by the staff.
On completion of this Unit students should be able to:
The following transferable skills are developed in this Unit:
Lectures, tutorials and fieldwork
Percentage of the unit that is coursework: 100
