KE5058 - Field Applications

Before the fieldtrip, there will be briefing lectures and student-led seminars so you know what is happening, what is expected and are introduced to the topics you will encounter in the field. The latter contribute to the assessment, so that your work on the module is well aligned with both the learning and the assessment. In the field, we are seeking an active and project-based model of learning, with most sites involving staff directed activity at the start of the trip giving way to student-directed activity in the last two days. The final day involves student-led data analysis, and an assessed presentation.

Fieldwork provides a perfect intensive environment for staff support of students, and also peer support, during skills training and project work. The two projects embedded in the fieldwork simulate the cycle of a dissertation, with the design of an investigation underpinning a day’s work executing the plan before it is analysed and reported on. This provides excellent and critically timed feedback and support for learning and skills key to a good dissertation experience, going far beyond what can be achieved within assessment feedback.

However, fieldwork also poses unique challenges for students with specific needs around mobility, mental health or experience of working outdoors. Staff will also seek to identify these challenges in advance, and then work through them with the student to diminish their impacts as far as is practical. These issues need not affect the performance of individuals in their academic assessments.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• MLO 1: Review and evaluate a range of key issues in Geographical research, including their history and scientific context.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• MLO 2: Use and apply a range of Geographic field techniques.
• MLO 3: Plan, design and execute a well-justified research project.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• MLO 4: Demonstrate independence in learning, work planning and project management.
• MLO 5: Demonstrate a curiosity for and enthusiasm for aspects of Geographical research.

Summative:
The first assessment (50%) will be a groupwork presentation, split into two parts. Part one is before the fieldtrip, and covers a literature review of a topic assigned by staff in preparation for one or more sites (MLOs 1, 4). Part two is after the trip, and reports on findings from the group project (MLOs 2, 3, 5). They are equally weighted.

The second assessment (50%) is an open notebook skills assessment conducted in exam-like conditions after the trip. Questions will be drawn from the fieldtrip experiences, excluding the group projects on the final day which are assessed in assessment 1. The notebook provides data and knowledge recorded during individual and groupwork, and will assess how well that work was done and how successfully the individual student has understood it (MLOs 1-5).

Formative:
Throughout the fieldtrip, staff will provide continuous advice on performance and skills with the aim of coaching the individual students towards higher grades in this module and the dissertation at level 6.

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Fieldwork is the core of Geography. The issues, processes, and problems we examine are either actively unfolding in specific places today or, if they are historical, can still be understood by analysing what remains and is recorded at those locations now. This module provides intensive training in unlocking this key laboratory for you, and giving you the unique skills that make geography graduates some of the most employable in the graduate jobs market. It will also provide some key training - and some practice – in designing, executing and reporting on research projects. You will be trained in research skills, and will complete two research projects – one of which you will design yourself. The feedback you get from these projects will directly help you perform better in your dissertation, and underpin you getting your best performance in the third year. As you move towards this individual project, support becomes closer to coaching and this will also help you fine-tune your skills and knowledge as you come towards the final year. The module is thus exceptionally rich in research-led learning, and important to propelling you to higher achievement and a good position for starting your career.