Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

This module is offered to Single Honours Geography students and Combined Honours students taking at least 80 credits from Geography only. Students must also take GEO2043 and at least two other Stage 2 Geography modules (which can include a GEO-coded Human Geography fieldtrip module) to provide the methods and subject-specific knowledge required to be able to complete the second assessment on this module. Taken together this will provide the core dissertation training for single honours Geography student and CH students planning to complete a Human Geography dissertation at Stage 3.

Aims

•       To enable the development of a detailed understanding, and experience, of how research design works in Human Geography
•       To prepare students to create their own academically rigorous dissertation research proposal
•       To support the ongoing development of transferable skills and competencies to enable our students to be ready for their graduate careers
•       To provide opportunities for students to improve their understanding of how a research project works, and how the skills developed designing a research project can be transferrable to future careers
•       To provide personal tutoring contact and relationship in line with the university personal tutoring framework

Outline Of Syllabus

The module is delivered through a series of lectures, computer practicals, small group tutor-led seminars, and one-to-one meetings.

Semester 1
The focus in semester 1 is to provide an introduction and detailed context to how Human Geographers design and plan research projects, and to provide opportunities to identify and understand the skills that can be developed through the dissertation process.

Semester 2
The focus in semester 2 is to provide focused support to introduce and develop the dissertation research proposal and to understand how the dissertation research project can help to develop a range of graduate skills.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

By the end of this module students will be able to;
-       understand the development of approaches to doing human geography research
-       identify appropriate research topics, problems and questions
-       understand the nature and importance of research design
-       identify and evaluate key elements of critical thinking and research, namely theory and approach, methods and sources
-       analyse and evaluate relevant methods of conducting research and data collection
-       develop an effective research proposal
-       identify graduate skills that they can develop during the dissertation process

Intended Skill Outcomes

By the end of this module students will be able to;
-       identify, analyse and present all components of independent research
-       locate and evaluate appropriate high-quality secondary research
-       assess and critique a range of arguments
-       generate ideas through reading and analysis of existing arguments/debates/models/theories
-       reflect on the skills they are developing during the dissertation process

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

This module will be delivered through a range of large lecture-based delivery of key information, and small tutor-led seminars to provide a more focused learning experience. Given the focus of the module, on developing a detailed understanding of how to create a Human Geography dissertation research proposal, this approach provides the opportunity to deliver key context and knowledge through large lecture settings, followed by much more focused small group seminars that will enable students to ask questions and develop their own research project plans.

The group project sessions provide focused opportunities for students to work together towards their first assessment, and the computer sessions provide the ability to expand key practical knowledges required for successful literature searching, and online information collection, necessary for dissertation project work.

The one-to-one sessions provide the opportunity for students to meet with their mentor to reflect on their progress to date and to use this to feed forward into their upcoming assessments effectively.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

There are two summative assessments and one formative assessment for this module.

In the first semester, their will be one summative assessment, which is focused on enabling students to develop and reflect on skills that are useful for their dissertation, but also for their wider academic and graduate careers. The assessment builds on a group project task, run over several weeks during semester 1, but the assessments are individual rather than group. This is to provide the space for students to complete a reflective log of the skills and attributes they have developed during the group project work, to support our employability strand through the degree programme. The second element of the portfolio is a short, annotated bibliography, in which students have to critically review three pieces of literature that they have chosen to use as part of the group work. They will be required to choose one academic paper, one piece of grey/policy literature, and one media story all related to their group project work. This will provide an opportunity for students to develop a clear understanding of how these different types of literature can be of use as research materials.

In the second semester, students will complete a formative multiple-choice assessment at the start of the semester to provide a baseline of their understanding of what designing and planning a dissertation research proposal involves. It will be delivered and completed during a seminar and utilised as part of the seminar teaching, for staff and students to gain a good insight into what knowledge and understanding they need to develop during the subsequent seminar-based dissertation research proposal development sessions.

The summative assessment in semester 2 will be a dissertation research proposal (DRP) and accompanying skills audit. The DRP will enable students to create a detailed research proposal, building on skills and knowledge developed across the totality of the student’s stage 2 modules. The skills audit will also encourage students to look across the whole of stage 2 and identify their transferable skills strengths and gaps as they move towards making careers decisions in Stage 3 and beyond. This will be introduced and supported by a lecture delivered by the Careers Service.

General Notes

N/A