• Offered for Year: 2025/26

• Module Leader(s): Dr Christopher Hackney
• Lecturer: Dr Becky Sanderson, Dr Seb Pitman

• Owning School: Geography, Politics & Sociology
• Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus

• Capacity limit: 35 student places

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

The Netherlands are one of the most densely populated parts of the world and the physical landscape has been heavily adapted by humans. This makes it an ideal location to study how coastal processes and river dynamics in the delta of the rivers Meuse and Rhine have been changed to make them suitable for safe habitation by humans. The module will provide insight into how people have initially been fighting against nature and more recently have been working with nature to ensure the long-term safety of places to live and produce crops. The module will look at issues of flooding, land subsidence, water quality, and biodiversity loss and how these must be balanced. Students will be stimulated to think critically about how it is possible to balance the demands of different stakeholders in this highly complex landscape that requires detailed and long-term planning.

In line with Newcastle University’s ‘Education for life 2030+’ strategy (https://www.ncl.ac.uk/who-we-are/education-strategy/outline/) connections between our education provision and research expertise have always been at the core of our field-based teaching. Geo2233 enhances and expands those connections by embedding them in both class-based and field-based activities, thereby ensuring the educational experience the module provides remains relevant and connected to the future of work.

GEO2233 will:

1.       GIVE students advanced first-hand experience of geomorphological and biogeographical processes within a dynamic environment and to further extend and enhance understanding of human-landscape interactions.
2.       GIVE students the opportunity to build on the skills and knowledge gained from GEO2137 (Key Methods in Physical Geography), through targeted primary data collection and landscape-scale interpretation.
3.       FACILITATE students making the linkage between knowledge gained from the literature and classroom-based learning, with field-based research. This includes the limitations and challenges faced when translating theoretical ideas into practical fieldwork.
4.       DEVELOP advanced fieldwork focused skills, including research design, data collection techniques and data interpretation, which can be applied to other modules, particularly your Dissertation (GEO3099).
5.       ENHANCE teamwork and interpersonal skills, through working together and planning fieldwork in a complex and potentially challenging environment.

Outline Of Syllabus

The syllabus involves 3 introductory lectures, 2 introductory seminars, followed by a residential field trip. The proposed structure is as follows:

Introductory lectures/seminars:

Lecture 1: Introduction to Human-landscape interactions in the Rhine/Meuse delta and the Dutch coast. Outline of field course structure, locations and logistics.
Lecture 2: Natural coastal geomorphological processes (in The Netherlands)
Lecture 3: Evidence of Long-term human presence in the landscape, and overview of (modern) interventions for safe habitation.

Seminar 1: Introduction to student-led projects, students design their projects in small groups.
Seminar 2: Students design their projects in small groups.

Field course:
Includes overnight ferry Newcastle-IJmuiden and travel to Texel.
There will be several days with staff-led activities at various sites focusing on human interactions with natural coastal processes and flood defence. Staff will introduce and develop key concepts and illustrate different elements of the landscape and students will get training on field techniques and observation skills.
This will be followed by days when students work in groups of 4-5 to collect relevant data for their student-led group projects. Data collected during student-led projects will form the basis of oral presentation by each group on the last day and your individual final report.

Post-field sessions:

Seminar 3: Students work in groups to discuss key findings made by their groups
Computer practical 1: Students work individually on data analysis
Drop-in session: a Q&A session will be available to ask advice on the field report.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

1.       Lectures and staff-led field days introduce, develop, and illustrate the environmental history of the study area and the key geomorphological concepts relevant to the field course.
2.       Fieldwork provides opportunities for student-led design and planning of geographical research as teams of 4-5 students and to collect data. Training in fieldwork techniques and assistance in project design will be available from staff.
3.       Group oral presentations (20%) provide the opportunity to summarise the results of fieldwork during the trip itself. The oral presentation will enable you to practice teamwork, organisation, and communication skills.
4.       Post trip: seminar and computer practical aimed at analysis, interpretation, and integration of data, with two additional scheduled drop-in sessions for questions about final written assessment.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Exams

Other Assessment

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

1.       There will be group presentations (20% of overall module mark) during the fieldtrip, allowing the students to present initial results and to reflect on the development and execution of small-scale research projects. This will enable them to develop their thinking in advance of the field reports and to critically evaluate their work and approach, which will be beneficial for future projects, particularly the dissertation.
2.       Group presentations aim to improve students’ capacity to present information orally and visually and to work effectively as part of a team. The presentations will be carried out on the last evening of the fieldtrip. This ensures that the students have the appropriate amount of time in the field and time in the evenings to process and collate their field data, but also trains students to prioritise and work efficiently to a tight deadline.
3.       An individual field report is used as main assessment type (80% of overall module mark) as it assesses the key skills and knowledge outcomes we wish to achieve during the field module. Specifically, it allows students to:

3a) Demonstrate their research design for the field data collection.
3b) Show that they have selected and understood appropriate methodologies.
3c) Synthesise and interpret their field results, in relation to the published literature.
3d) Critically evaluate their field approaches and the literature.
3e) Demonstrate understanding of the main processes operating in a complex landscape where humans have strongly impacted natural coastal and riverine processes, and the tensions between different components and stakeholders in this landscape.
3f) Show their capacity to write concisely, effectively and scientifically and to use appropriate illustrative material (e.g. graphs and maps) to support their argument.

4.       A seminar, a computer practical, and drop-in sessions are also scheduled after return from the fieldtrip to provide guidance and training in analysing, interpreting, and integrating results from the fieldtrip in the individual reports.

Reading Lists

• GEO2233's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• GEO2233's Timetable