GEO1024 : Coasts and Communities: Human Geography Fieldwork
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Dr Robert Shaw
- Co-Module Leader: Dr James Riding
- Lecturer: Professor Jen Bagelman, Dr Emma Ormerod
- Owning School: Geography, Politics & Sociology
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
The module aims to:
- introduce students to critical qualitative human geography methods, and how these are applied in the field.
- examine how qualitative mapping, as an example of critical qualitative human geography methods, helps understand the sustainable, cultural, economic and political geographies of coastal environments
- explore and understand the geographies of coastal communities in north-east England, as a case study of a site in which multiple geographical themes can be encountered
- provide students with an opportunity to grow as a learning community through engaging 'sea-school' field-course exercises
- introduce students to Newcastle geography's research strengths, and how these can be applied to a particular case
Outline Of Syllabus
Students will explore the intricacies of how coastal landscapes and communities mutually co-constitute one another.
Students will be introduced to themes around coastal communities which match broad subdisciplinary specialities of Newcastle geography. These will come from 4 of:
- Cultural geography
- Geohumanities
- Political geography
- Economic geography
- Social geography
- Energy geography
- Environmental geography
- Mobility geography
- Historical geography
Within these themes, students will be presented with challenges or problems that communities face, and will be tasked with producing a qualitative mapping research project that creatively documents or responds to these challenges. Students will undertake research for this project during fieldwork at coastal sites in the North-East of England.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 30:00 | 30:00 | N/A |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 7 | 1:00 | 7:00 | N/A |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 3 | 2:00 | 6:00 | N/A |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Fieldwork | 1 | 20:00 | 20:00 | For the workshops and field work, students will be divided into 4 groups, with sessions repeating |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 137:00 | 137:00 | N/A |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
The majority of teaching is delivered through 3 days of fieldwork, including 2 days of data collection and 1 day of data analysis. This will allow students to work with the taught methods (introduced through 3 workshops) and to explore the thematic content (introduced through lectures).
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design/Creative proj | 2 | M | 40 | Group qualitative map produced from research carried out during the fieldwork |
| Reflective log | 2 | M | 60 | Individual reflective log submitted three weeks after fieldtrip |
Formative Assessments
Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written exercise | 2 | M | Group research questions with short ( |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The qualitative map will be a group-produced response to a challenge or problem faced by coastal communities. This will assess peer-learning and teamwork, as well as students' abilities to design and produce an output from qualitative research methods
The reflective log will allow students to show their understanding of the underlying geographical themes in more depth, and to individually reflect on the process of using qualitative methods.
In generating their qualitative maps, students will be encouraged to be creative and ambitious in their approach, with an aim of producing a collective portfolio of responses to the challenges of coastal communities
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- GEO1024's Timetable