GEO2140 : Research Design and Planning for Human Geographers
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Dr Alison Williams
- Lecturer: Professor Simon Tate
- 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 1 Credit Value: | 10 |
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 10 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
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.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 11 | 2:00 | 22:00 | Lectures will usually be delivered PiP and recapped |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 165:00 | 165:00 | Group and individual assessment preparation work |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Practical | 1 | 1:00 | 1:00 | Library skills computer practical |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 10 | 1:00 | 10:00 | All seminars will be PiP and across the totality of the module will include; - Skills practice - Project work - Reflective learning activity - Student-led group activity |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 2 | 0:30 | 1:00 | A one-to-one meeting with the tutor will be offered each semester to review progress and feed forward |
| Guided Independent Study | Project work | 1 | 1:00 | 1:00 | Student-led group project computer practical |
| Total | 200:00 |
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 Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | 1 | M | 30 | Two equally weighted pieces of work building on the group project work. These will be submitted together. 1. An annotated bibliography of different types of literature used in the group project work. 2. A reflective log of skills and attributes developed |
| Research proposal | 2 | M | 70 | A dissertation research proposal, and skills audit (10% of overall mark) preparing students for their dissertation |
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 | Multiple choice questions answered in seminar at the start of semester 2; assess knowledge and understanding of dissertation research design and planning process to identify knowledge gaps. Builds on semester 1 teaching and provides baseline for DRP work |
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.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- GEO2140's Timetable