Module GEOG3491: ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES AND CHANGE: FIELD CASE-STUDIES

Department: Geography

GEOG3491: ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES AND CHANGE: FIELD CASE-STUDIES

Prerequisites

• NONE

Corequisites

• NONE

Excluded Combination of Modules

• URBAN TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE NEW EUROPE

Aims

• The aim of this module is to provide an advanced level training in the collection and interpretation of field data as part of enquiry in physical geography. It is chosen as a third year module so that students have a basic grounding in relevant substantive material from Years 1 and 2 but are able to develop this and apply this through holistic investigation of a particular environment. The environments chosen reflect the research interests of the relevant teaching staff in Geography.

Content

• This module is a field-based exploration of environmental change and processes with a particular theme of cold environments: Our aim is to give students a unique experience of what doing research is like in such environments as well as training in a wide range of relevant research skills.
• The module will begin with introductory lectures and preparation immediately after the Level 2 examinations in Term 3. This will prepare students for a field class which will be held in September.
• Students will choose either to go to Iceland or to Switzerland for about one week, where they will learn about environmental processes and change in their field class location and implement the preparatory work undertaken in June.
• Example topics that may be covered include: Glacial geomorphology (processes and reconstruction); Fluvial and fluvio-glacial geomorphology (processes and reconstruction); Glaciers and climate; Energy Balance Modelling; Glacial sedimentology e.g. supraglacial debris composition, ablation experiments with debris cover; Tephrochronology; Slope processes; Paraglacial processes; Micro-meteorology; Palaeo-environmental change; Dating techniques (lichenometry, tephras); Vegetation succession in relation to glacier recession; River channel disturbance and its impact on vegetation succession ; The role of vegetation as palaeoindicators of environmental change; Altitudinal and aspect controls on vegetation communities in deglaciated terrain; Interactions between altitude, aspect, soil development and environmental resilience in relation to skiing impacts.
• Students will have some autonomy in choosing the topics that they address. The field class will give them a dataset that they will explore back in Durham during their third year, with support on data handling and interpretation during specially-designed computer-based classes. This will lead towards a final report and a group presentation at the end of the module.

Learning Outcomes

• The diversity of global environments and the operation of, and inter- relationships between physical and biological systems over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales
• Patterns and processes of environmental change and their inter-relationships with human activities
• The theory and application of quantitative, visualisation and other spatial techniques across a wide range of geographical contexts

• Plan, design, execute and report geographical research both individually and as part of a team
• Undertake effective laboratory and field work (with due regard for safety and risk assessment)
• Employ a variety of technical and laboratory-based methods for the analysis and presentation of spatial and environmental information (e.g. GIS, water chemistry, etc)
• Collect, interpret and synthesise different types of quantitative and qualitative geographical data

• Critical analysis and interpretation of data and text
• Solving problems and making reasoned decisions
• Learn in familiar and unfamiliar situations
• Communicate effectively (in writing, verbally and through graphical presentations)
• Apply numerical and computational skills to data
• Use information technology effectively (including use of spreadsheet, database and word processing programmes; Internet and e-mail)
• Identify, retrieve, sort and exchange information using a wide range of sources
• Work as part of a team and to recognise and respect the viewpoints of others
• Manage time and organise work effectively

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Briefing lectures and small group discussions before the field class will help students to formulate the field-based project that they will undertake. This will require them to demonstrate that they can take complex literature, synthesis it and use it to formulate a realistic project. The outcome of this will be a literature review which will be assessed in the individual report.
• The field trip will be used to allow the students to acquire the data that they need to complete their report. In the field, students will be trained in good practice in field note taking and measurement techniques, which will be assessed in the submitted field notebook. They will also be given training in relevant environmental processes and the linkage to environmental change, under the key theme of using environmental records to infer both present and past processes. This will provide a theoretical underpinning for their project work and will be assessed in the individual report.
• The collected data will be analysed in the timetabled computer sessions. This will allow the students to acquire an understanding of advanced data analysis, with our guided support, and also in how to link empirical material to hypotheses and research questions. This will be assessed in the individual report as well as the group presentation.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Formative assessment will be provided daily during the field course on student field notebooks and during follow up practical classes.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University