Module GEOG41515: USING GEOGRAPHICAL SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES

Department: Geography

GEOG41515: USING GEOGRAPHICAL SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• The module will provide applied training in the use of geographic skills and techniques with the aim of developing a range of transferable skills relevant to professional and personal development. The emphasis will be on (a) enhancing students’ existing quantitative and qualitative research skills (b) exploring issues involved in the design and conduct of working with geographic information; and (c) providing hands-on experience working with spatial data in a human-geography context.

Content

• Principles of good research design and practice, including issues of rigour, creativity and validity
• Understanding how to formulate researchable problems and an appreciation of alternative approaches to research
• Reflection on the role of the researcher in the context of different approaches to knowledge production
• The ethics and politics of doing Human Geographical research in the context of contemporary debates about research and its uses
• Managing information, making sense of data, and styles of analysis, explanation, understanding and description in social research
• Introduce select research techniques specific to Human Geography such as cartography, pattern analysis, collaborative mapping and/or crowdsourcing that will enhance research skills while exploring the applicability of these techniques to emerging social science issues.
• Applying tools and techniques to a real-world case study through a design challenge where students will work in teams to research, gather data, conduct analysis, create a visualization, and present their preliminary findings.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will have developed their knowledge of key areas of debate around the production and use of different forms of geographic data, including around the effective co-production of knowledge
• Students will have been exposed to a breadth of approaches, tools and techniques and acquired critical knowledge of a number of selected quantitative and qualitative research methodologies and techniques used by geographers and GIS practitioners
• Students will have developed an understanding of the range of issues involved in the conduct and use of geographical research

• Students will have developed practical skills in GIS data collection, spatial data analysis, and cartographic data visualisation
• Students will enhance the practical skills needed for the design and planning of the research process
• Students will have an awareness of appropriate practices for ethically using data and information
• Students will be fully aware of what good practice is in human geography regarding the conduct of research

• Written communication skills
• Ability to synthesize complex information
• Ability to convert spatial data into maps and geographic information

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

• The module is delivered through eight two-hour practicals. Each practical includes a small lecture or demonstration and instructions with guidance for applying a specific skill to a geographic problem and developing associated visuals, maps or analysis.
• Summative Assessment: A portfolio (100%) houses the visuals, maps, analysis and results of the practicals. This should include the implications of the results, and a reflection of these methods on your own methodological practice in your planned research.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Students will receive formative feedback from both staff and peers on maps and/or analysis posted to the module discussion board. Verbal feedback for the summative will be ongoing throughout the module and delivered during practical sessions and/or individually.

■ 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