This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.

Undergraduate Handbook 2025-2026 (archived)

Module GEOL3986: Earth Sciences with Placement

Department: Earth Sciences

GEOL3986: Earth Sciences with Placement

Type	Level	Credits	Availability	Module Cap	Location
Tied	3	120	Available in 2025/2026		Durham

Tied To

Pre-requisites

None

Corequisites

None

Excluded Combinations

None

Aims

To provide experience of applying subject-related skills in a workplace environment.
To enable students to acquire transferable skills, to develop personally, and to enhance their employability.

Content

Content will be determined in agreement with the placement provider, subject to a forty week minimum duration. The placement content must be related to the student’s degree.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge

Knowledge and understanding of the structure, routines, pressures, and disciplines of the workplace environment.
Increased knowledge of the Earth Science techniques involved in the placement, and of their practical application.

Subject-specific Skills

An enhanced ability to work independently or in a team, as appropriate to the placement.
An enhanced ability to work on technical and non-technical tasks, with colleagues from a range of backgrounds.

Key Skills

Increased confidence in the ability to work in different environments and to assume personal responsibility.
An ability to manage one's affairs and time
Aptitude in a workplace environment.

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

Pre-placement briefing in order to prepare the student for the placement.
Regular contact with a placement advisor during the placement to help the student assess the ongoing value of the placement and the skills acquired, including one site visit by the placement advisor where this is reasonably practical.
Post-placement debriefing to help the student assess the final value of the placement and reflect on the skills acquired.
Assessment via an A1 poster on the placement, typically presented at the Department Conference in June.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total Hours	Attendance Monitored
Lectures	1	1 Pre-placement briefing	1 hour	1	Yes
Placement	1	Weekly, including meetings with placement advisor	40 weeks	1198	Yes
Lectures	1	Post-placement debriefing and questionnaire	1 hour	1
Total				1200

Summative Assessment

Component	Component Weighting	Element	Length/Duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Coursework	100%	Poster	A1 Poster	100%

Formative Assessment

Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.