Newcastle University

Aims

The aims of the module are:-

1.       To give the student advanced first - hand experience of the GIS flowline from collection, representation, analysis through to presentation
2.       To build on their existing skills in these areas studied in stage 2 and consolidate the learning within a practical environment
3.       To allow the student to develop, more fully, the links between literature and theoretical based knowledge and field - based reality. This will help to develop a realistic and critical perspective on the practicalities and limitations of field research.
4.       To introduce core themes and technologies that will be expanded upon in their stage 3 studies.
5.       To further enhance group based working and core presentation skills

Two introductory lectures will take place to familiarise the students with the study area and the working practices and goals of the course. Two days will be devoted to data collection, a further 3 days will be utilised in data validation and analysis. Two days will be used for data presentation. The final day will be utilised in completing written and oral reports.
This fieldcourse will be subsidised by the School, although a minimised cost, of the order of £200, will be payable by each student for this course.

(external factors may require that the course be run in a non residential manner from Newcastle)

Outline Of Syllabus

A residential fieldcourse in the UK consisting of 8 days in the beautiful surrounding of the British countryside held at the start of Stage 3 studies in September. This field course will present the GIS data flowline in a single package demonstrating the interconnectivity of the various modules studied so far. Students will have an opportunity to develop practical field based skills, be introduced to a variety of new technologies and analytical techniques and be able to plan and structure their own activities as a group. The course will highlight practical problems and issues faced by practitioners when collecting, validating, analysing and presenting spatial information and will highlight real-world solutions and work-arounds giving a flavour of the imperfectness and reality of spatial data acquisition and management outside the confines of academia.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

1.       Lectures introduce, develop and illustrate the study area and the existing available data and its shortcomings
2.       Fieldwork provides opportunities for student- led design and planning of the spatial data flowline as teams of 3-4 students. Training in fieldwork techniques and selection of suitable processes and analytical techniques and assistance in project design will be available from staff.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

1. Coursework provides an opportunity to (i) synthesize, interpret and critically evaluate a range of literature and primary and secondary data concerning spatial data handling in the study area within the context of the tasks set and (ii) demonstrate the capacity to communicate concisely and effectively in writing and through graphical presentations and to report scientific research in an appropriate manner. The coursework is presented through a formal written group report for the network exercise critiquing the data, analytical and representational techniques applied and an individual report for the Landuse exercise focussing on a critique of the methodologies applied during the exercise.

2. Field presentation provide an opportunity, within the context of group exercises, to present the initial results of fieldwork, the context of the projects and to reflect on the developments and execution of small-scale research projects conducted in unfamiliar surroundings.

Project work to be marked and scaled individually according to staff and peer assessment of respective inputs. The presentation will be assessed by staff.