NES2312 : Field-based Ecology: designing experiments, and residential field course
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Dr Simon Maddock
- Other Staff: Dr Evelyn Jensen, Dr Simon Peacock, Dr Richard Bevan, Dr Gavin Stewart, Professor John Bythell, Professor Aileen Mill, Professor Darren Evans
- Owning School: Natural and Environmental Sciences
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
- Capacity limit: 80 student places
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
(1) develop scientific questions with clear aims, objectives, and hypotheses;
(2) build ecology fieldwork skills in a responsible, safe and ethical manner;
(3) design, plan, conduct, and report on field investigations, using a variety of field work techniques;
(4) establish approaches to obtaining, recording, collating, analysing, and presenting data using appropriate statistical analyses;
This module provides formative training, assessment and feedback that equips students to carry out their final year Research Project in any subject area, as well as increasing their practical field work, data processing and interpretation skills.
Outline Of Syllabus
A two-week block module.
Week 1: students will learn a variety of fieldwork sampling techniques appropriate to each habitat; common statistical problems encountered when designing experiments for field-based research; critical thinking for defining aims, objectives, and hypotheses for scientific research; EDI and Health and Safety in the field.
Week 2: at a residential field centre students will implement and develop skills learnt in Week 1. The students will perform data collection, analyses, present results, and perform critical appraisals of each subproject undertaken during the week.
Afterwards: preparing an individual write-up in the form of a scientific paper.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 10:00 | 10:00 | Assessment - group oral presentation using group collated data from group activity - 15% course mark |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 30:00 | 30:00 | Assessment - individual report using group collated data from group activity - 85% course mark |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 5 | 1:00 | 5:00 | Online via canvas: short lectures on health and safety, EDI, experimental design, sampling |
| Structured Guided Learning | Lecture materials | 10 | 3:00 | 30:00 | Prep work and Follow up to workshops – Includes background reading and review of lecture notes |
| Structured Guided Learning | Academic skills activities | 5 | 3:00 | 15:00 | Non-synchronous - Learn materials on canvas, virtual environments |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 4 | 3:00 | 12:00 | PiP or Synchronous online health and safety, EDI, experimental design, sampling |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Fieldwork | 7 | 10:00 | 70:00 | PiP Residential Course (if permissible) |
| Guided Independent Study | Student-led group activity | 20 | 1:00 | 20:00 | Data collection, analyses and presentation |
| Guided Independent Study | Student-led group activity | 3 | 1:00 | 3:00 | Virtual environment tasks building skills for fieldwork, preparatory work for residential course. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Drop-in/surgery | 5 | 1:00 | 5:00 | PiP or Synchronous online sessions |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Some habitat and sampling technique exploration and planning are conducted in virtual environments, enabling access to a range of habitats. This prepares students for potential pitfalls, experimental design challenges and safety considerations prior to working in the field. Detailed planning, field data collection and group data analyses are all undertaken at the residential centre, with each team of up to 8 students assigned to an individual staff supervisor. Writing up is an individual activity for each student.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research paper | 2 | M | 85 | Project report (2500 words) |
| Oral Examination | 2 | M | 15 | Group oral presentation (15-20 minutes) of results at residential centre |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prof skill assessmnt | 2 | M | Team Contribution Assessment |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The completion of a piece of scientific research is normally signalled by submission of a paper to a peer-reviewed journal. An individually written submission (85%; up to 2,500 words) of this kind is submitted 2 weeks after the end of the residential field course. Marked by the group supervisor and moderated by module leader.
Oral assessment (15%; 15-20min) at the end of the residential field visit will check understanding and practice oral presentation skills; group presented.
Effective teamwork will have an influence on the utility of data collected, and the quality of analysis and interpretation, so each student’s contribution is formatively assessed by their staff supervisor and group peers for academic impact and industry in the field.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- NES2312's Timetable