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Description

Programme Specification for the 2023/4 academic year

BA (Hons) / BSc (Hons) Geography

1. Programme Details

Programme nameBA (Hons) / BSc (Hons) Geography Programme codeUFS3GOAGOACF
Study mode(s)Full Time
 Academic year2023/4
Campus(es)Cornwall Campus
 NQF Level of the Final Award6 (Honours)

2. Description of the Programme

At our Penryn Campus in Cornwall we offer a welcoming atmosphere, where you are encouraged to make the most of Cornwall’s unique environment, both in your studies and in your free time. Our Geography programmes treat Cornwall as a ‘natural laboratory’, taking learning into the field to explore the incredible diversity of cultural and natural landscapes in the region.

If you choose to study Geography in Cornwall you will be taught by expert, research-active staff who together cover a wide range of human and physical geography specialisms, including sustainability, environmental history, climate change, remote sensing, cultural geography and landscape change. Teaching and research activities emphasise the value of interdisciplinary thinking, and students develop their knowledge in a supportive learning environment with small class sizes and an informal, friendly ambiance.

Our programmes are designed to give you the knowledge and skills you need to compete in today’s graduate job market. You’ll have access to the latest technologies and will have the opportunity to carry out a work placement. Field work forms an important component of all our degree programmes, and you will go on regular one-day field trips within Cornwall as well as residential field trips in the UK.

When participating in field courses, you will be required to cover any visa costs and, if necessary, purchase anti-malarial medication and relevant immunisations. You will also need to provide your own specialist personal equipment appropriate to the field course destination, eg. walking boots, rucksack, mosquito net, sleeping bag, binoculars. You may incur additional costs dependent upon the specific demands of the research project chosen. Details of specialist equipment, vaccinations and visas that you must supply at your own expense are provided at http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=6569.

3. Educational Aims of the Programme

The BA/BSc (Hons) Geography programme explores the social and physical processes shaping the Earth’s surface over different temporal and spatial scales and is intended to show Geography as a dynamic discipline concerned with processes and patterns in human and natural environments. It aims to provide you with a broad understanding of geographical aspects of both human society and the physical environment and their complex interrelationships. Through field work in physical and human geography and other forms of experiential learning, the programme aims to promote your curiosity about natural, social and cultural environments and to enable you to develop a range of skills that will help you to understand those environments. As you progress through the programme you will have the opportunity develop your own interests in the discipline and gain a more detailed and nuanced appreciation of a variety of specific aspects of physical or human geography in which staff in the department have specialised.

We use a combination of traditional teaching methods such as exams and essays, coupled with innovative teaching and learning methods such as video-conferencing, web-casting, virtual fieldtrips, blogging and online discussion forums. Together, these create a stimulating and effective learning environment. Similarly, our assessment ranges from more conventional examinations and essays to writing research proposals and participating in citizen’s juries. We have standard assessment criteria for coursework essays, exams, oral presentations, posters, dissertations, field notebooks and learning diaries.

4. Programme Structure

5. Programme Modules

http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/currentstudents/

http://medicine.exeter.ac.uk/programmes/programme/modules/

https://intranet.exeter.ac.uk/emps/studentinfo/subjects/mathematicspenryn/modules/

http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/students/undergraduatemodules/

You may take optional modules as long as any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module.

You may take up to 30 credits of elective modules outside of the programme in the first, second and final stages as long as you have obtained the explicit permission of the Programme Director, any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module.

If you have mobility or health disabilities that prevent you from undertaking intensive fieldwork, reasonable adjustments and/or alternative assessment can be considered. This could include replacing a fieldwork module with an alternative in agreement with the Director of Education.

You are also permitted to take the five-credit module LES3910 Professional Development Experience in any year. Registration on this module is subject to a competitive application process. If taken, this module will not count towards progression or award calculation.

Stage 1

90 credits of compulsory modules, 30 credits of optional modules

Compulsory Modules

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
GEO1401B Approaches to Geographical Knowledge 15No
GEO1405B Earth System Science 15No
GEO1413 The Geography of Cornwall 15No
GEO1414 Geography Tutorials 15No
GEO1418 Granite Landscapes and Society 15No
GEO1419 Introduction to data science 15No

Optional Modules

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
GeoP S1 BA-BSc Geog opt 2021-2
GEO1420 Atmospheric and Oceanic Systems, Their Interactions and Importance 15 No
BIO1431 Introduction to Human Sciences 15 No
HIC1306 World History: Globalisation 15 No
LAW1016C A Legal Foundation for Environmental Protection 15 No
POC1021 Key Concepts in Politics and International Relations 15 No
POC1026 Power, Inequality and Global Justice 15 No
TRU1113 Literature and the History of Ideas 30 No
GEO1408B Global Issues in Environmental Science 15 No
HIC1305 World History: Science, Environment and Sustainability 15 No

Stage 2

45 credits of compulsory modules, 75 credits of optional modules

b You may not take GEO2449 and LES2002 in the same academic year. 

c The field course module, GEO2460 is compulsory. If you are unable to take the field course, you will be required to take another optional module.

Compulsory Modules

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
GEO2460 Environment and Sustainability on the Isles of Scilly [See note c above]15No
GEO2461 Second Year Tutorials 15No
GEO2462 Research Design and Methods 15No

Optional Modules

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
GeoP S2 BA-BSc Geog opt 2021-2
CSC2010M Oceans and Human Health 15 No
CSC2021 Health, Place and Wellbeing 15 No
BIO2451 Evolution of Human Societies 15 No
GEO2440 Geographical Information Science and Systems 15 No
GEO2441 Remote Sensing for Environmental Management 15 No
GEO2442 The Politics of Climate Change and Energy 15 No
GEO2444 Landscape Evolution 15 No
GEO2445 Rural Social Issues 15 No
GEO2450 Biogeography 15 No
GEO2451 Ice Sheets: Glaciology, Climate and the Oceans 15 No
GEO2454 Waste and Society 15 No
GEO2457 Physical Ocean Processes 15 No
GEO2458 People and Nature 15 No
LAW2016C Environmental Regulation and Redress 15 No
GEO2456 Social and Cultural Geographies 15 No
POC2120 Power and Democracy 15 No
POC2114 Green Politics in Theory and Practice 15 No
POC2108 Political Geographies: Local to Global 15 No
POC2123 Politics of the Middle East 15 No
GeoP Employability opt 2021-2 [See note b above]
GEO2449 Green Consultants 15 No
LES2002 Workplace Learning 15 No

Stage 3

45 credits of compulsory modules, 75 credits of optional modules (you will have the option of taking a field course in your final stage but the location has not yet been finalised)

b You may not take GEO2449 and LES2002 in the same academic year. Additionally, 

d You must choose one of the two Dissertation modules. To exit with the award BSc (Hons) you must select GEO3439 and to exit with the award of BA (Hons) you must select GEO3438. Changes to your dissertation topic and to your choice of award (ie BA or BSc) will not be possible beyond 1 December in the final stage.

Compulsory Modules

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
GEO3439 BSc Dissertation in Geography [See note d above]40Yes
GEO3438 BA Dissertation in Geography [See note d above]40Yes
GEO3471 Preparing to Graduate 5No

Optional Modules

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
GeoP SF BA-BSc Geog opt 2021-2
CSC4013M Frontiers of Global Health 15 No
CSC4011M Living with Environmental Change 15 No
GEO3437B Climate Change and Society 15 No
BIO3428 The Complexity of Human Societies 15 No
GEO3448 Quaternary Environmental Change 15 No
GEO3452 Literature Review in Environment and Society 15 No
GEO3454 Antarctica: Science from a Frozen Continent 15 No
GEO3455 Marine Climate and Environmental Change 15 No
GEO3457 Geographies of Democracy 15 No
GEO3458 Marine and Coastal Sustainability 15 No
GEO3461 Arctic Frontiers: Can We Preserve the Arctic Environment? 15 No
GEO3466 Biological Oceanography 15 No
GEO3467 Human-Animal Interactions 15 No
LAW3016C Legal Response to Environmental Destruction 15 No
BIO3434 Major Transitions in Evolutionary History 15 No
BIO3135 Human Behavioural Ecology 15 No
POC3107 The Politics of Statelessness 15 No
POC3117 The Politics of Climate Change 15 No
POC3129 The Far Right in Europe 15 No
GEO3469 Catastropolis 15 No
GeoP Employability opt 2021-2 [See note b above]
GEO2449 Green Consultants 15 No
LES2002 Workplace Learning 15 No

6. Programme Outcomes Linked to Teaching, Learning and Assessment Methods

Intended Learning Outcomes
A: Specialised Subject Skills and Knowledge

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
On successfully completing this programme you will be able to:		Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be...
...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class):...and evidenced by the following assessment methods:

1. Illustrate the nature of change within human and physical environments.
2. Compare the reciprocal relationships between physical and human environments.
3. Explain the significance of spatial relationships as influences upon human and physical environments.
4. Summarise the diversity and interdependence of places at various spatial scales.

Lectures, seminars, discussion groups, oral presentations, poster presentations, practical laboratory and field skills, independent reading and synthesis.

  1. Explicitly through coursework in core modules of first year, core key skills modules in second year, and throughout module based assessments in second and final years (depending on options taken).
  2. First year is explicitly interdisciplinary and modules are assessed against the student’s understanding about interconnections, through essays and exams. Key Skills module in second year explores inter-relationships between human and physical environments through assessed presentations and practicals.
  3. Through examinations and coursework in first year core modules, and throughout optional modules in second and final years.
  4. Implicitly through coursework and written examinations associated with core and optional topic-based modules in all years.

Intended Learning Outcomes
B: Academic Discipline Core Skills and Knowledge

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
On successfully completing this programme you will be able to:		Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be...
...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class):...and evidenced by the following assessment methods:

5. Evaluate the diversity of approaches to the generation of knowledge and understanding deriving from experience of the epistemologies of the natural sciences.
6. Understand geographical concepts in different situations.
7. Apply ideas to new situations with a systematic approach to accuracy, precision and uncertainty.

Lectures, seminars, discussion groups, oral presentations, poster presentations, practical laboratory and field skills, independent reading and synthesis.

  1.  Coursework in second year Key Skills module, final year fieldwork and in the dissertation.
  2. Field Class training in all years and through coursework and exams in all modules in all years.
  3. Explicitly assessed in the first year data handling module, and applied and assessed in second year Key Skills, final year Fieldwork and dissertation research.

Intended Learning Outcomes
C: Personal/Transferable/Employment Skills and Knowledge

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
On successfully completing this programme you will be able to:		Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be...
...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class):...and evidenced by the following assessment methods:

8. Evaluate the issues involved in applying research design and execution skills within the specific context of primary research.
9. Evaluate the diversity of specialised approaches to, and techniques of, collecting, analysing and presenting information on the physical environment.
10. Synthesise information and recognise relevance, develop a sustained and reasoned argument, and evaluate and articulate weaknesses in the arguments of others.
11. Communicate ideas, principles and theories effectively and fluently by written, oral and visual means in a manner appropriate to the intended audience.
12. Illustrate and discuss the contested and provisional nature of knowledge and understanding and articulate and communicate teaching/learning methods and strategies.
13. Identify, formulate and evaluate questions or problems, and identify and evaluate approaches to problem-solving.
14. Use C&IT tools effectively and appropriately to select, analyse, present and communicate geographical information, effectively and appropriately interpret and use numerical statistical information, and apply basic and more advanced numerical skills effectively and appropriately to geographical information.

Lectures, seminars, discussion groups, oral presentations, poster presentations, practical laboratory and field skills, data handling, independent reading and synthesis.

8. Essays and discussions in tutorials in first and second years and dissertation in final year.

9. Data analysis tools are assessed in class tests for first year data handling module and second year Key Skills.

10. Through coursework, essays, projects and exams in all modules in all years.

11. Through coursework, essays, projects and exams in all modules in all years.

12. Through critical writing tasks assessed in a range of modules through second and final years and in the dissertation.

13. Explicitly through coursework in first year core modules, second year Key Skills and final year dissertation.

14. Through coursework, essays, projects and exams in all geography modules in all years.

7. Programme Regulations

Classification

8. College Support for Students and Students' Learning

You will be located in the Centre for Geography, Environment and Society (Penryn Campus), where close working relationships are fostered. You will receive formative feedback from various discussion groups/in-lecture exercises throughout the delivery of each module and therefore receive essentially continuous feedback during the taught component of the programme. Project supervisors provide academic and tutorial support once you move on to the research component of the programme. In addition, the Programme Director will offer every student a meeting each term with an academic who provides guidance and feedback on assessment performance. Your progress will be monitored and you can receive up-to-date records of the assessment, achievements and progress at any stage.

9. University Support for Students and Students' Learning

10. Admissions Criteria

11. Regulation of Assessment and Academic Standards

12. Indicators of Quality and Standards

The programme is not subject to accreditation and/ or review by professional and statutory regulatory bodies (PSRBs).

13. Methods for Evaluating and Improving Quality and Standards

14. Awarding Institution

University of Exeter

15. Lead College / Teaching Institution

Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy (ESE)

16. Partner College / Institution

Partner College(s)

Not applicable to this programme

Partner Institution

Not applicable to this programme.

17. Programme Accredited / Validated by

0

18. Final Award

BA (Hons) / BSc (Hons) Geography

19. UCAS Code

F807

20. NQF Level of Final Award

6 (Honours)

21. Credit

CATS credits ECTS credits

22. QAA Subject Benchmarking Group

[Honours] Geography

23. Dates

Origin Date

10/10/2012

 Date of last revision

08/07/2022