- Course Code
- GG 3071
- Credit Points
- 15
- Course Coordinator
- Dr N Spedding
Pre-requisites
Available only to candidates in Programme Year 3 who have passed GG 2508 and at least three from GG 2010, GG 2011, GG 2509, GG 2510.
Notes
This course may not be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with GG 3031 or GG 3052.
Overview
The course is designed to introduce students to key debates, both past and present, on the nature and scope of academic geography. As such, it provides essential background for study of geography at an advanced level, irrespective of any intended specialisation. Wherever possible, parallels are drawn between the physical, environmental and human branches of the subject, although the reality (or otherwise) of geography as a single, coherent discipline is also put under scrutiny. Students are encouraged to take a critical stance towards the various claims made for and against the different types of geography, and the notion of geography as a 'contested enterprise' forms a major theme of the course.
Structure
1 two-hour lecture per week plus 1 two-hour skills session and 4 two-hour seminars.
Assessment
1st Attempt: Coursework (67%): one seminar presentation (33%) plus one piece of written work (33%), plus one 1-hour examination (33%).).
Resit: Original coursework carried forward (67%) plus one 1-hour written examination (33%). Under exceptional circumstances, resubmission of failed coursework components, with mark for those components to be capped at CAS 9.
Formative Assessment
There is no stand-alone, formal formative assessment. However, the course includes a dedicated introductory session on reading, writing and talking Honours geography and a group tutorial to support the first written assignment. Feedback on summative assessments should help students to improve their subsequent performances within the course and for follow-up second half-session courses. See box below.
Feedback
Students receive individual, written feedback on their coursework using standard comments sheets. We also provide whole-class feedback via MyAberdeen. This includes the main points of answers/tutors mark schemes to encourage students to review where they gained and lost marks.