The University of Sheffield
Geography Undergraduate Student Handbook

GEO163 Information and Communication Skills for Geographers

Level 1
Credits 10
Availability Core for BA Geography; BSc Geography; Environmental Science; Geography & Planning
Semester Autumn and Spring
Prerequisites None
Description The skills needed to be able to find, evaluate, summarise and critically evaluate information are all vital to success in an undergraduate degree programme, and are also key transferable skills. This module will provide training in a wide range of methods for information handling and communication. The teaching is largely in small groups, with students expected to take more responsibility for their own learning as the module progresses. Lectures provide basic tuition in skills and small group tutorials are used to develop these skills. In the second half of the course students work in groups to produce a paper on a subject of geographical interest to be presented, in both written and oral form, at an undergraduate conference.
Aims
  1. Develop students' ability to produce written work in an appropriate academic style.
  2. Introduce students to a range of skills for the acquisition, analysis and presentation of information from bibliographic sources.
Learning Outcomes

By the end of the unit, a candidate will be able to demonstrate:

  1. An understanding of what constitutes plagiarism and knowledge of how to avoid unintentional plagiarism.
  2. The ability to find information from a range of sources.
  3. The ability to produce a piece of academic writing which draws on material from a range of sources.
  4. The ability to design and deliver an oral presentation on an academic topic.
Outline Contents
  1. Using academic Information Sources
  2. Presentation of Academic Information
  3. Academic writing skills for essays and papers
  4. Design of material for oral presentations
  5. Oral presentation skills
Delivery Methods 6 x 1-hour lectures; 8 x 1-hour tutorials, student conference
Student Contact Hours 16 hours
 
  • Kneale P. (1999) Study Skills for Geography students
  • Knight, P. G. and Parsons, A.J. (2003) How to Do Your Essays, Exams and Coursework in Geography and Related Disciplines
Assessment Methods Essay (40%), oral presentation (20%), conference paper (40%)
Staffing
(convenor underlined)		 Autumn semester: Professor Mark Bateman
Spring semester: Mr Steve Wise
 

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