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Geography STUDENT HANDBOOK First Year Undergraduate Programme 2014 – 2015

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DESCRIPTION Page

First Year Academic Calendar 2014/2015 3

Introduction 4

First Year Geography – Quick Overview 4

General Information 5

First Year Geography Contacts 6

Lecture Schedules and Venues 7

Summary Module Descriptions

TI150 Principles of Human Geography

TI151 Principles of Physical Geography

TI152 Geography in Practice

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Success in First Year Geography 12

Module Assessment and Related Issues

Description of Grade Performance Criteria

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Coursework

Submission of Printed Coursework

Late Submission of Coursework

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Calculating Your Final Grade in Geography 14

Circumstances Affecting Coursework

Absence from lectures and course activities due to illness/other circumstances

Absence from scheduled examinations

Plagiarism…………………………………………………………………………………………...

Code of practice for dealing with plagiarism…………………………………………………….

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Student Code of Conduct and Welfare

Communicating with staff members

Student welfare

Student code of conduct

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FIRST YEAR ACADEMIC CALENDAR 2014-2015

First Semester 2014

Orientation Tuesday 2nd - Friday 5th September,

Teaching will commence in the week of 8th September in accordance with information which will be provided to students. Registration will be open from late August.

Monday, 8th September

Teaching ends Saturday, 29th November

Study Week Monday, 1st – 6th December

Examinations begin Monday, 8th December

Examinations end Friday, 19th December

Christmas Vacation Saturday, 20th December 2014 – Sunday, 11th January, 2015

Second Semester

2015

Teaching begins Monday, 12th January

Teaching Ends Saturday 18th April

Easter Holidays Thursday April 2nd – Tuesday 7th April

Study Week Monday 20th April – Saturday 25th April

Exams Start Monday 27th April

Examination end Wednesday, 13th May

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INTRODUCTION

Geography is a multi-faceted, diverse and exciting field of study. Geography is the

key bridging subjects linking the Humanities, the Social Sciences and the Sciences. It

provides an insight into each of these broad areas of human knowledge. People’s

impact on the earth, as reflected in the landscape, forms the central theme. The

relationships between society and the landscape are highly complex, multifaceted

and often contested. Students studying Geography can not only acquire an

understanding of people’s place in the world but they will also develop a skill set

(Research, Data Analysis, Computing/GIS, Cartography, Survey Techniques,

Laboratory Techniques and others) that is widely applicable to many jobs and future

careers.

This Handbook contains much of the basic information you need to know for First

Year Geography. We recommend you read the handbook fully and carefully, as it is

your responsibility to acquaint yourself with its contents. Staff and tutors in the

Department will assume that you know the material contained in it.

FIRST YEAR GEOGRAPHY – QUICK OVERVIEW

The first year programme in Geography is composed of three modules of equal

weighting. Two modules are solely lecture based and one involves a combination of

lectures, and practicals such as field trips and mapping exercises.

Lecture Modules:

Semester 1: TI150 Principles of Human Geography (5ECTS)

-Introduces key problems, concepts and contexts of human geography

Semester 2: TI151 Principles of Physical Geography (5ECTS)

-Introduces key aspects of the physical geography of the Earth

Semester 1 and 2: TI152 Geography in Practice (5ECTS)

-A lecture and practical module that emphasizes field, mapping and

laboratory skills with fieldtrip opportunities.

The lecture based modules are examined by end of semester multiple choice questionnaire (MCQ) examinations and the practical module is examined by continuous assessment. Please see pages 9-11 below for a more detailed outline of each module.

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GENERAL INFORMATION

Geography is located on the ground floor of the Arts/Science Building (situated under

the Bank of Ireland end of the Concourse).

Geography

Department

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FIRST YEAR GEOGRAPHY CONTACTS

Questions regarding the 1BA programme or modules:

Dr. Terry Morley, 1st Year Course Coordinator for Geography

Email: terry.morley@nuigalway.ie

Office: 105 Geography

Submission of assessments and assignments:

Ms. Christina Costello, 1BA Administrator for Geography.

Email: christina.costello@nuigalway.ie

Office: 106 Geography

BA International Coordinator:

Prof. Ulf Strohmayer: ulf.strohmayer@nuigalway.ie

Email: ulf.strohmayer@nuigalway.ie

Office 112 Geography

Geography Student-Staff Liaison:

Dr. Siubhan Comer:

Email: siubhan.comer@nuigalway.ie

Office: 107 Geography

General questions about first year or your transition to University:

NUI Galway First Year Hotline team - extension 3999 (091 493 999).

In addition, please consult the 1BA notice board (outside the Department of Geography, on the ground floor of the Arts-Science Building - Concourse) and Blackboard on a regular basis. Also consult the 1st year section of the Geography website: www.nuigalway.ie/geography/.

All other staff contact details and web pages are also available at www.nuigalway.ie/geography/.

Student Representative

You can have a collective voice in Geography. The student representative is a point

person who conveys student issues directly to Geography, via Dr. Siubhan Comer.

Nominations for first year Student Representatives are welcomed in the opening

weeks of the term. Announcements will be made at introductory lectures in

September. If you are interested in the position of student representative please

inform the lecturer at the end of the class.

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LECTURE SCHEDULES AND VENUES

Due to the size of the first year Geography class we duplicate our large group

teaching, providing a parallel stream of lectures: Group E and Group O.

Group E is comprised of students with an even second to last ID number,

e.g. 1303024

Group O is comprised of students with an odd second to last ID number,

e.g. 1303034

It is important to note that you must attend at the times designated for your

group. Regular checking of this will take place. Attendance will also be taken

regularly.

Semester 1 – TI150

Group Day Time Location

Even (E) Monday 15-15:50 AM 250 Colm O hEocha Theatre

Wednesday 12-12:50 O’Flaherty Theatre

Thursday 12-12:50 MRA 201 (MRI Theatre)

ODD (O) Monday 14-14:50 Cairnes Theatre

Tuesday 17-17:50 Cairnes Theatre

Friday 11-11:50 SC001 – Richard Kirwan Theatre

Semester 2 – TI151

Group Day Time Location

Even (E) Monday 15-15:50 AM 250 Colm O hEocha Theatre

Wednesday 12-12:50 O’ Flaherty Theatre

Thursday 12-12:50 Cairnes Theatre

ODD (O) Monday 14-14:50 Cairnes Theatre

Tuesday 17-17:50 O’Flaherty Theatre

Friday 11-11:50 AM 250 Colm O hEocha Theatre

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SUMMARY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS

Below are more detailed descriptions of the three first year Geography modules for this academic year. Please note that the content is subject to revision. The full details of all modules will be provided by the module co-ordinator via Blackboard. As soon as you complete registration, you should have full access to the relevant Blackboard sites.

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TI 150 Principles of Human Geography

Co-ordinators Dr. Philip Lawton

Dr. Garret Maher

E-mail PHILIP.LAWTON@nuigalway.ie

GMAHER@nuigalway.ie

Office Room 101, Geography

(TBC)

Telephone 091 – 492314

(TBC)

Module Outline: This course seeks to introduce key problems, concepts and contexts within human geography. Its focus is a contemporary one: it strives to illuminate the world of today by exploring and analysing the origin of central issues that make the headlines (or not) in the media and beyond. The course places lectures alongside the information given in the textbook; for examination purposes, both are essential.

Major Themes covered in TI150 Cultural Geography, Urban Geography, Political Geography, Environment and Society,

Social Geography, Economic Geographies, Geographies of Advanced Economies,

Development Geographies.

Method of Assessment: 100% End of term Multiple Choice Question Exam (MCQ).

Key Readings:

Required readings will be posted on Blackboard.

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TI 151 Principles of Physical Geography

Co-ordinators Dr. Audrey Morley

Dr. Terry Morley

E-mail Audrey.morley@nuigalway.ie

Terry.morley@nuigalway.ie

Office Room 109 Geography

Room 102 Geography

Telephone 091 – 494104

091 - 493897

Module Outline: This course is designed to provide insight and understanding to the fundamental concepts and principles of physical geography as an academic discipline. In doing this, the course explores how the physical environment functions; how different environmental systems interact and how the physical environment impacts on human activities. The course explores the various components that make up these environmental systems, such as the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere. In addition the course also provides some understanding of how these fundamentals apply to Ireland and in so doing gives an insight into the richness of the physical geography of Ireland.

Major Themes covered in TI151:

The Biosphere: Biogeography – species distribution and ecosystems, The Atmosphere: Weather and Climate, The Hydrosphere: Rivers The Geosphere: Coasts

Method of Assessment: 80% End of term Multiple Choice Question Exam (MCQ) consisting of 40 questions. 20% Online quizzes via textbook website

MANDATORY Text: Fundamentals of Physical Geography. Second Edition. By Peterson, Sack and Gabler.

Cengage

For students that take this class the e-book & online resources will be available for

purchase at a discount price of 30€ per student. This license will allow you to:

Download the entire textbook on three different personal devices

read the e-book anytime, anywhere with your online access

Have access to many videos and graphs to supplement lecture notes

Have access to self-learning tools, such as flashcards, quizzes and assignments

Take notes and highlight sections of the textbook

Access the e-book for 3 years (the entire duration of your degree)

take quizzes that are part of the continuous assessment of this course

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TI 152 Geography in Practice

Co-ordinators Dr. Terry Morley

E-mail terry.morley@nuigalway.ie

Office Room 102 Geography

Telephone 091 – 493897

Module Outline: This module introduces first year geography students to a range of field-based learning environments designed to enhance their learning experience and develop their research competences. Supported by class-based teaching & technical instruction, students undertake a series of themed projects on identified field-sites involving observation & measurement techniques, production of cartographic, topographic & geological data, photo evidence, and relevant methods of analysis & reporting. Module Aims: This course aims to

a) Provide students basic skills for appropriate writing and literature citation in geography,

b) Introduce field components and provide students with field-based skills in both human and physical geographies, and

c) Provide students basic skills for mapping, data representation and geographical information system (GIS)

Practical and Associated Lecture Outline and Content: Practical no. 1 (semester 1): This practical will lay the groundwork for conducting research at university level, focusing on sources of information, referencing and plagiarism. Three lectures will be provided: (1) Sources of information (including Blackboard introduction); (2) Referencing and plagiarism; and (3) Essay writing. Further information on the essay title will be provided by teaching staff in due course. Practical no. 2 (semester 1): Details to be confirmed Practical no. 3 (semester 2): Practical 3 will critically review two essential geographic methods: mapping and data representation. Lectures to introduce this practical are: (1) Mapping in Geography, (2) Introduction to GIS, and (3) Graphing and data representation. The practical exercise will involve critical analysis of a number of maps of Galway city including an examination of how cartographic knowledge is produced and (re)presented. Practical no. 4 (semester 2): Details to be confirmed

Method of Assessment: Continuous Assessment Practical No. 1: Individual essay 1500 words Practical No. 2: Field Exercise I Practical No. 3: Individual essay 1000 words Practical No. 4: Field exercise II

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SUCCESS IN FIRST YEAR GEOGRAPHY

Generally speaking, students who attend lectures, complete assignments effectively and on time, take copious notes, read the assigned readings, and allow for adequate exam preparation put themselves in an excellent position to pass the subject. Attend lectures: Attendance at all lectures is compulsory and lack of attendance is one of the biggest causes of failure in first year. Complete your Assignments: Second to attendance is completing your work. The main reason why students failed the TI152 module in the 2013/2014 academic year was due to a lack of and/or no assignment submission (i.e. continuous assessment as opposed to the end of term examinations). In 99% of cases, where four assignments were submitted, the student passed. Only 9% of students who submitted three assignments passed. All students who submitted two or less assignments failed the module. Below is a graph from a Geography module that also uses continuous assessment. You can clearly see that those who passed the continuous assessment were very likely to pass the course.

Prepare for your exams and assignments: In addition to lecture and practical hours it is expected that students undertake at least 6 independent study hours per week per module throughout the semester. It is extremely difficult to review and adequately prepare for the exams by beginning your preparations during study week. You are setting yourself up for failure. Study and review the information throughout the semester. Likewise, TI152 presents an excellent opportunity to dedicate time to prepare well-structured reports. Do not wait until the last minute to complete the assignments. Graders can easily see sloppiness and evidence of hastily prepared assignments, and your grade will suffer severely. The academic calendar above outlines the key dates for the year. Deadlines for continuous assessment are normally communicated to you at the start of the semester. One of the most frequent requests for extensions to submission dates relates to other assignments being due around the same date. We do not grant extensions for these reasons. Use Blackboard as a key support - Lecture notes, core readings and detailed course

information for all three first year Geography modules will be made available on Blackboard.

The Student Guide to Blackboard is available at: http://blackboard.nuigalway.ie. Blackboard

is not a substitute for attending lectures! In order to encourage attendance, lecture notes

will be posted up prior to each lecture; however, these will be incomplete, i.e., there will be

blanks in key parts of the material. In other words, you must attend the lecture in order to

find out what the missing material is and fill in the blanks. All gaps will be indicated with an

asterisk.

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MODULE ASSESSMENT AND RELATED ISSUES

DESCRIPTION OF GRADE PERFORMANCE CRITERIA The link below brings you to the Exams Office Module Grade Descriptors document for undergraduate degree programmes. This document provides an outline of the different grade bands and the level of academic performance required to meet each one. http://www.nuigalway.ie/exams/gradedescriptors.html COURSE WORK Submission of printed coursework Please make sure that you include the attached cover sheet with each individual piece of coursework so that your work can be identified and accounted for. We cannot accept materials submitted by e-mail for reasons of authenticity except in cases where an e-mail submission has been agreed with a member of staff. In such cases, an exact hard copy must also be submitted. Late submission of coursework To ensure fairness to those of you who adhere to deadlines and submit your coursework on time, penalties for late submissions will be applied rigorously. Coursework submitted after the set deadline has expired will have the following deductions applied (out of 100): Number of days over the deadline Number of marks deducted

3 days (or one weekend) 5

1 week 10

2 weeks 20

3 weeks 30

4 weeks up to end of 5th week Marked to a maximum of 40

6 weeks No submission accepted after this date in respect of

first sitting.

A mark of zero awarded for the first sitting

Non submission A mark of zero awarded

We will regard coursework that is still outstanding 6 weeks after the deadline has passed as not eligible to be included as part of the first sitting examination unless there are extenuating circumstances that you have made us aware of within reasonable time. In extenuating circumstances, you may be in a position to seek an extension to a deadline. You must make this request directly to the lecturer concerned, outlining the reasons for the request. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate requests for extensions which arise out of poor time management on your part, for example, pressure to meet a similar deadline for another assignment.

Example of late penalty being applied Late work marked and awarded 65% 20 marks deducted from 100 = 80 Therefore, 65% of 80 = 52% Mark returned after late penalty = 52%

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CALCULATING YOUR FINAL GRADE IN GEOGRAPHY

Your final grade in the subject of Geography is the average of the three module grades – TI150, TI151 and TI152. The pass standard overall is 40%. Several situations can occur: we review these below with examples of actual student results:

a) Passing all three modules – Quite simply, if you pass all three modules you pass the

subject and can continue to take Geography in 2nd year.

b) Fail one module but pass overall – You can pass the subject if you pass two modules

sufficiently yet fail a third module. Your overall average must be 40 or better.

c) Fail one module and not pass overall – In this situation if you do not pass the other

modules such that your average grade is above 40, then you will have not passed

geography and you will have to resit failed modules.

d) Fail multiple modules. Should your average fall below 40 overall, you will be required to

resit one or more modules over the summer. You only resit those modules you fail.

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CIRCUMSTANCES AFFECTING COURSEWORK

Absence from lectures and course activities due to illness or other circumstances If your absence is due to illness, a medical certificate should be obtained and submitted to Ms. Catherine McCurry, College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies, Office 217A, First Floor, Arts Millennium Building. If your absence relates to other circumstances, it is your responsibility to communicate in a timely way with your module co-ordinator, and/or with the relevant year co-ordinator. You may also communicate with Dr. Siubhan Comer, Geography’s Student Liaison Officer. If you are experiencing difficulties in keeping up with course work during the year for whatever reason, you are strongly encouraged to let us know about this while there is time to offer constructive advice and assistance. If we are not aware of issues until towards the end of a module, it is usually very difficult at that stage to provide practical support. You will find that we are very approachable and willing to be accommodating, and in making your situation known to us, we will regard you as having acted in a mature and responsible way. It is our wish to see you perform to the best of your ability and enjoy Geography as a subject.

Absence from scheduled examinations In exceptional circumstances where you may be unable to sit an examination on the scheduled date, you must bring your request to defer the examination until the second sitting date to the Dean of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies. These arrangements cannot be made by Geography. The first point of contact in this regard is Ms. Catherine McCurry. Ms. Catherine McCurry (e-mail: catherine.mccurry@nuigalway.ie )

Plagiarism Plagiarism means presenting the words of another writer as if they were your own. This amounts to straight copying from other author’s texts, including fellow students’ work. Copying another student’s essay or assignment is as reprehensible as plagiarising an academic text. It is a serious matter, and if it is detected in your continuous assessment it may result in an automatic failure mark. The way to avoid plagiarism is very simple: always put quotation marks around someone else’s words, credit them to their source, and discuss their content and ideas in your own words. Code of Practice for dealing with plagiarism It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with the guidelines relating to plagiarism and the University’s Code of Practice in this regard: www.nuigalway.ie/current_students/university_code_conduct/index.php#7 Further guidance on recognising and avoiding plagiarism is provided by the James Hardiman Library. You can access this resource by logging on to Blackboard and self-enrolling in the ‘Learning Centre’. Full details are available at: http://www.library.nuigalway.ie/media/jameshardimanlibrary/content/documents/support/Skills4Study%20Student%20Guide.pdf

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STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT AND WELFARE

Communicating with staff members For all communications with staff members, do make sure to consult all materials on the

departmental webpages and Blackboard prior to e-mailing additional questions that you may

have. Also, please make sure to e-mail in advance to arrange any meeting with staff

members outside of their stated consultation hours. When writing an e-mail to staff it is

important to be professional and concise. For example, you should make sure that your

opening address conveys a professional tone; e.g. Dear, etc. If your query is directed at

teaching staff, please ensure that your e-mail includes your name, student ID and the

name/code of their class in which you are participating. Please be aware that due to the

large number of e-mails received by academic staff on a daily basis, you must allow time for

them to respond. Finally, please check your NUIG e-mail account regularly as this is the

main way that university staff will contact you.

Student welfare In the Discipline of Geography, we recognise that students may have particular circumstances that impact upon their capacity to complete their studies to the best of their ability. Every effort will be made to accommodate individual circumstances, and we would encourage you in this regard to communicate your situation to us if you feel we can be of assistance. You should also be aware of a number of support services available to you on Campus, whose role is also to help students fulfil their potential both academically and personally. Details are available on the following link: http://www.nuigalway.ie/student_services/

Student code of conduct As a student, you also have certain responsibilities in relation to conduct on and off campus. The University has outlined a comprehensive explanatory statement in this regard, which we would urge you to read and be familiar with. Once you accept a place as a student at NUIG, you are automatically bound by its code of conduct: http://www.nuigalway.ie/current_students/university_code_conduct/index.php#7