School of GeoSciences Board of Studies
Proposal for a New Course or Major Course Change
Please use the following headings for your Proposal. Where it is not obvious, some indication
is given of the information that is needed under each heading.
Course Code/Name P03136. Seismic Reflection Interpretation
Course Rationale (including academic justification and any enhancements to the student
learning experience) – It has long been recognised that our students would benefit from more
exposure to the latest seismic interpretation methods. The rationale behind this course is to
provide students with insights and training into state-of-the-art methods in seismic
interpretation and their deployment in basin analysis. The student’s will obtain a skill set
which will permit them to undertake structural, seismic and sequence stratigraphic analysis of
sedimentary basins in the search for hydrocarbons, water resources, carbon storage or nuclear
waste disposal sites as well as permitting advances in our understanding of how sedimentary
basins develop and evolve
Benefits to the School – The new course will provide exciting new options for the new
Exploration Geophysics and Carbon Storage MScs as well as the GPG MEarthSci (S1023)
Geol MEarthSci (S1024) programmes as well as be attractive to visiting students, some of
whom have previously taken the course and will be able to gain credit on their academic
transcripts for doing so
Quotas and Prerequisites – The software license limit means the maximum number of
students would be 20
Resource Implications – The seismic lab contains all the hardware, software and projection
facilities needed for the course to run already so basic cost implications exist. However, we
should be mindful of the need to remain at the cutting edge of teaching provision, software
release and also seek to extend the number of terminals and licenses available. That being the
case there may be needs to investigate resource allocation to meet the expected demand.
Consultation – With Geophysics DPR and the leaders of the new Exploration Geophysics
and Carbon Storage MSc course programme providers
Risk Factors – As for any lab-based, computing-dominated study.
Teachability Assessment (please see below for details) – The module consists of developing
a integrated set of seismic interpretation skills and methods that allow a full understanding of
the development and evolution of sedimentary basins using hardcopy and specialised software
programmes. A project report and poster will be the key assessed deliverable from which the
final mark will be derived. Disabled students will have the opportunity to undertake the course
through a tailored lab-based (seismic interpretation) module and hence, obtain all the core
skills relevant to basin analysis
Quality Assurance Arrangements (this includes course monitoring by student
questionnaire, for example) – QA will be obtained through normal feedback channels
primarily in the form of written documentation through a Questionnaire
1
The teachability assessment should:
 Outline any essential skills, abilities or knowledge (pre-requisites) which students
must have to complete the course or programme;
 Describe what is "core" to the course or programme (i.e. what is central to its study,
and what all students must demonstrate an understanding of in order to complete it), so
that students can make informed choices;
 Outline the possible impact of the course or programme's assessment arrangements on
disabled students, and to consider what adjustments can be made.
As part of the approval process, the School's Board of Studies will consider the validity of the
course pre-requisites, core areas and assessment arrangements, to ensure that there are no
unnecessary barriers for disabled students.