Building B.Sc. Geography through Physical Geography Fieldwork
Siân Davies-Vollum and Alexandra Savage
S.Davies-Vollum@shu.ac.uk A.Savage@shu.ac.uk
Geography and Environment subject group, Department of Natural and Built Environment
BSc Geography
The BSc Geography course began in 2008, born out of a department
which already provided human geography and environmental science.
The course consists of a combination of environmental, human and
physical geography modules. Feedback from the first student cohort
highlighted that there was insufficient opportunity to study physical
geography, which resulted in the introduction of three core modules as
follows:
L4: Introduction to Physical Geography
Introduction to Physical Geography Fieldwork
The Introduction to Physical Geography module includes four field
experiences with distinct skill building objectives:
The QAA benchmark statement for geography states that fieldwork is a
discipline specific skill which should be embedded in all geography
degrees (QAA, 2007) and some kind of field experience is an essential a
component of most geoscience degrees (Rydant et al., 2010). All three
new core physical geography modules were developed to include
elements of field work. In this presentation we focus our attention on the
introductory L4 module and describe how we have developed field
experiences to try and build student skills and engagement as well as
course cohesiveness and identity.
Traditional approaches to fieldwork have involved a guided tour approach, whereby. In the guided tour approach students are taken to
multiple destinations where they listen to a talk about the local geography and record the major geographic features through photographs
and sketches. Pedagogically this approach has a number of flaws:
Skills
1. Information retention is low
Win Hill
Spatial awareness; Observing
landscapes
2. Students taught on mass at one location find it hard to hear the speaker
Field observation and interpretation;
mapping
Collegiate Crescent
Surveying; map making
Jurassic Coast (residential)
All of the above plus data collection,
analysis and interpretation,
reflection
L5: Fluvial geomorphology and hydrology (formerly geomorphology)
L6: Natural Hazards
Jurassic Coast Residential Fieldwork
Location
Dark Peak
The academic activities of trips are scaffolded to promote student
learning, confidence and skill development. Students are assessed via a
field notebook due at the end of the second semester that must include all
activities from all trips. Formative feedback on the notebook is provided
after the initial field trips (Win Hill and Dark Peak). Support sessions are
also provided for students both before and after field trips. The Dark Peak
and Jurassic Coast trips will be discussed in this poster as they have
been evaluated through student feedback forms.
Geographers learn
through the soles of
their feet (McEwen,
1996)
3. The scholar/academic curriculum ideology (Schiro, 2008) is favoured whereby the tutor knows all and students take notes
4. A behaviourist approach is taken whereby students take notes and draw diagrams without the opportunity to make sense of the information
provided (Race, 2010)
5. Deep learning is not achieved as students visit many locations briefly and do little with the information afterwards
6. Emphasis is on the ‘theorist’ learning style aligned with Rogers (2001) at the expense of reflective, pragmatic or activist learners
To address the issues outlined above and to take account of the increasing number of students studying BSc Geography, which makes the
guided tour method more challenging, fieldwork activities have been re-designed. An approach was needed that would encourage
students to take a constructivist perspective to learning and which addressed a range of learning styles. With 128 students registered on the
module (2013-2014), the first goal was to find ways of creating a meaningful learning experience for each student. To achieve this, the
cohort were split into six groups and tasks were designed that encouraged students to collect data in the field, develop a repertoire of
fieldwork skills, actively analyse the data collected and evaluate the overall process.
The trip was divided into three field days, each with a morning and an afternoon activity, designed to meet the objectives outlined above.
The following activities were undertaken:
1. Creating beach profiles at Chesil Beach – measured at either end of the beach at West Bay and Chesilton
2. Evaluating sea defences in Lyme Regis
Dark Peak Day Field Trip
3. Assessing the causes of landslides at Black Ven (Figure 3)
4. Investigating the geology of Lulworth Cove
The Dark peak offers a fantastic local outdoor classroom for Physical
Geography students. A day trip was developed that introduced students to
elements of Dark Peak geomorphology and geology while building field
skills. The trip was split into two half-day activities for groups of
approximately 25 students. Students were split into smaller groups of fourfive to complete the mapping exercise thus an element of collaborative
learning was also introduced.
Figure 1: L4 BSc Geography students on Dark Peak, 2013
Benefits of field experiences
Recent work by Mogk and Goodwin (2012) indicates that the benefits of
field experiences include:
Location
Skills
Burbage Edge
Observation, creating field notes and sketches
Mother Cap Tor area
Observation, creating field notes and
sketches, interpretation, mapping, collaborative
learning
5. Observing and describing the coastal geomorphology at Durdle Door
Student feedback for the trip highlighted the value the students placed on the experience: 96% agreed that their practical skills had
improved, 93% felt their confidence in the subject matter had improved and 95% would recommend the trip for the future. Many students
commented that they felt the trip gave them the opportunity to develop a positive rapport with staff and their peers. Many worked with
students they had yet to meet on the course.
Reflection
Initial evaluations indicate that students find field experiences in physical geography engaging and that their practical skills and
understanding of content improves as a result of them. As instructors we have observed the cohort building and increased sense of course
identity that has occurred on field trips. However, as we continue to develop field experiences there are issues we still want to address
including inclusivity, linking skill-building between trips, and classroom preparation for field trips.
Acknowledgments
Results indicated that students had an overall positive field experience.
89% of students agreed or strongly agreed that the trip had improved their
understanding and 100% found the experience engaging. Looking at
written feedback on the forms, most positive comments were related to
‘looking at geographic features’ and ‘learning by seeing’ (Figure two)
whereas negative comments were very disparate with never more than a
few students identifying a single element of the trip.
We thank Dr. Mike Heath who developed the initial Physical
Geography module for BSc Geography course and who
provided the inspiration for the Jurassic Coast field trip and
to Dr. Beth Meeds, who has developed and led Physical
Geography field exercises at Collegiate Crescent and Win
Hill.
1. Promoting unique types of learning that can not be achieved in
other settings.
2. Creating cognitive and metacognitive gains for the learner.
3. Providing affective responses that positively impact student
learning.
Pedagogic research indicates that fieldwork also encourages a deep
approach to learning by providing environments in which students
can connect their learning to the real world (Maskall and Stokes,
2008). In addition, field experiences can be designed to develop
transferrable technical and problem- solving skills (Rydant et al., 2010).
We suggest field experiences also help build the identity of a course and
provide opportunities to build a cohesive student cohort.
Literature cited
Figure 2: Wordle summarising feedback from L4 students for Peak District
field trip (2012-2013)
Figure 3: L4 BSc Geography students, Jurassic Coast, 2014
McEwen, L. (1996) Fieldwork in the undergraduate geography programme: challenges and changes
Journal of Geography in Higher Education 20 (3) 379-384
Maskall,J. and Stokes, A., (2008) Designing effective fieldwork for the environmental and natural
scientist GEES Subject Centre Learning and Teaching Guide. [Online]. Last accessed April 2014 at
http://www.gees.ac.uk/pubs/guides/fw2/GEESfwGuide.pdf
Mogk, D.W. and Goodwin, C. (2012) Learning in the field: synthesis of research on thinking and
learning in the geosceinces in Kastens, K.A., and Manduca, C.A., eds., Earth and Mind II: A Synthesis
of Research on Thinking and Learning in the Geosciences: Geological Society of America Special
Paper 486, 131–163.
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London pp250
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237pp.
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