Programme Specifications

The overarching aim of ‘Practising Human Geography’ is to provide students with the appropriate knowledge, skills and competencies required of an advanced, professionally trained researcher, specialising in the field of human geography. The programme includes both broadly-based social science training in research methodologies and transferable employment-related skills and subject-specific training in human geography. This should enable students to either enter employment in relevant fields or to undertake further research for a PhD in human geography. It meets the requirements of research training of the Economic and Social Research Council, as set out in the 4th Edition of the ESRC Postgraduate Training Guidelines for 2005.

Aims of the MA Practising Human Geography:

• To develop subject-specific training in the area of human geography (philosophical, epistemological, theoretical positions) and to provide complementary research methods training

• To develop generic social science research methods and skills (principles of research design, data collection and data analysis)

• To develop competence in a range of generic social science personal development and employment-related skills (communication skills, research management and team-working skills, personal and career development)

• To provide a structured programme of delivery that is academically rigorous, builds on the benchmarking requirements for undergraduate studies in human geography, and meets the requirements of research council training at postgraduate level

On completion of the programme students should be able to: 

• Display a critical understanding and appreciation of the range of philosophical, epistemological and theoretical positions in the broad field of human geography

• Undertake and demonstrate an informed appreciation of a range of general social science research skills

• Deploy the principles of research design and strategy, including the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of data in both the social sciences and human geography

• Recognise and appreciate their development of personal and employment-related skills 

This programme provides opportunities for students to develop knowledge and understanding, skills, qualities and other attributes in the following areas:

On completion of the programme, students will be able to:

• A1: Demonstrate knowledge of the evolution and history of geographical thought, specifically in relation to the key philosophical, epistemological, and theoretical debates in human geography

• A2: Critically assess the way in which human geography has dealt with: the historiography of geographical thought; geographies of landscape; modernity and modernism; mobility and geography; scale in geography; conceptions of space and place; culture, society and nature; body, subject and citizen; performativity and practice; thinking the future; ethics and morality in human geography.

• A3: Express an individual understanding and position on these debates, especially in relation to their own field of inquiry

• A4: Show an appreciation of the ways in which these concerns can be related to ethical issues and public policy debates

• A5: Critically evaluate literatures discussing alternative epistemological positions that provide the context for theory construction, research design, and the selection of appropriate analytical techniques in social science and human geography

• A6: Demonstrate an informed understanding of the basic principles of research design and strategy within social science and human geography

• A7: Formulate appropriate research questions in relation to current academic debates

• A8: Demonstrate competency in applying a range of research methods to enable the collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data

Teaching and Learning

All the modules on this research training Masters programme are compulsory. In Part One of the programme, which covers the 120 credits of taught course, learning outcomes A1 to A8 are promoted via a mixture of staff-led lectures, workshops, seminars, and practical exercises (for A8). Throughout, these are supported by independent study and reading by students, which is demonstrated through group discussion and recorded in a reading diary.

During Part Two of the Masters Programme a 15,000 word dissertation (60 credits) contributes towards the development of knowledge relating learning outcomes A1-A8 (especially A1-A4).

Assessment

Different modes and criteria of assessment are used across the programme to test skills and competencies. For example:

• Practical assignments are used to demonstrate knowledge of IT skills and data management (A8)

• An assessed oral presentation is built into the programme partly to test communication skills and partly to assess the student’s ability to formulate and present a concise research plan (A5-A6).

• Essay-based assessments and the dissertation are used to test the student’sbroad knowledge of a wide range of methodologies and forms of data analysis (A8) and subject-specific knowledge (A1-A8) is also assessed through essay-based assessments

All assessments are based on coursework, rather than unseen, closed examinations

On completion of the programme, students will be able to:

• B1 Employ a range of bibliographic and computing skills

• B2 Recognise the ethical and legal issues involved in research practice

• B3 Deploy a range of dissemination strategies, including writing, oral presentation, internet usage, and media usage

• B4 Manage a long-term research project

• B5 Interrogate the basic principles of research design and strategy

• B6 Formulate researchable problems

• B7 Undertake and evaluate alternative approaches to research

• B8 Critically discuss the significance of alternative epistemological positions that provide the context for theory construction, research design, and the selection of appropriate analytical techniques

• B9 Apply a range of research methods to enable the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data

• B10 Analyse quantitative and qualitative data

Teaching and Learning

During Part One of the Masters Programme, student development towards outcomes B1 to B10 is primarily promoted through a mixture of staff-led lectures, workshops, seminars, and practical exercises.

During Part Two of the Masters Programme, student development towards outcomes B1 to B10 is primarily promoted through the production of a 15,000 word dissertation and the associated one-to-one tutoring.

Assessment

Assessment of student capacities in relation to outcomes B1 to B10 are reflected in the criteria employed to evaluate achievement at all stages in the programme (see 10.1).

10.2.2 Professional practical skills/discipline-specific skills

On completion of the programme students will be able to demonstrate competence in the following professional geographical skills. They will be able to:

• C1 Recognise key methodological debates within social science and human geography

• C2: Deploy a range of theoretical and methodological approaches appropriate to the definition, collection, analysis and interpretation of evidence within social science and human geography

• C3 Interrogate the ways in which methodological issues are linked to forms of data collection, research design, and the changing practice of the social sciences and human geography

• C4 Effectively plan, design, and execute a Master's dissertation in human geography by stressing the linkages between research design, data collection, and data analysis and construct an appropriate timetable and schedule of work

Teaching and Learning

During Part One of the Master's programme, the teaching of discipline specific professional and practical skills is delivered through a mixture of lectures and seminars.

During Part Two of the Master's programme, independent research for the dissertation and the associated one-to-one tutoring reinforces student development towards all of outcomes C1-C4.

Assessment

Assessment of student capacities in relation to outcomes C1-C4 are reflected in the criteria employed to evaluate achievement at all stages in the programme (see 10.1).

On completion of the programme the student will be able to demonstrate ability in the following key skills which are transferable to a non-academic context. The student will be able to

• D1: Work independently

• D2: Work as part of a team

• D3: Respect the view, beliefs, opinions and values of others

• D4: Listen to and engage with other speakers

• D5: Discuss and present orally academic material in a range of settings through group discussions and debates and formal individual presentations

• D6: Produce written submissions in a variety of forms

• D7: Use information technology to process, store, present and communicate information, including spreadsheets, databases, word processing, E-mail and the World-Wide-Web

• D8: Identify, retrieve, sort and handle information from conventional and electronic sources, including libraries, CD-Roms, on-line computer resources and the World-Wide-Web

• D9: Undertake self-regulation of work regimes and time management

• D10: Identify problems and outline strategies to address them

• D11: Adapt to change

• D12: Undertake and evaluate a wide-range of written materials in the social sciences

• D13: Demonstrate observational skills

• D14: Collate, process, interpret and present a wide-range of numerical and non-numerical data

• D15: Formulate research problems and manage research projects

• D16: Identify appropriate career pathways and develop a capacity to compete effectively for employment or further research opportunities

Teaching and Learning

The programme aims to develop and nurture students’ awareness of and capacity in these key transferable skills to a postgraduate level of competence. Some of these skills are integral to teaching and learning activities across the programme (D1, D4, D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, D12, D16). Others are developed through specific modules and learning activities, such as fieldwork research for the dissertation (D13, D14, D15) and oral presentations (D5).

Assessment

Assessment of student capabilities in relation to many of the above outcomes (D6, D7, D8. D9, D10, D12) is central to criteria used to assess performance within the programme. These include essay-based assignments, project essays, practical exercises, and the independent research project. In addition, a number of the above skills are explicitly assessed at various points during the programme through a range of methods, including oral presentations associated with modules (D5), practical exercises (D14), and the dissertation project (D1).