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PAF Approved by QA&AA: 21 April 2007 PAF Approved by QA&AA for 2008/9: 17th^ March 2009 PAF modified by ASQ re: exit awards: 19 May 2010 PAF Amended by ASQ for 2010/11: 19th^ May 2010 PAF finalised for 2010/11: November 2010 PAF modified by ASQ for 2011/12: 9th^ May 2011
PROGRAMME APPROVAL FORM
SECTION 1 – THE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
1. Programme title and designation Geography
For undergraduate programmes only Single honours Joint Major/minor
2. Final award
Award Title Credit value
ECTS
equivalent
Any special criteria
BA Geography (^360 180) The award for students who take the
Human Geography, Environmental Geography or Development Geography pathways with their associated compulsory second and third year modules, including ‘Methods in Human Geography’ and ‘Fieldwork in Human Geography’ will be the BA in Geography BSc Geography 360 180 The award for students who take the Physical Geography pathway with its associated compulsory second and third year modules, including Methods in Physical Geography and Fieldwork in Physical Geography, will be the BSc in Geography
3. Nested award
Award Title Credit value
ECTS
equivalent
Any special criteria
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
4. Exit award
Award Title Credit value
ECTS
equivalent
Any special criteria
Ordinary Degree (BA/BSc)
Geography 300 150 n/a
Undergraduate Diploma
Geography 240 120 n/a
Undergraduate Certificate
Geography 120 60 n/a
5. Level in the qualifications framework H 6. Attendance
Full-time Part-time Distance learning Mode of attendance (^) x n/a n/a Minimum length of programme 3
x
PAF Approved by QA&AA: 21 April 2007 PAF Approved by QA&AA for 2008/9: 17th^ March 2009 PAF modified by ASQ re: exit awards: 19 May 2010 PAF Amended by ASQ for 2010/11: 19th^ May 2010 PAF finalised for 2010/11: November 2010 PAF modified by ASQ for 2011/12: 9th^ May 2011
Maximum length of programme 10
7. Awarding institution/body King’s College London 8. Teaching institution King’s College London 9. Proposing department Geography 10. Programme organiser and contact Details
Dr. Michael Goodman [email protected]
11. UCAS code (if appropriate) BA (Single Honours) L700; BSc (Single Honours) F 12. Relevant QAA subject benchmark/ professional and statutory body guidelines
Geography
13. Date of production of specification January, 2008 14. Date of programme review 20 12/ 16. Educational aims of the programme
to provide a thorough training in the subject matter and techniques of Geography to develop in students a range of intellectual, practical and transferable skills, embedding their practice and assessment within the process of learning about Geography to encourage a spirit of enquiry among our students to develop an ethical awareness of their place within a changing world to develop detailed academic, practical and methodological knowledge based on students’ chosen degree pathway (as described below)
17. Educational objectives of the programme/programme outcomes
The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding and skills in the following areas:
Knowledge and understanding
The programme provides a knowledge and understanding of the following:
(a) The reciprocal relationships between physical and human aspects of environments and landscapes. (b) The concepts of space , place , scale and system and how these affect both physical and human processes and their interaction. Special emphasis is placed on London and its environs. (c) The importance of change in understanding the human and physical worlds, their interaction and interdependence. (d) The nature of difference and
These are achieved through the following teaching/learning methods and strategies : Lectures, seminars, tutorials and research project supervision. Additionally, practical and laboratory classes are used where appropriate. A variety of fieldwork opportunities are built in to the programme, especially those in or near London. Additionally, students are expected to engage in directed reading and extensive use of the library resources (including electronic forms of learning materials).
Assessment :
PAF Approved by QA&AA: 21 April 2007 PAF Approved by QA&AA for 2008/9: 17th^ March 2009 PAF modified by ASQ re: exit awards: 19 May 2010 PAF Amended by ASQ for 2010/11: 19th^ May 2010 PAF finalised for 2010/11: November 2010 PAF modified by ASQ for 2011/12: 9th^ May 2011
Study’ which is an individual research project resulting in a dissertation. A critical approach to concepts, philosophies and ethical issues in geographical research is further embedded in the Year 3 module ‘Current Research in.. .’ the content of which depends on which stream the students are engaged in.
Assessment : Methods are: seen and unseen exam papers, coursework essays and projects, oral examinations, group and individual research projects, including dissertations, posters and web-based assessment. These methods are integrated with oral feedback in tutorials and seminars. Additionally, specific feedback sessions are held to return coursework, with the appropriate staff present to answer queries.
Practical skills :
(a) Planning, designing and executing an individual piece of research, including the production of a thesis/report. (b) Undertaking effective fieldwork. (c) Preparing effective maps and diagrams. (d) Employing a variety of social survey and interpretative methods for collecting and analysing information from the human world. (e) Employing a variety of technical and laboratory-based methods for the collection and analysis of spatial and environmental information.
These are achieved through the following teaching/learning methods and strategies :
In Year 1 all students take the module ‘Principles of Geographical Inquiry I: The London Environment’, which through lectures and practical classes, addresses the need to develop a skills base for our undergraduates. In Year 2 this basic knowledge is deepened by the following core modules: ‘Principles of Geographical Inquiry II’ and either ‘Methods in Human Geography’ or ‘Methods in Physical Geography’, and either ‘Fieldwork in Physical Geography’ or ‘Fieldwork in Human Geography’, which are taught by a combination of lectures, practical classes, laboratory work and field work. These Year 1 and Year 2 modules form a spine of methodological training, which culminates in the production of an Independent Geographical Study in Year 3.
PAF Approved by QA&AA: 21 April 2007 PAF Approved by QA&AA for 2008/9: 17th^ March 2009 PAF modified by ASQ re: exit awards: 19 May 2010 PAF Amended by ASQ for 2010/11: 19th^ May 2010 PAF finalised for 2010/11: November 2010 PAF modified by ASQ for 2011/12: 9th^ May 2011
Assessment :
Methods are: seen and unseen exam papers, coursework essays and projects, oral examinations, group and individual research projects, including dissertations, posters and web-based assessment. These methods are integrated with oral feedback in tutorials and seminars. Additionally, specific feedback sessions are held to return coursework, with the appropriate staff present to answer queries.
Generic/transferable skills :
(a) Ability to work both creatively and independently. (b) Ability to work in groups and teams. (c) Ability to produce effective written communication. (d) Ability to effectively present verbally a range of complex information. (e) Competence in numerical and computational skills. (f) Ability to effectively utilise a range of field and laboratory techniques. (g) Ability to handle a wide range of information resources and technologies. (h) Taking responsibility for their own learning and reflecting upon their learning process.
These are achieved through the following teaching/learning methods and strategies :
The development of generic skills is embedded in the range of learning activities comprising the Geography Programme. Specifically, the following modules pay particular attention to these skills:
Year 1: ‘Geography Tutorials’ and small group tutorials and ‘Principles of Geographical Inquiry I: The London Environment’ Year 2: ‘Principles of Geographical Inquiry II’ including second years small group tutorials, ‘Methods in Human Geography’, ‘Methods in Physical Geography’, ‘Fieldwork in Physical Geography’ and ‘Fieldwork in Human Geography’. Fieldwork, which is embedded in the two fieldwork modules, provides training in group work, making presentations and defining and executing research projects. Year 3: ‘Independent Geographical Study’.
Assessment :
Methods are: seen and unseen exam
PAF Approved by QA&AA: 21 April 2007 PAF Approved by QA&AA for 2008/9: 17th^ March 2009 PAF modified by ASQ re: exit awards: 19 May 2010 PAF Amended by ASQ for 2010/11: 19th^ May 2010 PAF finalised for 2010/11: November 2010 PAF modified by ASQ for 2011/12: 9th^ May 2011
Geography: The Nature of Environment’; 4) Development Geography ‘Development Geography: Livelihoods and Policy Contexts’. Modules associated with specific pathways may also be chosen as optional modules by students who have selected other pathways. Students taking the Human Geography, Society, Environment and Geography and Development Geography pathways can take either the Methods in Human Geography and Fieldwork in Human Geography or Methods in Physical Geography and Fieldwork in Physical Geography, while students taking the Physical Geography pathway will be required to take Methods in Physical Geography and Fieldwork in Physical Geography. All modules at level 5.
Year 3: 1 20 credits earned through 1 core 30 credit module (the Independent Geographical Study), 1 compulsory 15 credit module and 5 optional 15 credit modules.. The compulsory 15 credit module is based on the programme pathway the student has selected: 1) Human Geography students will take ‘Current Research in Human Geography’; 2) Physical Geography students will take ‘Current Research in Physical Geography’; 3) Society, Environment and Geography students will take ‘Current Research in Society, Environment and Geography’; and 4) Development Geography students will take ‘Current Research in Development Geography’. These modules may not be taken as optional modules by students on other pathways. All modules at level 6.
(b) range of credit levels permitted within the programme
Levels 4 through 6
(c) maximum number of credits permitted at the lowest level
150
(d) minimum number of credits required at the highest level
90
(e) progression and award requirements (if different from the standard)
n/a
(f) maximum number of credits permitted with a condoned fail (core modules excluded)
45
(g) are students permitted to take a substitute module, as per regulation A3, 20.7?
Yes
(h) other relevant information to explain the programme structure
Students may opt to take modules with a total credit value of no greater than 30 from outside the degree programme in their second and third year of study subject to the approval of the
PAF Approved by QA&AA: 21 April 2007 PAF Approved by QA&AA for 2008/9: 17th^ March 2009 PAF modified by ASQ re: exit awards: 19 May 2010 PAF Amended by ASQ for 2010/11: 19th^ May 2010 PAF finalised for 2010/11: November 2010 PAF modified by ASQ for 2011/12: 9th^ May 2011
Chair of the Undergraduate Teaching Committee.
Students must pass the Independent Geographical Study (IGS, Dissertation) in order to graduate with an honours degree
The award for students who take the Human Geography, Society and Environment Geography or Development Geography pathways with their associated compulsory second and third year modules, including ‘Methods in Human Geography’ and ‘Fieldwork in Human Geography’ will be the BA in Geography. The award for students who take the Physical Geography pathway with its associated compulsory second and third year modules, including Methods in Physical Geography and Fieldwork in Physical Geography, will be the BSc in Geography.
PAF Approved by QA&AA: 21 April 2007 PAF Approved by QA&AA for 2008/9: 17th^ March 2009 PAF modified by ASQ re: exit awards: 19 May 2010 PAF Amended by ASQ for 2010/11: 19th^ May 2010 PAF finalised for 2010/11: November 2010 PAF modified by ASQ for 2011/12: 9th^ May 2011
6SSG3062 Current Research in Society, Environment and Geography 6 15 CP (Env Geogpathway) No Reflective diary
6SSG3063 Current Research in Development Geography 6 15 CP (Dev Geogpathway) No Reflective diary
5SSG2017 Historical Geographies of Urbanism 5 15 O No Essay and Examination
5SSG2050 Cities: Explorations in Urban Geography 5 15 O No Examination
5SSG2042 Natural Hazards 5 15 O No Examination
5SSG2051 Climate Variability, Change and Society 5 15 O No Examination
5SSG2024 Ecological & Cultural Biogeography 5 15 O No Examination, essay
5SSG2011 Economic and Social Change in Post War Europe 5 15 O No Examination
5SSG2043 Environmental Remote Sensing 5 15 O No Examination
5SSG2023 Earth Surface Processes 5 15 O No Examination, essay
5SSG2014 Global Environmental Change II 5 15 O No Essay
5SSG2022 Hydrology 5 15 O No Examination
5SSG2054 Water and Development 5 15 O No Presentation and Essay
5SSG2040 Territoriality, State & Nation: Political Geog in the Developing World 5 15 O^ No^
Exam, report, oral presentation 5SSG2055 Institutions, Governance and Development 5 15 O No Essay
6SSG3023 Cultural Landscapes - North American Style 6 15 O No Examination, essay
6SSG3025 Desert Environments 6 15 O No Essays
6SSG3040 Directed Readings in Geography 6 15 O No Report
6SSG3031 Discovering Order in Geography 6 15 O No Essay, project
6SSG3037 Economic and Social Change in Southern Africa 6 15 O No Examination
PAF Approved by QA&AA: 21 April 2007 PAF Approved by QA&AA for 2008/9: 17th^ March 2009 PAF modified by ASQ re: exit awards: 19 May 2010 PAF Amended by ASQ for 2010/11: 19th^ May 2010 PAF finalised for 2010/11: November 2010 PAF modified by ASQ for 2011/12: 9th^ May 2011
6SSG0365 Economy, Society & Politics in 19th Century London 6 15 O No Essay, Examination
6SSG3058 Environmental Risk, Governance and Society 6 15 O No Examination, essay
6SSG3059 Geographical Information Systems 6 15 O No Project
6SSG3057 Gendered Geographies of Development and Globalisation 6 15 O No Essay, oral presentation
6SSG3052 Geography Concepts 6 15 O No Examination andParticipation
6SSG3016 Global Cities 6 15 O No Examination
6SSG3053 Global Environmental Problems and Policies 6 15 O No Examination
6SSG3008 Historical Geography of Latin America 6 15 O No Examination
6SSG3034 International Migration in the Context of Uneven Development 6 15 O^ No^
Examination, oral presentation 6SSG3043 Japanese Environments 6 15 O No Examination, essay
6SSG3032 Landscape Ecology 6 15 O No Report
6SSG3028 Environmental Remote Sensing II 6 15 O No Examination
6SSG3048 River Management 6 15 O No Examination
6SSG3047 Rural Livelihoods in West Africa 6 15 O No Examination, essay
6SSG3013 Global Political Ecology 6 15 O No Examination, essay
6SSG3030 Tropical Forests in a Changing Environment 6 15 O No Examination, essay
6SSG3054 Urban Governance and Regeneration 6 15 O No Examination
6SSG3035 Urban Japan 6 15 O No Examination, essay
6SSG3055 Urban Climatology 6 15 O No Projects
6SSG3056 Political Economy of Hazardscapes 6 15 O No Examination, project
6SSG3068 River Processes and Management 6 15 O No Examination
6SSG3069 Health Lifestyles and Cities 6 15 O No Examination
PAF Approved by QA&AA: 21 April 2007 PAF Approved by QA&AA for 2008/9: 17th^ March 2009 PAF modified by ASQ re: exit awards: 19 May 2010 PAF Amended by ASQ for 2010/11: 19th^ May 2010 PAF finalised for 2010/11: November 2010 PAF modified by ASQ for 2011/12: 9th^ May 2011
PROGRAMME APPROVAL FORM
SECTION 2 – SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
Not all of the information in this section will be relevant for all programmes and for some programmes this section will not be relevant at all
1. Programme name Geography 2. If the programme is a joint award with an institution outwith the University of London has the necessary approval been sought from Academic Board?
Yes No Not applicable
Please attach a copy of the request to Academic Board
3. In cases of joint honours programmes please provide a rationale for the particular subject combination, either educational or academic
N/a
Which is the lead department and/or School?
4. If the programme involves time outside the College longer than a term, please indicate how the time will be spent, the length of time out and whether it is a compulsory or optional part of the programme
Year abroad Year in employment Placement Other (please specify)
Time spent ONE TERM OR FULL YEAR (SECOND YEAR OF DEGREE ONLY). Compulsory/optional: OPTIONAL The Department has strong international links and second year students can take part in a thriving programme of teaching exchanges with universities in the USA, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong and Brunei University. We are one of the few geography departments that support the VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) system, which gives students the capacity to take a year’s leave of absence between their second and third year working for VSO in a developing country.
x
x
PAF Approved by QA&AA: 21 April 2007 PAF Approved by QA&AA for 2008/9: 17th^ March 2009 PAF modified by ASQ re: exit awards: 19 May 2010 PAF Amended by ASQ for 2010/11: 19th^ May 2010 PAF finalised for 2010/11: November 2010 PAF modified by ASQ for 2011/12: 9th^ May 2011
5. Please provide a rationale for any such time outside the College, other than that which is a requirement of a professional, regulatory or statutory body
Opportunities to study abroad expose students to a wider range of approaches to the discipline of Geography than would be possible within the University of London. Given the strong place-bound nature of the subject, the chance to study Geography in a variety of different regional settings further exposes them to the varied nature of human and physical environments. Studying overseas also inculcates qualities of independence and the self- management of study and life skills that can provide valuable additional experience in preparing students for the world of work. Currently, programmes abroad include one-year in U.S. universities and one semester in institutions in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Humboldt.
Participation in the V.S.O. scheme provides many of the same qualities of opportunity though being practically based it does not count as a substitute year in academic terms, but as effectively a ‘year out’.
Students studying abroad as part of the College’s Exchange Programmes are credited with either 120 credits for their second year of study or 60 credits for a term. The results are translated according to the scheme provided by the College External Relations Office and are ratified by the Chair of the School Exam Board. Students will be guided by an internal Study Abroad co-ordinator to ensure that the modules taken elsewhere fit specifically into the department’s pathways to maintain consistency for these students.
6. Please give details if the programme requires validation or accreditation by a professional, regulatory or statutory body N/A Name and address of PSB
Frequency of validation/ accreditation Date of next validation/ accreditation
7. In cases where parts or all of the programme (other than those in box 4 above) are delivered either away from one of the College campuses and/or by a body or bodies external to the College please provide the following details
Name and address of the off-campus location and/or external body
Constituent Colleges of the University of London
Percentage/amount of the programme delivered off-campus or by external body
Up to 30 credits in total across both Years 2 and 3 (i.e. maximum total is 60 credits across both years)
Nature of the involvement of external body
