Latest Module Specifications
Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026
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Description To understand environmental change such as habitat loss, water quality decline or climate change for example we need to experience what this actually looks like. This can help connect abstract concepts to real-world problems. Practical fieldwork is therefore one of the most useful tools at our disposal. This module aims to give students the basic skills required to carry out field work related to the environment, in addition to applying the core skills learned in other modules during the first year. Issues of environmental management and climate change will form a central component of the themes examined during this week-long residential field trip to various locations throughout Ireland. Students will undertake work on a number of projects, prior to, during and after the field trip, when they will engage in collection and analysis of data, preparation and delivery of presentations, and completion of reports on their work. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Learning Outcomes 1. Apply, with basic guidance, selected theories, concepts, methodologies and techniques utilised in fieldwork in human and physical geography and environmental sciences 2. Collect, interpret, evaluate and combine different types of geographical evidence and information 3. Identify a broad range of approaches to generating and understanding geographic knowledge 4. Apply geographical concepts to real-world situations 5. Describe and explain the results of practical fieldwork and relate results to existing bodies of geographical knowledge 6. Work in teams to solve cross-disciplinary problems in environmental hazards 7. Discuss specific case studies and examples relevant to specific themes relating to the field-class (e.g. natural hazards, coastal processes, upland landscapes) 8. Plan, design, execute and report on a short research project with limited guidance, in both oral and written forms | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml |
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Indicative Content and Learning Activities
n/a Citizen science: Students will engage in activities related to citizen science data gathering/reporting in the field e.g. water quality monitoring, litter pollution, biodiversity monitoring (e.g. EPA Explore Your Shore, local government sector, EPA, National Biodiversity Data Centre) n/a Measuring environmental and climate change through environmental proxies n/a Socio-political challenges of mitigating/adapting to climate change n/a Sustainable livelihoods - Cloughjordan ecovillage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Indicative Reading List Books: None Articles: None | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Other Resources None | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||