Undergraduate Course: Topics in Global Environmental Change (EASC10022)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This is a student-seminar based course, discussing hot topics in Global Environmental Change. These topics will be introduced by the lecturer, read about by all students, using recent articles in the literature, then will form the basis for student seminars and general group discussion.
Themes will vary with year, depending on what is topical. Examples of topics from past years are as follows.
1. Climate stability and climate change on geologic timescales.
2. Carbon and climate.
3. What caused the glacial-interglacial changes in CO2?
4. Mechanisms of abrupt climate change.
5. Contemporary climate change and ongoing global warming.
6. Recent climate variability.
7. Future climate change predictions.
8. Stability of ice sheets. |
| Course description |
The class will meet for a three-hour session every week for six weeks throughout Semester 2. The first meeting is in Week 5 and will start at 1100, lasting an hour. All subsequent meetings will last three hours and start at 0900.
Each week, a staff member will give a brief introduction to a topic, highlighting some of the key issues that remain to be fully resolved. They will provide a list of sub-topics, along with a reading list of papers for each. Students will then volunteer to present a 15-minute presentation on each of the sub-topics (one sub-topic each).
Topics will be assigned to students on a first-come-first-serve basis during the first meeting and a limit will be imposed on the number of presentations every week so that an even distribution of student talks is achieved every week and all topics are covered sufficiently. The student seminars will act as the platform for a general class discussion. Students are expected to initiate discussion by asking questions and contribute to the discussion by what they understood by reading the papers. The staff members will fill in where and when necessary. At the end of the session, a staff member will introduce the following week's topic.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Block 3 (Sem 2) |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 30,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
68 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Written Exam: 0%, Course Work: 100 %, Practical Exam: 0%.
Marks will be awarded on the basis of one oral presentation (30%) and one essay (70%). Student participation during discussions will be used to moderate the oral and essay marks.
Essay
The course is assessed by a 2,500 words (+10%) essay. The essay should present a topic other than your class presentation but confined with in the general domain of global environmental change. The essay should focus on the science underpinning Global Environmental Change. Policy and other regulatory aspects should not be the focus of the essays. The essay will be marked mainly on the scientific content. The body of the essay should attempt to capture the crux of the question addressed by the key papers that have been selected, the way in which the various papers contribute to answering this question, and the degree to which there is consensus or disagreement between the papers, and the analysis of outstanding questions and uncertainties. Thus, it is expected that the essay will convey an in-depth scientific understanding and analysis of the subject area.
Oral Presentation
Presentations will be marked on clarity and content (take the lectures you have attended at the university as guide). Marks will be awarded based on whether the topic is sufficiently introduced, coverage of the recommended papers, ability of the presenter to explain concepts using view graphs and pictures with conclusions that conveys analysis and insight. The ability of the student to lead the discussion with the audience following the presentation is also considered. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- To develop an understanding and recognition of the principal agents of environmental change, to develop a critical understanding of the subject areas of continued uncertainty and the strengths and weaknesses of specific tracers.
- To help further develop the student's skills in critical assessment of scientific literature so that they are able to critically identify and analyse complex problems.
- To help develop a student's presentation skills and give them practise making formal presentations about specialised topics to informed audiences.
- The essay assessment will give students the opportunity to critically review and consolidate their understanding of a specialised topic and offer professional level insights.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Lectures Wednesdays at 11-12:00 in Week 5 and then at 09-12:00 Weeks 7-12. |
| Keywords | Hot_Topics_GEC |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Raja Ganeshram
Tel: (0131 6)50 7364
Email: R.Ganeshram@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Ken O'Neill
Tel: (0131 6)50 8510
Email: koneill3@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
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