Postgraduate Course: Research Practice and Project Planning (PGGE11138)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course aims to equip participants with skills in research methods and project management useful to the GIS professional in the work environment or research scientist. These include writing, presenting, organising, managing projects and time, and conducting field work. The course introduces the GIS dissertation and leads into the annual GIS mini-conference, where students contribute talks on their chosen field of research.
The RPPP course comprises these core activities:
¿ A series of lectures and workshops on key topics
¿ A four day field course in which students undertake practical GIS projects. This is supported by learning about project management and field techniques, especially relating to GIS data capture. This aspect of the course aims to provide hand-on experience and training in areas of GIS and to apply some of the theoretical considerations encountered in lecture courses to real case-studies;
¿ The AGI/EEO professional seminar series, comprising presentations from researchers and professionals in the field of geographic information. The students will explore a variety of debates relating to GI profession, and gain a clear sense of career opportunities in geographic information science. The seminar programme provides an excellent networking opportunity, which you should take advantage of.Field course locations may change for a variety of reasons, including security risks, increased costs or inability to access field locations. Any changes to the main destination of the field course will be announced as soon as possible |
| Course description |
Tentative Syllabus:
Week 1
Course Introduction; Literature Search; Kindrogan Briefing; Project selection, team design of field methodology, preparation for field trip; End Note and Effective Writing
Week 2
Effective writing and proposal writing; Kindrogan Briefing; presentation of project selection, team design of field methodology, preparation for field trip
Week 3
Project Management
Week 4
Kindrogan Field Trip
Week 5
GIS in the Real World: roles and responsibilities
Week 6
Effective Presentations
Week 7
Mechanics of dissertation; Tutorial: finding a project, Research draft to supervisor Discussion of project with supervisor
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None. |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2018/19, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Full Year |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Fieldwork Hours 11,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
163 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
100% coursework: Kindrogan Project Work (50%), Research Project Plan (30%), Presentation at Conference (20%) |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- undertake research, ensuring you can formulate an argument, locate and reference literature, plan a project, write a proposal, determine necessary resources and manage your time;
- acquire a set of skills relating to problem-solving in the class-room and the field;
- use of field equipment in the acquisition, management and presentation of geographic information;
- understand business and career opportunities in the field of GI, understand the merits and limitations of each;
- understand the need to manage resources available to help in the creation of the research project plan;
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Reading List
Allen, D. (2011) Getting Things Done: How to Achieve Stress-free Productivity, Piatkus
Bigham, J. (2011) Succeeding with Your Master's Dissertation: A Step-by-Step Handbook, Open University Press
Evans, C. (2008) Time Management for Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, London
Fitzpatrick, J., J. Secrist and D. Wright (1998) Secrets for a Successful Dissertation Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California. [ Largely focussed on undertaking a PhD; but still some useful advice ]
Hennessay, B. (2007) Writing an Essay: Simple Techniques to Transform Your Coursework and Examinations. How To Books, Oxford.
Hennessay, B. (2010) How to Write Coursework and Exam Essays. How To Books, Oxford.
Swetnam, D. and R. Swetnam (2010) Writing Your Dissertation: The bestselling guide to planning, preparing and presenting first-class work. How To Books, Oxford. [ written by one of our former GIS graduates !! ]
Copies of lectures are here:
http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/~bmg/teaching/rppp/
(updated immediately prior to the lecture being given) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
Course only available to students on the taught or research MSc GIS programmes. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
2 hour(s) per week for 10 week(s).
25/10/2018-28/10/2018- Kindrogan Weekend
Semester 2: Wk 11 - MSc Conference |
| Keywords | PGGE11138 GIS,professional research,project management,research design,presentation skills,effi |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Bruce Gittings
Tel: (0131 6)50 2558
Email: Bruce@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Karolina Galera
Tel: (0131 6)50 2572
Email: k.galera@ed.ac.uk |
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