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ESC-10101 - Module Specification
School of Life Sciences
Faculty of Natural Sciences

For academic year: 2025/26 Last Updated: 04 December 2025

ESC-10101 - Academic, Professional and Field Skills
Coordinator: Jamie Pringle Room: WSF13 Tel: +44 1782 7 33163
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 4
Credits: 30
Study Hours: 300
School Office: 01782 734414

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2025/26

This module will introduce you to the essential skills required of Geographers, Geologists, Ecologists, Sustainability and Environmental Scientists. We will explore our ‘living lab’ campus and take you on a series of one-day field courses. The module will help you develop your own academic and professional practice, gain insight into companion subjects, and providing you with the foundations for not only completing your degree successfully, but also helping you to think about future study and employment.

Aims
This module aims to develop an appreciation and understanding of both the general study skills and subject-specific practical skills required in the study and practice of Geography, Geology, Ecology, Sustainability and the Environment, including fieldwork. These include transferable skills such as writing skills, research ethics, environmental ethics, communication skills, health and safety alongside practical skills such as information acquisition; techniques of data capture, manipulation, analysis and visualization; cartographic representation; and field observation and interpretation.

Intended Learning Outcomes

practice the essential skills expected of students within the Geography, Geology, Ecology, Sustainability and the Environment, including ethical and respectful conduct, information literacy and writing skills: 1,2,3,4
describe, evaluate and use a range of specialised techniques and a variety of computer software packages for the management, manipulation and visualisation of information, statistics and spatial data: 3,4
work effectively to complete set tasks within the framework of good professional conduct set out in the course materials, including a professional and reflective approach, responsibility, personal integrity, respect for others, ethics, safety, accountability and time management: 2,3,4
apply appropriate techniques of topographic, geological, environmental, ecology, sustainability and social survey to capture information in the field and apply relevant analytical and presentation skills: 2,3,4

Study hours

Active Learning Hours:
40 hours of in-situ learning sessions on campus
2 hours in-situ academic mentoring tutorials
16 hours of structured engagement with online resources to prepare for in-situ campus learning sessions
32 hours fieldcourses (approx 4 days, 8 hours a day)
Independent Study Hours:
2 hours preparation for pass/fail assignment
15 hours preparation for assignment 2 (skills portfolio)
15 hours preparation for assignment 3 (GIS, stats, programming report)
35 hours preparation for assignment 4 (fieldcourse portfolio)
143 hours of other independent study

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Competence weighted 0%
Pass/fail field safety
All students are required to complete a Health and Safety Risk assessment form, which is not assessed with a mark. This assessment will be assessed on a pass/fail basis to ensure that students are capable of completing a basic risk assessment for fieldwork.

2: Assignment weighted 25%
Skills Portfolio (1,750 words equivalent)
A series of basic excel functions (e.g. sum, average, countif etc) and a series of basic excel tasks (e.g. create a bar graph) based on a basic data set shared with students. Data sets maybe be created collaboratively with students in sessions (e.g. collection of basic data on why they chose to study their subject).

3: Report weighted 25%
GIS, statistics and programming report
Students will be required to complete a workbook containing a series of set tasks relating to the use of GIS, statistics and programming within each student's field of study (total word count equivalent to 1,750 words)

4: Portfolio weighted 50%
Fieldwork portfolio (3,500 words)
Students will be expected to complete a portfolio of work covered during their time in the field, to show their awareness of the local environment and to work with data captured during field work. All students will attend four one day fieldcourses. Some fieldcourses will be attended by all students. However, other fieldcourses will be only be attended by students from specific disciplines. For example all students will attend a fieldcourse that applies GIS teaching as this is a relevant skills across all disciplines in the School. However, other fieldcourses will only be attended by students on Geography and Environment programmes, while Geology students will attend another fieldcourse. All students are expected to attend all relevant fieldcourses for their degree programme. If students cannot attend a fieldcourse for a legitimate reason they will be provided with an alternative task for the portfolio, however, they will still need to engage with all other sessions (including fieldcourse preparation sessions) in order to complete this.

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 04 December 2025