Introduction
- This page is for information about Andy Turner's GEOG1300 Geography Tutorials in the academic year starting in 2009.
- Contents:
Documentation and Resources
- General
- Module Specific
- Module and Programme Catalogue: 2009/10 Undergraduate Module Catalogue : GEOG1300 : Geography Tutorials Web Page @ University of Leeds
- GEOG1300 Geography Tutorials Semester 1 Skills Portfolio Workbook
- GEOG1300 - Module Reading List
- University personal web space
- http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/
- Example HTML to help get started with your http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~username website
- If you already have a WWW directoy then you may want to back up your files in it.
- Instructions for getting started:
- Copy ./documentation/WWWHelp/WWW.zip and unpack it into the root directory of your M: drive on the university file system
- Edit index.html files
- Replace "Andy Turner" with your name and "geoagdt" with your ISS username.
- There is a file in your WWW directory and in the WWW\GEOG1300 directory.
- The University of Leeds Virtual Learning Environment
- https://vlebb.leeds.ac.uk/
- This system is for staff and students and is perhaps the main gateway/portal/web based system that should be used...
- 2009/10 Geography Module Chart
- Past Papers from Geography Exams
- Undergraduate essay report form
- This is an electronic copy of the form which is to be completed for an assessed essay at undergraduate level.
- GEOG1200 Semester 1 Essay Guidance
- Some example essay guidance.
- This is specific to two of the essays which may be done as assessed essays.
- In general these should help readers/students to realise what is expected in terms of an essay.
- Further guidance can be found in the reading list
- Countdown to University
- Leeds for Life
- Admissions Team Feedback Form
- For Tutees/students
- All documentation including lecture slides should be available on the University of Leeds Virtual Learning Environment
- See also General documentation
- For Tutor
- Attendance Recording is within Web for Faculty or Student Services found via
- GEOG1300 Geography Tutorials Resource Pack for BA Tutors (Semester 1)
- GEOG1300 Geography Tutorials (10 credits) Briefing for all Level 1 Tutors
- GEOG1300 Geography Tutorials (10 credits) Module Outline for Tutors
- Booking rooms
People
- Diane Collett
- Student Support Manager 2009/10
- Andy Evans
- Director of Learning and Teaching 2009/10
- Jamie Mullen
- Undergraduate Student Co-ordinator 2009/10
- Robert Vanderbeck
- Tutor for Level 1 Tutees in 2009/10 Semester 2
- Paul Waley
- GEOG1300 Module Convenor 2009/10
- Charlotte Glaser
- Email
- Level 3 BA student and representative for the School of Geography.
- School "super rep"
- A role that entails working alongside both students and staff to facilitate and build communication, addressing issues and concerns raised by both groups.
- Tutoring mentors
- Other colleagues who have given support to me in the Tutoring role:
- Tutees:
- Vanessa Harrison
- Email
- http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~gy09vh
- Geography BA programme
- Coursework
- First Essay
- Why do many commentators argue that the future shape of global geopolitical systems is more uncertain at the start of the 21st century than during the Cold War era from 1945 to 1989?
- Second Essay
- Define what is meant by the process of population ageing and explain what impact this is having on UK society.
- Francesca Horrocks (Frankie)
- Email
- http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~gy09foh
- Geography BA programme
- Coursework
- First Essay
- Define what is meant by the process of population ageing and explain what impact this is having on UK society.
- Second Essay
- Describe how the structure of UK industry has changed over the last 50 years, illustrating some of the key factors that have driven this change.
- Amy Horsfield
- Email
- http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~gy09ah
- Geography BA programme
- Coursework
- First Essay
- Why do many commentators argue that the future shape of global geopolitical systems is more uncertain at the start of the 21st century than during the Cold War era from 1945 to 1989?
- Second Essay
- Define what is meant by population ageing and what are its impacts on the UK?
- Katharine Hough
- Email
- http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~gy09kh
- Geography BA programme
- Coursework
- First Essay
- Review the role of migration, both international and internal, in shaping the future size and geographical distribution of the UK population
- Second Essay
- Why do many commentators argue that the future shape of global geopolitical systems is more uncertain at the start of the 21st century than during the Cold War era from 1945 to 1989?
- Andrew Jordan (Andy)
- Email
- http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~jl08amj
- Geography BA programme
- Elective in Web Design
- Coursework
- First Essay
- A clear distinction between the concepts of 'state' and 'nation' provides the key to understanding many of the political and territorial disputes that threaten to destabilise contemporary geopolitical systems. Discuss
- Second Essay
- Outline and evaluate the main arguments over the effectiveness of IMF and World Bank programmes designed to alleviate poverty in the countries of the Global South.
- Joseph Lipski (Joe)
- Email
- http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~gy09jl
- Geography BA programme
- Coursework
- First Essay
- Define what is meant by the process of population ageing and explain what impact this is having on UK society.
- Second Essay
- Why do many commentators argue that the future shape of global geopolitical systems is more uncertain at the start of the 21st century than during the Cold War era from 1945 to 1989?
- Emily Swann
- Email
- http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~jh09eks
- Undertaking Joint Honours Geography and Social Policy
- Coursework
- First Essay
- Discuss the processes which have led to population ageing in the UK in the 20th Century. How has British Society been affected by population ageing, and what measures might be taken to moderate the effects?
- Second Essay
- Outline and evaluate the main arguments over the effectiveness of IMF and World Bank programmes designed to alleviate poverty in the countries of the Global South.
- Christopher Woods (Chris)
- Email
- http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~gy09c2w
- Geography BA programme
- Coursework
- First Essay
- Why do many commentators argue that the future shape of global geopolitical systems is more uncertain at the start of the 21st century than during the Cold War era from 1945 to 1989?
- Second Essay
- Assess the view that while the world may be shrinking, it is also becoming noticeably more unequal.
Communication
- Email lists
- Initially, communication will mainly be face to face and via email, but I plan to encourage tutees to use and development open web content that can be accessed via their university personal web space:
- http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/
- I plan to look out for this periodically, and encourage it further to become a key dissemination and information resource...
- Dissemination
- Vanessa Harrison
- Amy Horsfield
- Katharine Hough
- Andrew Jordan (Andy)
- Joseph Lipski (Joe)
- Emily Swann
- Christopher Woods (Chris)
Coursework
- Second Essay
- Describe how the structure of UK industry has changed over the last 50 years, illustrating some of the key factors that have driven this change.
- Outline and evaluate the main arguments over the effectiveness of IMF and World Bank programmes designed to alleviate poverty in the countries of the Global South.
- Set for GEOG1200 in January 2006
- Emily, Andy
- Why do many commentators argue that the future shape of global geopolitical systems is more uncertian at the start of the 21st century than during the Cold War era from 1945 to 1989?
- Set for GEOG1200 with essay guidance in 2009
- Katharine, Joe
- Assess the view that while the world may be shrinking, it is also becoming noticeably more unequal.
- Define what is meant by population ageing and what are its impacts on the UK?
- Define what is meant by the process of population ageing and explain what impact this is having on UK society.
- Set for GEOG1260 in January 2006 Exam
- Vanessa
- First Essay
- A clear distinction between the concepts of 'state' and 'nation' provides the key to understanding many of the political and territorial disputes that threaten to destabilise contemporary geopolitical systems. Discuss.
- Set for GEOG1200 with essay guidance in 2009
- Andy
- Review the role of migration, both international and internal, in shaping the future size and geographical distribution of the UK population
- Set for GEOG1260 in January 2007 Exam
- Katharine
- Has relevant/useful information from A-level studies on migration.
- Potential to feedback to school...
- Define what is meant by the process of population ageing and explain what impact this is having on UK society.
- Set for GEOG1260 in January 2006 Exam
- Frankie, Joe
- Discuss the processes which have led to population ageing in the UK in the 20th Century. How has British Society been affected by population ageing, and what measures might be taken to moderate the effects?
- Set for GEOG1260 in January 2008 Exam
- Emily
- Why do many commentators argue that the future shape of global geopolitical systems is more uncertian at the start of the 21st century than during the Cold War era from 1945 to 1989?
- Set for GEOG1200 with essay guidance in 2009
- Vanessa, Amy, Chris
Blog
- 2010-01-29 Compiled and sent a mark spreadsheet to Robert
- 2010-01-29 Farewell email
- 2010-01-29 Handover meeting with Robert
- Robert got paper copies of Essays and feedback and a copy of the One-to-One meeting forms.
- We had a chat about this and Robert plans to look at the second essays before the group feedback meeting.
- I plan to write an email to the group to complete the handover...
- 2010-01-20
- Half way Tutor Meeting
- For my notes see my Blog for the day via the following URL under the item Miscellanea:
- 2010-01-14 Completed One-to-One meetings and provided feedback from students to admissions team.
- 2010-01-13 Emailed tutees about Second Essay Feedback and open invite to Andy Evans Programming Course:
- 2010-01-07 Marked second essays:
- 2009-12-12 Union and cuts information email to tutees
- I am a member of the University College Union (UCU) and was obliged to bring the following to the attention of students at this time:
- 2009-12-10 and 2009-12-11 One-to-One Meetings
- 2009-12-04 Email to Tutees: GEOG1300 Skills Portfolio Workbook General Feedback and 5th Group Meeting Follow-up
- 2009-12-04 Brief catch up meeting with Robert Vanderbeck
- 2009-12-04 Brief catch up meeting with Robert Vanderbeck and follow up email
- 2009-12-03 Tutorial Group Meeting 5
- Meeting Particulars
- 2009-11-19 14:00-15:00
- Location: Blenheim Terrace SR (G.07) House No. 11-14
- People
- Andy, Vanessa, Joe, Chris
- Documentation and Resources
- Admissions Team Feedback Form
- 2009/10 Geography Module Chart
- Agenda
- Anything of interest/use to show/share?
- Admissions team questionnaire from Katherine Arrell to be returned to Harry Cooper
- Second Essay Feedback prior to Hand in Deadline
- One to one meetings
- AoB
- Notes
- Anything of interest/use to show/share?
- Admissions team questionnaire from Katherine Arrell to be returned to Harry Cooper
- Those present completed this annonymously.
- Harry helped Andy a lot over the summer as he changed course :-)
- Second Essay Feedback prior to Hand in Deadline
- I think there must be a document I have not yet seen with further suggested essay questions and guidance
- I should look for this on the portal...
- One to one meetings
- Meetings scheduled for those present.
- AoB
- Academic challenges
- I am a little concerned that this course is not stimulating some tutees enough, but they have had the opportunity to attend other seminars and consider other opportunities.
- The course should step up a gear next semester and Robert Vanderbeck is more an expert in what they are learning, so should be better at suggesting further reading and debating the isssues and reflecting on essays etc...
- Referencing and citation in exam essays
- I think this is a bit of a tricky issue...
- I will ask colleagues about using the following web based work around as follows:
- The student refers to a URL in the exam which points to a web page they can edit or there already is content on...
- The student refers numerically to references on that web page as a form of essay citation.
- The student takes information out of the exam about what references are needed at each numerical location and make sure these match.
- 2009-11-27 Email from Andy Evans about Leeds for Life
- 2009-11-25 Email from Katherine Arrell asking for the following feedback form to be completed by tutees in the next tutorial group session and passed back to Harry Cooper for the Student Admissions Team
- 2009-11-23 Follow up emails to Tutees following Group Meeting 4
- Asked if I missed anything having left the Group Meeting 15 minutes before it was due to end.
- Requested Second Essay titles to be emailed ASAP.
- 2009-11-19 Tutorial Group Meeting 4
- Meeting Particulars
- 2009-11-19 14:00-15:00
- Location: Blenheim Terrace SR (G.07) House No. 11-14
- People
- Andy was AWOL and Katharine let me know she was unable to make it due to feeling unwell.
- Documentation and Resources
- GEOG1300 Geography Tutorials Semester 1 Skills Portfolio Workbook
- First Essay
- Marked paper returns and electronic feedback:
- Agenda
- Anything of interest/use to show/share?
- Skills Portfolio Workbook
- Check on Task 14, essay evaluation skills.
- Hand in deadline for the skills portfolio workbook is 2009-11-20 14:30.
- Submission instructions are on Page 5.
- Set second essay
- Those whose first essay was not from GEOG1200, this one should be.
- Those who already attempted an essay from GEOG1200 can do any essay from their BA Geography modules past exam papers or those suggested in the tutorial resources pack.
- AoB
- Notes
- Anything of interest/use to show/share?
- Exam timetable:
- Ideas in Geography, what is the point?
- Philosophy on what is a river without fish?
- I didn't see anyone passing around their returned work, but I tried to encourage this...
- Skills Portfolio Workbook
- Check on Task 14, essay evaluation skills.
- Example of this now provided...
- Hand in deadline for the skills portfolio workbook is 2009-11-20 14:30.
- Submission instructions are on Page 5.
- Set second essay
- Those whose first essay was not from GEOG1200, this one should be.
- Due to personal circumstances and because she is close to completing the second essay. Frankie has an exception and is doing a second essay from GEOG1260.
- Those who have already attempted an essay from GEOG1200 can do any essay from their BA Geography modules past exam papers or those suggested in the tutorial resources pack.
- AoB
- What is meant by commentators?
- Average spuds?
- More seriously, in my view, these are more so those remarking at the time than those reflecting afterwards, but something of the latter type can be regarded as commentators.
- End of terms is 2009-12-11, so somehow we should schedule end of term one to one meetings before then...
- 2009-11-19 Completed marking of first essays and provided feedback to tutees
- 2009-11-10 Emailed tutees to make them aware of School of Geography seminar cancellation for today and of another seminar the may be interesting in on Friday:
- 2009-11-10 Emailed tutees to get them consider being the tutorial group representative for myself and Robert, a role with an important feedback function for developing the school and managing issues.
- Charlotte Glaser is our "super rep" - a level 3 BA student and representative for the School of Geography with the role of facilitating and build communication between both the students and staff addressing issues and concerns raised by both groups.
- 2009-11-10 Emailed tutees to get them consider participating in the following seminar:
- 'The financial collapse and climate crisis: what can we learn from a resilience perspective?'
- Speaker: Emily Boyd
- (Stockholm Resilience Centre, Oxford University Centre for the Environment and University of Leeds)
- Room 11.14 Social Sciences Building, 4pm - 5.30pm.
- Part of the Centre for Development Studies Seminar Series 'Development in the Downturn? The Impact of the Recession on the Global South'
- 2009-11-10 Emailed tutees to ask if they are interested in delivering a What on Earth Happened lecture prepared by Chris Lloyd
- 2009-11-10 Marking GEOG1300 essays
- I had a quick chat with Paul Norman to let him know how pleased I am with the quality of some of the essays.
- We pondered on what to do with exceptional essays...
- 2009-11-09 Marking GEOG1300 essays
- After marking the first essay I had a quick mentoring meeting with Paul Norman
- He reckoned that I am marking like most people do for the first time, but I could be spending too long on it, so the sage advice is to not review the work, but to provide guidance as to the sorts of things that need correcting.
- Paul confirmed that it would be a good idea once provisionally marked that I run through things for all essays with the module convenor Paul Waley
- After marking all essays handed in so far I am generally pleased with their quality...
- There is a wide range in quality from very good, to just passing, so most tutees have lessons to learn to improve their marks and for some there are some key lessons to learn about essay structure and using the standard Harvard system for citation and referencing.
- I wonder what to do with exceptionally good essays...
- I plan to arrange a meeting with the module convenor Paul Waley to go through this marking exercise with him.
- Browsing
- 2009-11-06 Sent follow up email to tutees regarding Word Counts raised in Tutorial Group Meeting 3
- Paul Waley informs me that: "The reference list is excluded from the 1500 words. All else is included!"
- 2009-11-05 Sent follow up email to tutees regarding citations and referencing issues raised in Tutorial Group Meeting 3
- The following links might be additional help with referencing/citations.
- 2009-11-05 Tutorial Group Meeting 3
- Meeting Particulars
- 2009-11-05 14:00-15:00
- Location: Blenheim Terrace SR (G.07) House No. 11-14
- Documentation and Resources
- GEOG1300 Geography Tutorials Semester 1 Skills Portfolio Workbook
- University personal web space
- WWWHelp
- Agenda
- Anything of interest/use to show/share?
- Help with (First Essay) citations and referencing
- Using university personal web space
- Practical to help get you using this
- Check on Skills Portfolio Workbook
- Is everyone up to date?
- Tasks 12 (Creating a reference list) and 13 (Citations and Reference Lists)
- Count down to submision of first essay
- Looking forward to the end of Term
- AoB
- Notes
- Anything of interest/use to show/share?
- Not much shared I don't think, but I hoped for this to happen in quiet moments while I faffed with computers trying to get this page loaded and get Joe a personal web site set up and failed :-(
- Help with (First Essay) citations and referencing
- It seems I don't know the Harvard referencing standard and I might have to learn it, or at least the differences between it and they way I know...
- Frankie, Chris and Joe all had some interesting queries on this:
- Frankie had some government DTI material and some other almost book type publications and was not sure how to do the full references...
- Joe had something similar, but it also had a URL/web address which he had looked at and on which there was a copy of the report/publication
- Chris was asking about how to reference a quotation in an article that was itself a quotation from another article
- My advice was to treat this as secondary evidence and cite and reference it in the same way as other potentially paraphrased citations:
- Reference the source of the material that you as author refered to in the full reference.
- Order the reference and refer to it by citation under the original author and date as per the referenced article.
- I should probably check to see if this is the right way to do it... At least it does provide a provenance trail...
- I suggested that there might not be a single best way to do a reference and citation and that there may be grey areas not covered in the harvard standard... I should read up...
- Using university personal web space
- Practical to help get you using http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/
- If you already have a WWW directoy then you may want to back up your files in it.
- Instructions for getting started:
- Copy ./documentation/WWWHelp/WWW.zip and unpack it into the root directory of your M: drive on the university file system
- Edit index.html files
- Replace "Andy Turner" with your name and "geoagdt" with your ISS username.
- There is a file in your WWW directory and in the WWW\GEOG1300 directory.
- It should be possible to write to the M: drive space via a web browser:
- When that did not work, I tried to use Filezilla and connect to ftp.home.leeds.ac.uk
- Unfortunately this did not work either... I wonder if it might be best to go to a compute lab together and try this as I did with Andy...
- Check on Skills Portfolio Workbook
- Is everyone up to date?
- Tasks 12 (Creating a reference list) and 13 (Citations and Reference Lists)
- I pointed these out and am confident that everyone can do this..
- Count down to submision of first essay
- Late marks diminish the returns for completing an essay. If it is half baked, then it is a judgement call come the time of the deadline as to whether it is worth working on it anymore and that depends on exogenous factors.
- Looking forward to the end of Term
- ToDo list
- Arranging one to one meetings...
- Leeds for life...
- AoB
- How to force the reload of a web page from source
- Usually this can be achieved by holding down the shift key and hitting the refresh button on a web browser.
- This might be best done to ensure that at on the date you reference something you are sure you are looking at the source version rather thna some cached version.
- How strict is the word count?
- My advice was to regard word counts/limits as guidelines.
- It might be good to do some quick calculations and be honest about the word count.
- If you are over the word count and you feel like you have been concise, then keep a copy and maybe don't even bother trying to reduce the word count.
- Really they are silly things and might encourage the use of long words when several short ones would be better!
- For some publications the limits are on the number of pages with standard sizes for pages and the text and its spacing.
- I didn't say this, but wish I had: A picture or a map or a table/figure of some sort might be worth a thousand words and may contain none or just a few.
- Does quotation text count, like citations and references to the word count of an article?
- My advice was that it shouldn't really make that much difference, but I can see that it could.
- I plan to ask Paul Waley about this.
- 2009-11-03 Read email correspondance from Paul Waley about last lecture and looking forward to the end of term, some things added to the ToDo list...
- 2009-11-02 Emailed tutees
- Forwarding the School of Geography Newsletter, Issue 169 (02/11/09) and highlighting the item in School News : Countdown to Copenhagen Debate so they can consider attending...
- Reminder of meeting on 2009-11-05.
- 2009-10-28 Emailed tutees to encourage them to attend School of Geography Seminars and inform them of a change in the programme for next week
- 2009-10-23 Emailed tutees to encourage them to attend School of Geography Seminars
- 2009-10-23 Done attendance monitoring for first two tutorials
- 2009-10-23 Email request for outstanding essay titles
- 2009-10-22 Sent Tutorial Group Meeting 2 follow up email to tutees
- 2009-10-22 Tutorial Group Meeting 2
- Meeting Particulars
- 2009-10-22 14:00-15:00
- Location: Blenheim Terrace SR (G.07) House No. 11-14
- Documentation and Resources
- Agenda
- Introductions
- Anything of interest/use to show/share?
- Using university personal web space
- Check on Skills Portfolio Workbook Tasks 10 (Reading into a reference list) and 11 (Reading an Academic Journal Paper)
- Essay guidance
- First essay title choice
- AoB
- Notes
- Introductions
- It was important that introductions were done again as Katharine and Emily joined us for the first time.
- I hope now everyone in the group is on friendly terms as this will help us collaborate.
- Andy is studying an elective in web design.
- Emily is studying both GEOG1200 and GEOG1260 (and also studying another module about natural hazards?)
- Anything of interest/use to show/share?
- Andy made us aware that Microsoft Word can help with word counts.
- Frankie and Vanessa recommended some texts and Frankie offered to share books with others.
- Andy mentioned turnitin system
- Using university personal web space
- Difficulty getting started?
- University personal web space
- I will help Andy get started with this.
- I pushed this a bit, but made everyone aware that they don't have to do this, but suggested several ways it might help not least being a clever way to call out to references from an exam room.
- Check on Skills Portfolio Workbook Tasks 10 (Reading into a reference list) and 11 (Reading an Academic Journal Paper)
- I asked around about this, but without specific reference to this resource.
- I think everyone knew what they should have been doing even if they haven't done it...
- Essay guidance
- Practice essay?
- I did not remember to ask about this, although it could be a good idea, it could just be additional work of little benefit and so doing more harm than good by eating into everyone's precious time.
- Preliminary marking for the first essay?
- There might be some take up on this...
- Undergraduate essay report form
- GEOG1200 Semester 1 Essay Guidance
- There is aditional relevant material in the Skills Portfolio Workbook.
- First essay title choice
- We looked at the exam essay questions for the last 3 years for GEOG1200 and GEOG1260
- These seem like two different styles of questions...
- In some ways those for GEOG1260 are more straightforward, less convoluted...
- I had not thought much about setting the second essay yet, but I had imagined that I would provide an open choice again...
- We had a brief look and a following discussion of the essay guidance focussing on the difference between the two questions.
- Who is doing what?
- Why do many commentators argue that the future shape of global geopolitical systems is more uncertian at the start of the 21st century than during the Cold War era from 1945 to 1989?
- Vanessa and Amy chose to tackle that.
- Everyone is to email me to let me know by the end of the day...
- I want to know by the end of the day, so I can claim the essay is set.
- I'm still going on the assumption that everyone can tackle different essays...
- AoB
- How much writing is 1500 Words?
- How much time and effort to put into writing the first essay?
- With reference to the Skills Portfolio Workbook Table 1.3, there are 90hours allcoated for personal/private study time for GEOG1300
- So my estimate is in the region of 2 days per essay
- Reflecting and feedback
- I would argue that wikipedia and the like are useful research tools and they should be used as such
- I would encourage you all to get accounts and start developing the content on this resource as well as using it by way of reference and for finding other material.
- However, given that the advice from Paul waley is not to cite wikipedia entries yet, you should try to avoid doing this.
- If you are determined to do it, then include a date and version of the page you are referencing.
- 2009-10-20 Further email reminding/preparing tutees for group meeting tomorrow.
- 2009-10-20 Clarification email to tutees
- Further to my meeting with Paul I sent clarification to tutees to let them know that the assessed essay titles are restricted, but that we can consider doing additional practice essays.
- 2009-10-20 Meeting with Paul Waley
- Assessment, documentation and finding out what modules students are doing
- GEOG1300 Assessment
- In total there are 3 Essays and 1 Literature Review
- In Semester 1 there are 2 essays with 1500 word limits (exclusive of references)
- Paul will send me an electronic submission and marking form...
- Past exam papers available via:
- I suggested preliminary marking where I offer the students to hand in the work for their first essay early and so that I can go through marking this with someone with experience.
- This would help me with marking.
- If feedback was speedy, it would offer the students some guidance on how to improve and rework their essay.
- Paul thought this was a good idea, but not something to be encouraged for every essay.
- Paul suggested that I weight the marking to give say 50% of the marks for referencing/citation
- Referencing/citation has been core to what the students have been learning, so this is a good idea.
- I should be clear about deviations to the usual marking criteria.
- We discussed strategies of hard marking against flexible marking to encourage students
- There are arguments for and against having different expectations and thus marking applied at different stages.
- I think what I'll do is follow Chris Keylocks advice and mark hard, but put in considerable effort to help the students out that want to achieve high marks at this stage.
- Finding out what modules students are doing
- The easiest way for me to fins out what joint honours students are doing in terms of geography modules is to ask.
- Students majoring in BA Geography are doing all the main modules in the first year and have at least 10 credits for electives and possible 20 if they choose only to do 10 credits of the recommended BSc Geography module
(GEOG1100 Ecology and the Changing Climate; comprising (GEOG1210 Environmental Systems and Processes,
GEOG1212 Water and Weather))
- I mentioned that I was encouraging the students to display what they are doing and develop some personal universtiy web pages.
- We talked briefly about what I would do in the next tutorial session...
- Paul reminded me that an hour every two weeks is not very long to address matters.
- 2009-10-10 Confirmation from Emily Swan that she is joiing the group :-)
- 2009-10-08 Emailed Andy, Jamie and Geo-Support to try to get his reply to adress working properly in email.
- 2009-10-08 Feedback to Jamie about the room
- We are happy with the room, the wireless works there and we had no trouble.
- 2009-10-12 Paul Waley's summary of main points from lecture (Reading for a Degree) (I have slightly edited/formated this and I don't agree with some points!)
- Read regularly through the term, alongside the lectures.
- Read strategically.
- Understanding reading lists.
- Different types of publication.
- Trying also to get students to appreciate the usefulness of handbooks/ readers/ companions.
- Paper and electronic versions of journals.
- Dictionaries: don't cite Wikipedia.
- I can't say don't use Wikipedia -- I use it myself. But don't use it as a research tool in your academic work.
- Understanding the web.
- Only a very brief intro. Not enough time for more. Please pick up in tutorials, but perhaps more time to do this in semester 2.
- Cite a source every three or four sentences in your essays.
- This is my rough rule of thumb. And also, don't base one paragraph on one source. Mix up the sources and therefore the citations (I explain why!).
- 2009-10-12 Confirmation that essay word count 1500 excluding references.
- 2009-10-08 Essay titles
- What would I find interesting?
- Writing about something I didn't know about this world, but wanted to, and how I learnt about it
- This is an essay type and it is more exploratory than perhaps many essay titles that the students will be challenged with...
- Had a good think about the proposed essay titles from GEOG1200...
- Emailed Tutees to ask them more about this...
- I'm still not sure if I can set any essay, or if only essay titles relating to GEOG1200 are appropriate or if there is also another module that related titles could be chosen from...
- 2009-10-08 Tutorial Group Meeting 1
- Meeting Particulars
- 2009-10-08 14:00-15:00
- Meeting will start in G10, Geography East Building and move to Blenheim Terrace SR (G.07) House No. 11-14
- People
- We missed Katharine and Emily Swann
- Emily may be joining the group from Joint Honours in Geography and Social Policy.
- There was a mix up with Katharine who tried to attend, but went to Blenheim Terrace SR (G.07) and left before the rest of us arrived.
- Documentation
- GEOG1300 Geography Tutorials Semester 1 Skills Portfolio Workbook
- Agenda
- Introduction
- Links to GEOG1200 Changing Worlds and 1210 Environmental Systems
- Check on Skills Portfolio Workbook Task 9, library skills
- Setting first Essay
- Any other Business (AoB)
- Notes
- Introduction
- I was asked again and described what my role has been as a research specialising in computational geography and eResearch over the last 10 years.
- I explained that Emily Swann might be joining the group.
- Each of the tutees said a little more about themsleves and where they had been and we had some feedback discussions
- There is a range of travel experience from those who have not travelled much to those who have already set foot in many places:
- Looking abroad, away from Yorkshire, tutees have quite a lot of experience in Europe and America and some have travelled elsewhere or are soon to.
- There is some degree of work experience.
- A variety of family backgrounds, but most have siblings and some have potentially useful family connections.
- I think there is a good level of general interest in the local environment and some useful knowledge of the locality in the group.
- Links to GEOG1200 Changing Worlds and 1210 Environmental Systems
- All are doing GEOG1200
- Some have chosen parts of 1210, but I got the impression work does not start on this until Semester 2.
- I got some positive and useful feedback to pass on from the lectures so far.
- Check on Skills Portfolio WorkBook (SP Wbook) Task 9, library skills
- Not everyone has their SP Wbook yet, but all know they should have one and what they are supposed to be doing.
- I explained that it can be enlightening to look back in the future at a personal record of what you think you are good at, what you want to do, why, and how you plan to get there.
- Setting first Essay
- I explained that others have been set an essay already and that I was happy to press on with that.
- We discussed what needed to be learned from the exercise and considered what to do about setting the Essay titles
- I am open to ideas for titles and how we organise, but I will take the final decision.
- We agreed to start a discussion by email.
- Any other Business (AoB)
- Feedback
- I stressed its importance and hoped that we would all develop our appreciation of it, through it...
- This seemed to be well understood.
- Technology
- About half brought laptops and we checked the wireless worked in the room.
- Most, but not all have laptops I think so I offered to see if I could borrow some for our sessions...
- On reflection, we probably have enough...
- 2009-10-07 Potential additional joint honours tutee...
- 2009-10-06 Check for web pages
- (See entry for 2009-09-25).
- Nothing available at this time...
- 2009-10-06 Room Booking and Venue
- 2009-09-28 Check for web pages
- (See entry for 2009-09-25).
- Nothing available at this time...
- 2009-09-28 Feedback from Gordon and an email to tutees:
- Hi Vanessa, Frankie, Amy, Katharine, Andrew, Joe, Chris,
- Today I had a chat with Gordon Mitchell who asked how I got on meeting you last week. I took the opportunity to get some feedback and ask specifically about what if any books you might benefit from buying. In general, Gordon's feedback was positive and he agreed with my recommendation that you not buy books for your courses yet. These days, for the price of a few books, you can buy a laptop/electronic workbook/portable computer. For example:
- If you do not have such a device this might be a worthwhile investment.
- I think you should be learning to appreciate what Information Technology (IT) and data exist, how they are available and how they can be used in geographical application. I wonder what gadgets you have and what you have used or know about... I also wonder what of this you will learn about in your course and what level of interest you have in it now, and how I can help nurture this. Books are key sources and you should prepare to read lots and review/develop opinions about what you read.
- OK, so I hope you have all had a good week and have settled.
- I want you to share a bit more information about yourselves next time we meet. To get you thinking:
- Have you travelled anywhere interesting?
- Where in Leeds/nearby interests you?
- Academically, what do you think you are good at/interested in? What have you been reading?
- One of the key skills you should be developing is the ability to think critically and analyse and develop opinions about what is going on around you. I want you to develop enquiring minds, but with the ability to naturally switch off that detailed analytical critical questioning part so that you can relax and enjoy life at times without it. It is very tiring not to relax periodically and you will make less progress if you do not take appropriate breaks. You probably know about this already and I think you are all quite normal and manage this already and will be good at balancing social life with work. This is not to say you are like this and everyone should be. It is a compliment, and you don't have to be weird to be a genius although often genius is weird.
- Everything and everybody has a story and not all things/people/situations can be understood easily, but have a think about some. Try to figure how things got there and how things interact. What is predicatable, what is not? What do you need to work things out?
- What do you think about fashion?
- What do you think about news?
- What do you think about how people group socially and academically?
- With the exception of Andrew, I think you are all new to university and there is a lot going on, not just academically. We are studying it together. It is amazing the variety and depth of study that goes on here. We are now geographers together and have our focus, which involves looking around and considering it all... So, Andrew has a different perspective than the rest of you having been here for a year. We all have our own unique perspective and we can draw on these to aid our critical thinking.
- So, at times in the next week, I want you to switch on and analyse and think critically about what is going on around you. I want you to think about changing the world and what will make a difference. And I want you to find some time to relax and take it easy.
- Gordon recommended I encourage you to take up or develop non-academic interests. These help you to socialise and learn and are useful additions to a C.V. Many employers are looking for additional things these days as so many students apply for jobs with good and relevant degrees. This is good advice, so please think what you might put down. Now is a good time to get involved in clubs and develop extra curricular interests.
- If you have not visited yet, Leeds Kirkgate market is a very interesting place and the foodstalls are amazing, especially on a Saturday morning.
- 2009-09-25 Check for web pages
- 2009-09-24 Email exchanges
- Suggested that students start to develop their web content via the following:
- Agreed and sent date for Tutorial 1 (2009-10-08 14:00 to 15:00)
- Communication with students that missed the informal meeting today.
- Requested feedback on:
- 2009-09-24 Informal Meeting
- Meeting Particulars
- 14:00 - 15:00, G10 Geography East Building
- People
- Vanessa Harrison
- Francesca Horrocks (Frankie)
- Amy Horsfield
- Joseph Lipski (Joe)
- Andy Turner (Andy)
- Christopher Woods (Chris)
- Documentation
- 2009/10 Geography Module Chart
- GEOG1300 Geography Tutorials Semester 1 Skills Portfolio Workbook
- Introductions
- I gave a brief introduction to myself:
- I am primarily a researcher and I have a background in mathematics and information systems.
- I have very little tutoring experience and may know less about the programme of study than the tutees.
- I am looking forward to learning with them.
- I will not post personal information about the students without consent
- They shared their chosen names and details of where they came from and where they live now.
- As yet, none had a clear idea to share about what they wanted to do once they had finished their degree.
- Discussion on working together
- There is an important requirement for the students to deliver their own work, but this does not mean they have to do all the work on their own and in competition with each other.
- Collaboration makes most things more efficient and from a good platform developed together all should benefit.
- One of the key things to learn is how to reference others work.
- I explained that I develop web content to help me with what I do and that I have a web page for this activity and that I would email them the link.
- I asked if any of them develop web content
- Most were using Facebook, but none had or were willing to admit to having an open blog or other web pages.
- I suggested that it would be a good idea to develop a professional open web presence
- I would recommend something that gave a comfortable separation with content about their personal lives.
- The university offers all staff and students some web space to develop content
- Questions the students had:
- What books should we buy?
- I expect there are some key references and you might want to have paper copies of them, but I honestly don't know so I will ask around and get back to you...
- I think trying to borrow a book from the library first might be best
- Looking at a copy should help you know if you really want to fork out and own one (likewise you might be able to look at the book in a bookshop).
- Second hand books might be a good way to go too (copies from students that have finished with may contain interesting additional information...)
- What modules should I choose?
- This is hard for me to answer.
- I can help provide you with information about modules and try to make things work for you.
- Electives from many other parts of the university might also be of interest, so don't necessarily focus only on BA geography options at this stage.
- It may be that you are able to change the options you have selected if you decide in the near future that you want to be recorded as studying something else.
- I was asked for more details of what I do :-)
- Most of this you can find on-line via my School of Geography Home Page:
- http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/people/a.turner
- I help manage and develop research groups, and currently help deliver research outputs as specified in projects funded mainly through the UK government
- Mostly I am developing models and using and disseminating data/information as part of GENESIS.
- The models:
- are detailed at the individual human level
- focus at city scale
- operate at a spatial resolution of upto 10 metres
- operate either on a time step of 1 day for a number of years, or a time step of seconds/minutes for a day.
- Things to do:
- Push for feedback on:
- Discuss:
- Feedback
- Critical thinking
- 2009-09-23 Familiarisation with School of Geography programmes of study
- 2009-09-21 Getting to grips with VLE and Portal
- Portal URL:
- Once I've logged into the portal there is a link which should outomatically sign my into the VLE where GEOG1300 appears in my list of modules:
- ...
- 2009-09-21 Sent introductory email to tutees (cc Diane Collett).
- 2009-09-17 Preparation
- Began developing web content to support this activity.
- Preparation for Introductory meeting
- Things to cover:
- Personal introductions
- Feedback
- What is expected...
- What is wanted...
- References that may be useful
- 2009-09-16 Training at SoG Away Day
- 2009-09-15 Training at SLTC Meeting
- Documentation
- GEOG1300 Geography Tutorials Resource Pack for BA Tutors (Semester 1)
- GEOG1300 Geography Tutorials Semester 1 Skills Portfolio Workbook
- GEOG1300 Geography Tutorials (10 credits) Briefing for all Level 1 Tutors
- GEOG1300 Geography Tutorials (10 credits) Module Outline for Tutors
- Countdown to University
- Leeds for Life
- Key tasks:
- Feedback
- Attendance monitoring
- 2009-09-07 Scheduled First Tutorial Session for 2009-09-24 14:00 to 15:00
- 2009-08-28 Sage advice from Robert Vanderbeck:
- "...get them to recognise how different things are appropriate at different times and different context in terms of writing -- for example, that how one writes a technical report is different from an essay, and that there are a diverse set of perspectives within the discipline over issues such as the use of the first person 'I' in academic writing, methodolgical strategies, etc."
- 2009-08-27 Notification that I am to be a Level 1 Tutor for Semester 1 in 2009 and liaison as to the nature of the role
- This came by email from Diane Collett, the Student Support Manager who I pressed for details:
-
The module is GEOG1300 Geography tutorials; the module convenor is Paul Waley.
The module comprises a few lectures, plus ten or so tutorials (done as a group of about 7).
The tutorials are on average fortnightly through semesters 1 and 2.
Jamie Mullen is timetabling sessions according to individual tutors' availability, but there is flexibility within the system to change the session times.
-
The teaching material is largely study skills.
Tutees are expected to write 3 or 4 essays and a literature review, which I am to mark and go through feedback with them.
Tutees also develop a C&IT portfolio of skills, which they must submit and pass, but this is not formally assessed.
Information to cover includes library and referencing skills, essay writing skills, and personal development planning.
Paul Waley will provide guidance and materials for each session.
-
The tutor's role is also pastoral and may involve work closely with Diane Collett to monitor progress and deal with problems.
-
There will be training and information session before term, probably on 2009-09-15 after the all-School Student Learning and Teachin Committee (SLTC).
This will include a demo of the new attendance monitoring system.
Tutors are to keep an electronic register of each group session.
- I am to tutor a group in Semster 1 that Robert Vanderbeck will tutor in Semester 2.
- The tutees are:
- Vanessa Harrison
- Francesca Horrocks
- Amy Horsfield
- Katharine Hough
- Andrew Jordan
- Joseph Lipski
- Christopher Woods
References
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![[An image of Andy Turner]](http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/people/a.turner/a.turner.png)