The aim of this assignment is to give you the opportunity to showcase the skills you have learnt throughout this module. You should complete this assessment independently utilising the programming, mapping and data skills acquired through the practical elements of the course.
This assignment contributes 70% to the final mark of this module.
This is an individual assignment. Whilst it is natural to consult with your neighbour in the classroom and/or to help each other with unfamiliar software/laboratory/field work, it is not permitted to share research, ideas, data or text in preparation of any aspect of this work. If we suspect that this has occurred it will be treated as academic malpractice* and will be investigated according to university protocols. See this page for LUU information and advice on ‘Plagiarism, Fraudulent or Fabricated Coursework and Malpractice’).
*Malpractice includes collusion, i.e. working together with others to submit work which is not entirely your own (except where this is permitted for the specific assignment concerned).
See the Assessments area of Minerva for assignment deadlines.
All coursework must be submitted electronically via Minerva. Each module and each assessment has an electronic ‘pigeon hole’. This link can be found on the ‘Assessments’ tab on the main left menu of the Minerva module screen, or located under the ‘Learning Resources’ section of the module. The time of the submission is logged automatically and compared to the deadline. Remember that you must download a digital receipt: do not wait for email confirmation. Late penalties (5 marks per 24h period after the deadline) begin to accrue from 1 second after the deadline. The electronic submission system allows you to submit at any time before the deadline, and you can upload many versions (i.e. drafts) but remember that each upload will overwrite the previous upload. If you upload after the deadline then you will need to use a separate Turnitin folder that is set up for late submissions and approved extensions.
When submitting webpages, ensure you submit ALL relevant files (HTML, CSS, JS files and additional data files). Marks will be deducted if your work is incomplete (missing style sheets, JS files etc.).
The mark scheme used is on the main assessments page
Feedback on your coursework will be returned to you 15 working days after the submission date. In cases where this is not possible, we will inform you. If two assignments are submitted at the same time, we will provide feedback within 15 working days per assignment (i.e. 15 days for assignment 1, 30 days for assignment 2).
You should create a website that contains a significant mapping component that is based on the technologies that have been covered in this module. The website should use either the Leaflet of Google Map API to show the spatial distribution of some data of interest, or should demonstrate some aspect of theory in geography or a similar spatial science. For example, some student projects in previous years have included:
The website can be presented as a pilot version of a site that might be developed if you had greater time and resources and you may wish to discuss the limitations of your site and plans for further work in the supplementary report.
The outputs of the task should be:
As well as the map based elements, the website should contain supporting written material that describe the phenomena illustrated in the map, and indicates why it is of interest, for example: it's historical, social or environmental importance. This should include reference to academic literature (where possible). The technical report should be written as if you were delivering a progress report to an employer. It should include information on: the problem outline (i.e. what is the need for the application / what problem will it help to answer / what issue will it raise awareness of?); the requirements gathering process (what are the requirements of the application and what are the potential use cases?); the technologies that have been used and why; details of the implementation of complex or time-intensive methods; any problems encountered and how these were managed (or future plans for management- if not resolved); security considerations; ways in which the site maybe improved in future.
The technical report will be marked against the SoG generic marking criteria and specifically the following additional criteria:
The technical report can be up to 2000 words.
The website will be based against the SoG standard coding marking scheme and the following additional criteria:
It is up to you to source data for your final project and you should remember to fully cite the sources of all data used. You will find some ideas for datasets on Minerva. Alternatively websites such as Kaggle, Data Mill North and the Consumer Data Research Centre have lots of geospatial datasets.
It may be the case that you wish to create some original data to use in your website. This may created via primary collection (for example, using a GPS unit), via user contribution for a website that allows third parties to interact with a map, through creation of a synthetic data set that demonstrates some principle, or through other means. Students may collaborate on aspects such as primary collection of data if they wish, but should note that following qualifications:
Please upload the technical report including the URL of your final project and all files for the website as a zip file using the 'Zip file upload' option of Turnitin. Remember you may be penalised for missing files / images, so carefully check your zipped file contains all the necessary files before you submit.