Module manager: Colin Pitts
Email: c.s.pitts@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module will provide key knowledge, skills and understanding through 3 separate components to the module: 1. career preparation and guidance; 2. training in the preparation and research for a final year dissertation; and 3. key experience of conducting fieldwork surveys to obtain skills in collecting primary data from the field. This module builds upon key skills and training achieved in level 1. This module, in combination with SOEE2800 Environmental Measurements and SOEE2810 Data Analysis and Visualisation, provides a suite of skills and the necessary preparation for students to undertake independent research activity in their final year of study and in their future career development.
In Semester 1 the module begins with a series of workshops in careers and employability training to provide students with an opportunity to reflect on and improve their core employability skills. Students will be able to place their professional skills development in the context of lifelong learning for their personal career progression. Students will be introduced to the diversity of careers available in the “environmental industry” and will be made aware of how to evaluate their own skills (generic and specific) and abilities for employment purposes.
In semester 2 the module then builds on academic skills developed at Level 1. The mini-dissertation component provides all Level 2 BSc Environmental Science students with a coherent and consistent training in skills needed for research project writing. This is done through providing the opportunity to undertake a research project based on a specified topic in environmental science. This activity will guide the students through all the steps needed to successfully complete a piece of novel research, preparing the students for their independent research dissertation in Level 3. This will be achieved via guided sessions on how to undertake a detailed literature review, research design and topic identification, health and safety, and report writing. Students will also be given guidance on selecting a topic for their Level 3 research dissertation.
Finally, there is a compulsory residential fieldtrip included in this module. This provides an opportunity for students to experience an important high quality, hands-on learning experience. The fieldtrip will provide first-hand substantive knowledge of environmental attributes at some specific locations. Furthermore, the students will use a variety of relevant techniques to understand further these environmental phenomena in the field.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
SSLO1. To understand and experience making an application to a relevant environmental job opportunity.
SSLO2. To experience and learn from a mock interview.
SSLO3. An understanding of the generic/transferable skills required in graduate employment and how to develop plans to improve and enhance these types of skills.
SSLO4. An understanding of how to construct research questions and hypotheses and what is required to produce a high-quality research report based on primary or secondary data in the context of environmental science.
SSLO5. An understanding of the physical, chemical and ecological attributes of the environment and how to evaluate them using field techniques.
SSLO6. An understanding of where, when and how to apply scientific techniques in the field and how to evaluate and reflect on the findings.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
SKLO1. Personal/self/career management (work ready skills)
SKLO2. Reflection. (work ready and academic skills)
SKLO3. Critical thinking and integrated problem solving. (Academic skills, Sustainability skills)
SKLO4. Academic writing and referencing. (Academic skills)
SKLO5. Information searching and data and media literacies. (Academic skills, Digital skills)
SKLO6. Teamwork/collaboration & working with others. (work ready and Enterprise skills)
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workshop | 10 | 2 | 20 |
| Fieldwork | 4 | 7.5 | 30 |
| Lecture | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Seminar | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Private study hours | 143 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 57 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Each of the three components includes opportunities for formative feedback. In the career development component, there is constant opportunity for formative feedback during the workshops and then more critically at the individual mock interviews. In the mini-dissertation component there are opportunities to gain constructive formative feedback during the scheduled seminars. There is ample and constant opportunity to provide formative feedback to students when they are performing their fieldwork activities.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Providing a CV and covering letter to a specific job description - pass for progression required | 0 |
| Coursework | Mock interview - pass for progression required | 0 |
| Coursework | . | 15 |
| Coursework | . | 50 |
| Coursework | . | 35 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
There is no reading list for this module
Last updated: 29/04/2025
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