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South West Field Course

Module description

During this field course we will be based in Plymouth, a city with a rich maritime history. It has the UK’s longest standing marine research records, it is site of the first National Marine Park in the UK and it is home to key collaborators in the marine sciences. This will be a chance for you to network with others on your course and to think about the scientific method when carrying out small-group research projects, and to explore marine-related careers.

To address the climate emergency and potential impact of this module, this field course will aim to be carbon neutral. We aim to provide vegetarian/vegan food and use low emission transport wherever possible. A bus will be organised from Penryn Campus to Mount Batten and back at no cost to the students, with everybody being encouraged to travel this way together. Students will also be encouraged to avoid single use plastics and other avoidable impacts on the local environment and engage in sustainable practices throughout.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module aims to promote understanding of the skills and techniques that marine biologists use to measure and survey marine life by means of first-hand experience, observation and learning in a field and laboratory setting. It will complement and unify the other modules that comprise Stage 1 and 2 and builds on the introductory fieldwork experiences of Stage 1. Specifically, this will be achieved via field observations combined with collaborative and individual projects, set within a wider context of formal field-learning exercises, which themselves illustrate the fundamental principles of the core disciplines.

The Stage 2 field course modules as a whole will familiarise you with a range of marine habitats and their characteristic organisms. During the module, you will become more familiar with the types of approaches marine biologists use to assess a range of phenomena (biodiversity, population size, species ranges, foraging behaviour), understanding how these interact with a changing environment and why it is important that we are able to measure them. More generally you will become familiar with a range of habitat types, consolidating your abilities to identify organisms, using a variety of methods, and become more able to place them within a wider phylogenetic, ecological and conservation framework.

The module has a large research-led component in which you carry out group projects to deliver scientific objectives. By planning hypotheses, piloting methods and then collecting data you will develop valuable skills in critical independent enquiry. The skills you gain from fieldwork, teamwork, working with unfamiliar biodiversity, and working around the clock, will all stand you in good stead for careers in the environmental sector by developing or enhancing your employability. Transferable skills to other sectors include:

• problem solving (linking theory to practice, responding to novel and unfamiliar problems, data handling),
• time management (managing time effectively individually and within a group),
• collaboration (taking initiative and leading others, supporting others in their work),
• self and peer review (taking responsibility for own learning, using feedback from multiple sources) and
• audience awareness (presenting ideas effectively in multiple formats).

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Explain how to quantify and measure a range of ecological phenomena and the significance of such measurements
• 2. Identify a range of marine taxa from plankton to top predators
• 3. Complete a group project, including statistical evaluations of data gathered in field
• 4. Describe how the environment might shape phenomena such as biodiversity, population size, species ranges and foraging behaviour

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Describe in some detail essential facts and theory across a sub-discipline of biosciences, particularly with a marine focus
• 6. Identify critical questions from the literature and synthesise research-informed examples from the literature into written work
• 7. Identify and implement, with guidance, appropriate methodologies and theories for addressing specific research problems in biosciences
• 8. With some guidance, deploy established techniques of analysis, practical investigation, and enquiry within biosciences
• 9. Describe and evaluate approaches to our understanding of biosciences with reference to primary literature, reviews and research articles

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 10. Develop, with some guidance, a logical and reasoned argument with valid conclusions
• 11. Communicate ideas, principles and theories fluently using a variety of formats in a manner appropriate to the intended audience
• 12. Collect and interpret appropriate data and complete research-like tasks, drawing on a range of sources, with limited guidance
• 13. Evaluate own strengths and weaknesses in relation to professional and practical skills, and apply own evaluation criteria
• 14. Reflect effectively on learning experiences and summarise personal achievements
• 15. Work in a small team and deal proficiently with the issues that teamwork requires (i.e. communication, motivation, decision-making, awareness, responsibility, and management skills, including setting and working to deadlines)

Syllabus plan

Each day of the field course will involve learning activities relevant to the location (including the laboratory, rocky shore and a boat trip). Data-collection via field and laboratory activities will start immediately as well as group-bonding sessions, and culminate in whole-class synthesis and discussion of information. Throughout the course aims to provide contributions from local field biology experts along with evening seminars and discussions during which students will be expected to prepare material and contribute in the form of oral contributions and questions.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The project presentation is not deferrable because it takes place during the field course and the mark comprises both group and individual components. If you are not able to participate in the presentation during the field course, and you are successfully granted mitigation, you will be awarded the group component marks for your presentation and this mark will be scaled accordingly. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to re-submit report 1 and/or report 2. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Kaiser MJ et al. (2011) Marine Ecology: Processes, Systems, and Impacts. OUP. ISBN-10: 0199227020
• Levinton JS (2010) Marine Biology: International Edition: Function, Biodiversity, Ecology. OUP. ISBN-10: 0199766614
• A wide range of field guides and reference works related to the identification, observation and study of behaviour, animals and plants in the field (books and research articles provided).

Key words search

Marine biology, ecology, conservation, food-webs, statistics, biodiversity, animal behaviour, plankton