Geographical Tripos - University of Cambridge

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development of transferable skills takes place especially through coursework projects and fieldwork, and most importantly through the final-year dissertation Assessment methods Assessment takes place partly through informal verbal feedback to students during supervisions, in practicals and during field classes. Supervisions are also an essential vehicle for on-going formative assessment, both through essays and termly written reports. Summative assessment takes different forms. Most papers involve end-of-year three-hour written examinations which aim to assess knowledge and understanding of material introduced in the various lecture courses; some Part IB and Part II papers contain additional coursework elements. At Part IA students also submit five practical exercises, which examine the understanding of the appropriate use of various methods, their limitations and the technical issues surrounding them, as well as skills such as numeracy and graphical abilities. At Part IB, students submit three practical exercises, one of which is based on material collected on a residential fieldtrip. In addition, an open book examination specifically assesses the ability to research, synthesise, discuss and critically evaluate the philosophical and methodological bases of a particular area of geographical enquiry. Finally at Part IB, students submit a 1000-word dissertation proposal which assesses their ability to produce a viable undergraduate-level research project. The submission of a dissertation during the final year is seen as the culmination of a course that leads students through the transition from receipt of knowledge to personal discovery of knowledge, leaving them with the ability to design, execute and report on an independent enquiry in a manner that equips them with skills appropriate to research, the professions, public service or business and industry. Programme structure Part IA is essentially a foundation year. There is no choice at this stage, in order that all students acquire the same basic grounding, and in order that new areas of the subject not covered in the school curricula can be introduced prior to in-depth study in Part IB. Two papers are taken. Paper 1 covers human geography, including urban and economic geography, historical geography, cultural geography, society, environment and development and political geography. Paper 2 covers physical geography, including the earth, oceans and coasts, land and water, the cryosphere, and environmental change Part IB is designed to develop a greater depth of knowledge and understanding of the discipline; it allows some specialization, although the choice is deliberately and logically constrained. There is a compulsory, assessed, paper on Geographical Ideas in which students are encouraged to develop an understanding of the broader relevance of geographical ideas and methods Students also choose four other papers, including at least one paper from each of two groups. Group A, which is concerned broadly with human geography, contains papers on Cities; Understanding the Economy: Contemporary Geographies of Capitalism; Development; Geography and Public Policy; and Culture and Society. Group B, which is concerned broadly with physical and environmental geography, contains papers on Processes in the Climate System, Glacial Processes:; Environmental Hazards; Rivers and Coasts; and Biogeography. Finally, in Part II students may either specialize further, or they may maintain a balance across the subject as a whole, selecting four papers freely from among a range of twelve Page 4 of 5
papers on offer. These papers are closely related to the research interests of the teaching staff, so display considerable depth of treatment, and deal with current research issues [3.1]. The choice varies from year to year, but each year includes papers which cover the breadth of the discipline. In addition, each student writes a dissertation on an approved topic that he or she has chosen. This requires basic, original research, usually undertaken in the summer vacation preceding the final year. This is an opportunity to exploit the theoretical understanding gained in the lecture courses, to apply some of the empirical and analytical methods learnt in practical and field classes, and to present a synthesis of material which displays interpretative, numerate, graphic and literary abilities to good advantage. Further details of particular papers, including structure, course aims, modes and objectives of assessment, and content is provided for students each year, both in written form and through the departmental intranet. Entry Requirements Admission is through the Colleges and is based on the written application, the reference, achievement at GCSE or in equivalent examinations, achievement at A-level or in equivalent examinations, and one or more interviews. A typical A-level offer is AAA. Normally between 90 and 100 students are admitted each year. Students transferring into Geography from another Cambridge Tripos may either take Part II in their third year, or take the Preliminary Examination to Part II in their second year, prior to taking Part II in their final year. Progression requirements A student may be a candidate for honours in Part IB in the year after obtaining honours either in Part IA Geography or in another Honours Examination. A student may be a candidate for honours in Part II either in the year after obtaining honours either in Part IB Geography or in another Honours Examination. Indicators of Quality The Department of Geography was ranked first jointly with the Departments of Geography at the Universities of Bristol, Durham and Oxford in the 2008 RAE Assessment Exercise. The percentages of research assessed were 30% at 4*, 40% at 3*, 25% at 2* and 5% at 1*.The Geographical Tripos at Cambridge has been ranked first for Geography and Environmental Studies by the Education Guardian for five years in a row. Page 5 of 5
Page 1 and 2: University of Cambridge: Programme
Page 3: Skills students have the opportunit

Geographical Tripos - University of Cambridge

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