University home > Unit and programme catalogues in 2017/18 > Programme catalogue > Faculty of Arts > Centre for Innovation > Geography with Innovation (MSci) > Specification
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Programme code | 1INOV008U |
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Programme type | Single Honours |
Programme director(s) |
Kirsten Cater
Merle Patchett |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
School/department | Centre for Innovation |
Second School/department | School of Geographical Sciences |
Teaching institution | University of Bristol |
Awarding institution | University of Bristol |
Accrediting types: |
This programme has been accredited by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). Accredited degree programmes contain a solid academic foundation in geographical knowledge and skills, and prepare graduates to address the needs of the world beyond higher education. The accreditation criteria require evidence that graduates from accredited programmes meet defined sets of learning outcomes, including subject knowledge, technical ability and transferable skills. (www.rgs.org) |
Relevant QAA subject benchmark groups | Geography (2019) (benchmark statement) |
Mode of study | Full Time |
Programme length | 4 years (full time) |
The digital and creative innovators of the 21st Century will bring together arts and humanities, design, science, engineering and enterprise to deliver new products, services and ways of working and living. This degree combines an in-depth subject specialism in Geography with interdisciplinary breadth, creative teamwork and entrepreneurial skills. Students undertaking this course will spend half their time studying Geography to gain a solid discipline strength whilst spending the other half of their time applying that knowledge to innovate and translate their ideas into plans for digital and creative enterprises, both social and commercial.
The programme aims to:
Students studying across the different specialisms on the innovation degrees come together as a cohort to learn and apply design and systems thinking for digital and creative innovation and put it into practice their working in transdisciplinary project teams. Students will learn from past and present success and failure case studies to help students think about future opportunities. The transdisciplinary project work in the second year works with real world clients where students develop empathy for the people they are designing for, explore solutions, iterating to develop an unexpected range of possibilities, and create prototypes to take back to the client to test with real customers or users. In their third year students explore innovative and disruptive ideas, potentially designing things that people don’t yet know they want by exploring the potential of new technologies to enable disruptive innovation, changing the way people live and work. Students will learn about different ways to generate ideas, ranging from brainstorming to crowd-sourcing, exploring project opportunities and creating prototypes to test with real people. Alongside this students will learn about different kinds of enterprise that can be used to take forward their ideas supported by mentors and coaches. The final year pulls together all the students have learnt to create an enterprise which may be an innovative digital and creative product, service or social innovation.
Successful completion of the course will allow students to move a wide range of careers, including setting up their own social or commercial enterprises, or continue onto an advanced postgraduate geography course. It will allow them to better understand the contested and spatially-structured world of their post-graduation experiences.
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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1. Integration of learning/teaching methods and assessment methods. 2. Diversity of learning/teaching methods to reflect varied nature of the subject matters of a geographical degree and of transferable skills provision. Use of formal lectured, seminars, tutorials, fieldwork, practical and laboratory classes, guided group and individual project work, extended essays and dissertations, internet search exercises. 3. Reduced dependence on formal lecturing approaches and greater use of individual and group exercises, seminars and discussions with successive sessions. 4. Incorporation of teaching methods with close staff-student contact: tutorials throughout programme; residential and other field work and staff-guided research projects. 5. Heavy dependence on hands-on experience through individual and group teaching exercises. 6. Incorporation of formal and informal pathways for evaluation of teaching by students, responses such evaluations by staff, and justification of consequent action/inaction. 7. Acquisition of knowledge and understanding for innovation, design and entrepreneurship occurs through lectures, workshops, seminars and tutorials (12-15). 8. Workshops and demonstration to develop student practical innovation skills acquisition (12 & 15). 9. Innovation challenges to develop students’ skills in practical innovation and entrepreneurship (12, 13 & 15). 10. Innovation project supervision and design challenge mentoring meetings to provide formative feedback (12, 13 & 15). |
Methods of Assessment | |
1. Diversity of assessment methods to match learning/teaching methods. Use of unseen examinations, extended essay/project submissions, practical class reports, research dissertations, group and individual oral presentations, student-led seminars plus unit-specific assignments (eg food diaries, home climate projects, GIS analysis, creating, computing programmes, consultancy reports). 4. Individual and group innovation coursework portfolios (including rapid prototyping and proof of concepts) and presentations (12-15) 5. Reflective accounts of practical work and learning (12-15) 6. Iterative and agile practice based innovation and entrepreneurship challenges (12-15) |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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1. Integration of learning/teaching methods and assessment methods 7. Acquisition of skills to innovate, design and create enterprises occurs through lectures, workshops, seminars and tutorials (8-11). 8. Workshops and demonstration to develop student practical innovation skills acquisition (8-11). 9. Innovation challenges to develop students’ skills in practical innovation and entrepreneurship (8-11). 10. Innovation project supervision and design challenge mentoring meetings to provide formative feedback (8-11). |
Methods of Assessment | |
1. Diversity of assessment methods to match learning/teaching methods. Use of unseen examinations, extended essay/project submissions, practical class reports, research dissertations, group and individual oral presentations, student-led seminars plus unit-specific assignments (e.g. food diaries, home climate projects, GIS analysis, creating, computing programmes, consultancy reports). 3. Tutorial and some practical exercises assesses as satisfactory/unsatisfactory to encourage experimentation on part of students. 4. Individual and group innovation coursework portfolios (including rapid prototyping and proof of concepts) and presentations (8-11) 5. Reflective accounts of practical work and learning (8-11) 6. Iterative and agile practice based innovation and entrepreneurship challenges (8-11) |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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1. Integration of learning/teaching methods and assessment methods 7. Acquisition of skills to innovate, design and create enterprises occurs through lectures, workshops, seminars and tutorials (12-17). 8. Workshops and demonstration to develop student practical innovation skills acquisition (12-17). 9. Innovation challenges to develop students’ skills in practical innovation and entrepreneurship (12-17). 10. Innovation project supervision and design challenge mentoring meetings to provide formative feedback (12-17). |
Methods of Assessment | |
1. Diversity of assessment methods to match learning/teaching methods. Use of unseen examinations, extended essay/project submissions, practical class reports, research dissertations, group and individual oral presentations, student-led seminars plus unit-specific assignments (eg food diaries, home climate projects, GIS analysis, creating, computing programmes, consultancy reports). 3. Tutorial and some practical exercises assesses as satisfactory/unsatisfactory to encourage experimentation on part of students. 4. Individual and group innovation coursework portfolios (including rapid prototyping and proof of concepts) and presentations (12-17). 5. Reflective accounts of practical work and learning (12-17). 6. Iterative and agile practice based innovation and entrepreneurship challenges (12-17). |
Statement of expectations from the students at each level of the programme as it/they develop year on year.
Level C/4 - Certificate |
By the end of their studies at level C, students are expected to be able to demonstrate sound knowledge of the fundamental principles of some of the core areas of geography and a level of competence in the relevant skills. The expectation is that their work may require substantial direction from members of staff. They will also have gained an understanding to how design and systems thinking can be applied to problems to innovate and unearth novel and creative solutions that may have been missed from undertaking a purely analytical approach whilst gaining experience in working in multidisciplinary teams. |
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Level I/5 - Intermediate |
At level I students are expected to be able to demonstrate that they have expanded the range and depth of their knowledge of geographical principles and their capacity to evaluate these principles using a variety of perspectives. They should also have developed a higher level of competence in the relevant skills. They are expected to be developing a capacity for self-directed learning. Student will be expected to critically reflect on past and present case studies and develop further their transdisciplinary working to real world digital and creative client problems. Students will be encouraged to broaden their perspective beyond the subject provisions in Geography with Innovation and take either an open unit, learn how to program or design specifically for human computer interaction. |
Level H/6 - Honours |
At level H students are expected to expand the breadth of their knowledge through their study of advanced subjects taught at current research cutting-edge. At this level students are expected to be able to demonstrate their capacity for self-directed study using the skills acquired and developed at levels one and two. Within the transdisciplinary group project the students will be expected to innovate for their own chosen problem by exploring the potential of new technologies to enable disruptive innovation to change the way people work and live. They will be supported by mentors and coaches to explore how their proposed solutions may be turned into an enterprise. |
Level M/7 - Masters |
At level M, students are expected to pull together all that they have learnt in prior years to create an enterprise; this may focus on an innovative digital and creative product or service, or a social innovation. Students will be required to assess the market, feasibility, IP, sustainability, finance and desirability of the proposition and create a proof of concept prototype to test with real world users. They will also be carrying out work at or informed by the forefront of geography. Students will have shown originality in the application of knowledge, and they will understand how the boundaries of knowledge are advanced through research. They will be able to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, and they will show originality in tackling and solving problems. They will have the qualities needed for employment in circumstances requiring sound judgement, personal responsibility and initiative, in complex and unpredictable professional environments. |
The intended learning outcome mapping document shows which mandatory units contribute towards each programme intended learning outcome.
For information on the admissions requirements for this programme please see details in the undergraduate prospectus at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/prospectus/undergraduate/ or contact the relevant academic department.
Workload Statement
In common with the rest of the University, units in the Faculty of Arts
adhere to the credit framework which sets out that 20 credits normally
equates to some 200 hours of student input. Some of this time will be spent
in class, with the remainder divided between preparation for classes and
preparation for, and completion of, the assessment tasks. Some of this
activity may occur within the University’s online learning environment,
Blackboard, which you may use to prepare wikis, to interact with other
students, to download tutorials or to receive feedback.
Assessment Statement
Please select the following link for a statement about assessment. This is University of Bristol access only.
https://www.bris.ac.uk/arts/current/under/assessment.html
This Integrated Master's programme has been designated as type III: Professional in accordance with the QAA descriptors for Master's programmes. Please see the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes for further information on this type of programme.
GEOG15010 and GEOG15020 are must pass units. For the definition of must pass units please see the Glossary of Terms from Annex 1 to the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/esu/assessment/annex/glossary.html
Minimum requirement of pass mark 40% in each unit
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Physical Geography | GEOG15010 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Human Geography | GEOG15020 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Design and Systems Thinking for Innovation | INOV10001 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Transdisciplinary Group Project 1: Being Human | INOV10002 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Plus select two units from: | |||||
World in Crisis? | GEOG16001 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Convincing stories? Numbers as evidence in the social sciences | UNIV10002 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Geographical Methods 1 | GEOG15040 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Geographical Practices 1 | GEOG15030 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Certificate of Higher Education | 120 |
This Integrated Master's programme has been designated as type III: Professional in accordance with the QAA descriptors for Master's programmes. Please see the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes for further information on this type of programme.
Students must achieve a year mark of 50 or more out of a hundred at the end of the second year to be able to progress on to the four year programme.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Past, Present and Futures | INOV20001 | 10 | Mandatory | TB-2 | |
Transdisciplinary Group Project 2: Solving Someone's Problem | INOV20002 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Select 90 or 100 credits from the following: | |||||
Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography | GEOG20007 | 10 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Research Methods in Physical Geography | GEOG20008 | 10 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Fundamentals of Modern Glaciology | GEOG20004 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Floods, Flows and Erosion in River Basins | GEOG20002 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
The Earth System | GEOG20003 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
State, Economy and Society in Geographical Perspective | GEOG20005 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Spatial Modelling 2 | GEOG25010 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Philosophy, Social Theory and Geography | GEOG25110 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
More-than-Human Geographies: Animal Geographies & Cultures of Nature | GEOG20006 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Open units up to a maximum of 20 CP | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
Introduction to Computer Programming | EMAT10007 | 10 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Human-Computer Interaction | COMS21301 | 10 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Students may take up to 20CP of open units such as a language but note this may take them to 130CP for their second year Students may take ONE of Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography or Research Methods in Physical Geography, but not both. Students who take one of these Methods units may also go on the related Geography field trip on a non-credit-bearing basis. Students who do not do a Methods unit may not attend a field trip. | |||||
Diploma of Higher Education | 120 |
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes full advantage of the learning opportunities that are provided.
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