Key Skills and Applied Coastal Oceanography

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Critically research, evaluate and synthesise the findings of peer-reviewed publications
• Write a well-structured scientific report
• Work effectively individually and as part of a team for field sampling and data collection.
• Deliver a research seminar suitable for a scientific audience
• Plan and execute coastal fieldwork
• Develop basic skills in computational programming and data analysis and visualisation

Lectures, seminars, workshops and fieldwork covering the material in this course take place throughout Semester 1. Sessions cover the following areas: Communication and research skills: - Academic Responsibility and Conduct (Academic Integrity) - Writing an academic literature review - Communicating research to wider audiences IT and data analysis and visualisation: - Introduction to numerical computing and programming language - Time series analysis and visualisation Fieldwork: - Boat work covering applied coastal oceanography - Chartwork for coastal boat work planning - Production of a fieldwork report Directed study materials and self-study guides covering a range of wider skills are also included.

Communication and Research Skills: These sessions provide students with training and experience in evaluating research papers, preparing academic literature reviews, and presenting results to their peers. IT & Data Analysis: These workshops cover the fundamentals of computational programming, data presentation, use of statistics and general introductions to Matlab/Python (including time series analysis and 2D datasets). Boat work: Boat work activities are intended to familiarise students with a range of techniques used in coastal oceanography, while also exercising teamworking skills and collecting data for analysis. Students will be able to plan, carry out and report on a field campaign to measure water column structure, sediment characteristics and other parameters to describe and characterise a UK estuary. Students will also receive training in preparing a Risk Assessment for the work; and will gain experience in using Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP), Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) profilers and water samplers, water filtration for suspended sediment concentration, sediment grabs and other appropriate sampling and data collection methods for coastal and estuarine oceanography. A wide range of support can be provided for those students who have further or specific learning and teaching needs.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.