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Fieldwork Undertaken for Community Partners in Undergraduate and Honours Geography Curricula

Contact details

A/Prof Roy Jones and Dr Alan Pilgrim
Department of Social Sciences
Curtin University of Technology
GPO Box U1987
Perth
Western Australia 6845
Australia

Tel: (+61-8) 9266 3737
Fax: : (+61-8) 9266 3166
Email: r.jones@curtin.edu.au
Email: a.pilgrim@curtin.edu.au

Classification Category

1. Developing student appreciation of research in the discipline
2. Development of student research skills
3. Using teaching and learning processes which simulate research processes
4. Using assignments which involve elements of research processes

Context

• Course/unit/module title: Geography 214/314 Urban Development and Planning; Geography 219/319 Regional Development; Geography 222/322 The Geography of Tourism and Recreation; Geography 221/321 Environmental Conservation; Geography 216/316 Geomorphology; Social Science 490/491 Honours dissertation.
• Course title: BSocSc(Geography); BSocSc (Hons) (Geography)
• 2nd/3rd year undergraduate in a general (pass) Social Science degree and 4th year honours (n.b. in the Australian system, most students complete a three year pass degree - which they commence at age 17. A minority stay on for a 4th year and complete a major (ca. 15,000 word) honours dissertation.)

What does the teacher do?

At the second/third year level the Lecturer/Unit Controller:

Contacts an "industry partner" (local planning department, community issue group, local tourism body etc.) relevant to the content of the semester unit/module and offers the services of the students' required field work (normally two days per unit) and field work report writing time to produce and submit a report on a topic for which the partner requires research data.

Liaises with the partner to clarify what information is required, how it should be collected and presented etc. and to ensure that the project (e.g. land use data collection, traffic counts, interviews of tourists etc. etc.) is both pedagogically appropriate for the unit/module and relevant to the partner's needs.

(If appropriate) invites the partner to participate in an in-class session with the students to brief them on the "hows" and the "whys" of the fieldwork task. Otherwise the teacher does this on the advice of the partner.

Assesses the student submissions based on the results of the field work which has been conducted, and the data which has been collected and subjected to subsequent in-class analysis, as would occur with any 'conventional' undergraduate field work project i.e. the material is assessed as individual or group field work reports and grades/marks allocated accordingly.

Collates the data as appropriate and submits the combined research results to the partner organisation. Occasionally (selected) student presentations have also been made to the partners.

In a limited number of cases, Lecturers/Unit Controllers have liaised with an industry partner to devise individual or (very) small group projects which have been conducted as third year students' major research assignments. For example, in 2001 and 2002, selected students were provided with transport and accommodation by the Western Australian Tourism Commission to conduct a survey and provide a report on the sociodemographic structure and environmental impact of 'informal' campers on a vulnerable stretch of coastline some 1,000 km from Perth.

This process differs at the honours level as follows:

Projects are individual. In negotiation between the student, the teacher/honours supervisor and the partner, the project is therefore "tailored" to produce a fit between the student's ability, expertise and interest, the partner's research needs and the academic requirements of an honours thesis.

Projects are characteristically funded, either in cash (paid as a scholarship) for some of the student's time and/or in kind (the provision of laboratory or equipment support e.g. from the State Water and Rivers Commission, of transport funding e.g. from a rural Landcare group etc.). The teacher/supervisor is therefore involved in these financial/industrial negotiations.)

Liaison between the student, the teacher/supervisor and the partner is ongoing throughout the project (one year, if the student is studying full time).

The honours dissertation is both submitted and assessed in the normal way and provided to the partner in the form of a research report.

Hot tips and things to look out for

1. Begin by working with partners whom you know personally and with whom you can establish clear guidelines/expectations; former students can be particularly useful in this regard. They know both the teacher and the capabilities/characteristics of students at the relevant level.
2. Emphasise to the students at the earliest possible opportunity that this is an applied project. i.e. the results will be used by the partner and that timeliness and accuracy are therefore not merely characteristics that will gain a good mark but an essential part of the project. Furthermore, they are guardians of the University's reputation for the duration of the project.
3. Plan ahead - begin negotiations early if the project involves funding. Working within the budget cycle of government agencies is much more likely to produce good funding outcomes.
4. It is increasingly common for government agencies to require a formal agreement that stipulates (among other things) clearly identifiable objectives and outcomes and a requirement that the University accepts insurance liability for the students.
5. Don't be too ambitious - identify achieveable and appropriate projects.

Does it work?

Undergraduate level

Both informal (verbal) feedback from the students and formal unit/module evaluations indicate strongly that this approach is popular. Students note that it improves teamwork (often a difficult transferable skill to inculcate in purely 'academic' projects) when all class members know that their results are going to (e.g.) a community group worried about a traffic problem or a struggling country town trying to diversify into tourism. Participation in such projects also provides valuable cv material for students seeking initial graduate employment. Most basically, however, the knowledge that a "real", (i.e. a requested) project is the basis of their field work serves as a powerful motivator and quality control.

Honours level

At this level, it is employer feedback which is most notable. Several partners who have supported honours research projects have subsequently employed the students concerned.

At both levels, a most effective form of feedback from partners has been their willingness/enthusiasm to repeat their involvement with these projects over several years.

The overall quality of theses completed to date has been of a high standard.

Students report that they enjoy the supportive environment provided by the 'industry partners', acquire a range of skills, have ready access to information and gain some understanding of the "workings" of government.

What problems/issues have arisen?

Undergraduate level:

1. 1. The differing family/work commitments of individual students. This can require the project tasks to be tailored to their varying circumstances (e.g. requiring students with young children or weekend employment to collect data available in the capital city while the bulk of the students conduct rural fieldwork).
2. A potential burden of collation of research results for the teacher at the conclusion of the semester.
3. The potential always exists in group tasks for some students to avoid their share of the work. Risks can be minimised by the use of appropriate assessment that requires a demonstration of individual effort.

Honours level

1. Lack of compatability between the student undertaking an individual project and the link person in the partnership organisation (resulting in more work for the teacher/supervisor and emphasising the need for the initial establishment of clear guidelines).
2. (Particularly in partnerships with government bodies) the transfer of key personnel in the partner organisation mid-project (and the consequent need to re-establish contacts, guidelines and lines of responsibility).
   

Details of support material/course work/assessment methods

The information presented above relates to several undergraduate units/modules and numerous honours projects, ranging from geomorphology to urban geography. We are happy to supply specific material to any geographical colleagues who contact us.

Relevant references

We have developed these links/projects in an ad hoc manner over a number of years and would welcome any suggestions on appropriate and relevant literature on this topic.