Collaborative Organisation and Form of Collaboration
Qualification and Programme Title
M.Sci. Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironments Full-time
Programme Code
8958
Delivery Location
Campus
Language of Study
English
Length of Programme
4 Year(s)
Accreditations
This programme has no outside accreditations
Aims of the Programme
The programme aims to develop students’ enthusiasm for the Earth sciences in general and palaeobiology and palaeoenvironments in particular, to produce graduates with the skills of observation, critical evaluation, deduction and reporting required of a professional geologist, and to encourage a habit of maintaining personal competence through study. Geology has a continuously evolving knowledge base of history and process, rooted in observation of inevitably incomplete and diverse data sets, and given theoretical coherence by an interdisciplinary scientific framework.
In this programme, whose Earth science content is underpinned by modules provided within the College of Life and Environmental Sciences from the disciplines of Geography and Biosciences, there is a particular focus on evolutionary processes and the environmental constraints affecting organisms past and present. The programme offers specialisation into either ecological or evolutionary streams in years 2-3. The integrated knowledge, understanding and skills acquired in the programme fit graduates primarily for geological and environmental careers, either directly or after further study, but they are appropriate also to a wider field of graduate employment.
Programme Outcomes
Students are expected to have Knowledge and Understanding of:
Which will be gained through the following Teaching and Learning methods:
and assessed using the following methods:
The conceptual framework of geological and biological enquiry, and the development of major Earth science and biological paradigms.
Methods of geological and biological observation and analysis.
Earth structure, composition, and processes; composition, nomenclature, classification and behaviour of geological materials
The chemical, physical and biological processes affecting major Earth systems; their interactions and visible expressions.
The principles of evolution by natural selection; the operation of evolution at all scales, including the underpinning genetic processes.
The phylogenetic relationships of extant and extinct organisms, and methods of analysis and classification.
Earth's origin, history, and its evolution as a complex system.
The interaction of organisms with their environment over time, and the techniques used to analyse these relationships in fossil and living biotas.
Unseen examinations (1-8), Class tests (1-8), Laboratory notebooks (2, 3, 6-8), Essays (1-5, 7), Project work (1-3, 8), Presentations, group work (1, 2, 6, 8).
Students are expected to have attained the following Skills and other Attributes:
Which will be gained through the following Teaching and Learning methods:
and assessed using the following methods:
To identify geological and biological materials and collect, record, process and integrate quantitative and qualitative data from a variety of sources using appropriate techniques.
To notice, establish and interpret the connections between diverse data sets of their own and of others.
To think across varying scales of space and time.
To plan, conduct and complete problem-solving and review investigations flexibly, critically, safely, and on time.
To work effectively and efficiently, both individually and as one of a team.
To report the results of such investigations to a professional standard through a variety of media.
To use computers in information gathering, processing, presentation and communications.
