Geology and How it Shaped the World

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

To explore the natural processes of the Earth and the interactions that make it work with its living passengers on board

Course objectives:

• To explore the main processes of forming and destroying crust and landscape.
• To define the possible interactions between natural processes linking crust, atmosphere and life.
• To develop the ability to find evidence for changes over millions of years.

The teaching will vary from week to week as determined by the content. Each week will start with an introductory Powerpoint from the tutor. This will provide the basis for the class to work from items brought in by the tutor - for instance rocks, fossils or meteorite samples as evidence. There will be handouts provided of factors such as climate or sea level change, extinction data, or other topics. The class can take these home to look at and they might be used as a short tutor led discussion the following week. The class is a relaxed style with class questions and discussions encouraged throughout.

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

• name the main processes that have shaped the Earth;
• identify the interconnections between land, oceans, atmosphere and life;
• know where to get good evidence and information for these topics.

Assessment will be by submitting an essay selected from a course topic and of the student's choice (having checked the title and topic with the tutor during the course). The essay is up to 1,500 words, but this could also be in research format (tutor can easily advise).

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

This course is designed to be accessible to those with little geological or biological knowledge. However, it explores new topics and has an investigative style - hence even those with some experience will be fascinated by the course.

Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Most of the Department's weekly classes have 10 or 20 CATS points assigned to them. 10 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of ten 2-hour sessions. 20 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of twenty 2-hour sessions. It is expected that, for every 2 hours of tuition you are given, you will engage in eight hours of private study.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)