Bute Geographies

Introduction to Field Sites

Fieldwork and residential field courses are an integral part of geographical education. However, concerns have been expressed that fieldwork, and in particular residential fieldwork, is detached from, let alone integrated with, class-based learning. Others have expressed a concern that the way in which knowledge is generated through fieldwork is exploitative in that information is collected from a location and its people without any attempt to provide anything in return. By requiring students to write background notes on a location in advance of field course and by making these notes available to the wider public thereafter, the detachment and ‘exploitative’ nature of fieldwork can be addressed. This can also have the added benefit of preparing students and raising enthusiasm and awareness for the field location in advance of the field visit.

Practising Geography, the second year undergraduate Human Geography module at Glasgow Caledonian University, requires small groups of students to undertake a desk-based review of one aspect of the geography of the Isle of Bute in advance of visiting the island for fieldwork. Two weeks in advance of the field visit, the group submits a copy of its review to the Module Leaders. The Module Leaders collate these reviews and distribute them all as a single Introductory Pack to all students one week in advance of the field visit. Students also deliver an oral presentation of their review at the last class meeting in advance of the field visit. On completion of the module, students can then elect to revise their paper under the guidance of an Editor as part of the StuP project. Publication on the StuP project website is conditional on an acceptable revision.

Caledonian ‘thematic introduction to a field location’ are short papers, each of which focuses on one key aspect of the geography of Bute. Typically one page (750 words) in length, these papers are written to introduce the island to visitors/non-experts. Each paper concludes with a guide to sources of further information.

Here, we provide resources that could be adapted in other institutions to implement projects which (i) introduce students to field locations (ii) publish these papers. These resources are presented as Adobe pdf and/or Microsoft Word files.

• Guidance Notes for Student Authors. These notes can be used for students working independently or in small groups.
• Exercise Notes for Academic Staff. This paper sets forth the rationale and implementation options for this pre-field course exercise.
• ‘Thematic Introduction to Field Locations’ Template (Mail Merge Master and Data File) and User Notes . These files can be used by students for manual (cut and paste) or automatic (mail merge function) formatting of supporting text for a thematic introduction to a field location.
• Exemplar. An example of a thematic introduction to a field location. Authored by Dr. John McKendrick this paper summarises the ‘Geographical Situation’ of the Isle of Bute. This is Introductions to Bute Paper 1, which can be accessed from ‘Resources on the geography and environment of the Isle of Bute / Introductions to Bute’

Updated: 25 November, 2005