Physical Geography

What skills will I practise and develop?

The Learning Outcomes for this Programme describe what you will be able to do as a result of your study at Cardiff University. They will help you to understand what is expected of you.

The Learning Outcomes for this Programme can be found below:

Knowledge Understanding:

On successful completion of the entire Programme students will be able to demonstrate the following:

• A systematic and critical understanding of spatial and temporal processes relating to aearth system processes, including a broad comprehension of the inter-relationships between theseat a range of scales
• A broad and critical understanding ofglobal challenges including risks and hazards associated with earth system processes, including approaches to the governance of these
• A critical systematic understanding of the multi-disciplinary nature ofPhysicalGeography, including its content, methods and philosophy, and a critical awareness of the need for integration of knowledge from cognate sciences, including those related to ocean, atmospheric, physical and environmental sciences
• A rigorous appreciation and application of the scientific process, including the design and testing of hypotheses, and the formulation of new concepts
• Formulation, design and use of appropriate laboratory, field, and/or computational methodologies relevant to a high level research project

Intellectual Skills:

On successful completion of the entire Programme students will be able to demonstrate the following :

• Debate, interpret and evaluate the causes and scales of contemporary andfuture earth system processeswhilst critically applying relevant ideas, concepts and methods
• Collect, collate, synthesise and critically evaluate a wide variety ofPhysical Geographydata and information, drawing from relevant approaches in cognate areas of science
• Critically evaluate current research in selected aspects ofPhysical Geography, demonstrating an appreciation of the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of associated scientific understanding
• Work effectively across disciplines to link knowledge and experience from allied sciences to critically evaluate the science related toearth system processes
• An ability to solve complex scientific problems both creatively and independently
• Model and interpret physical geographical data to generate hypotheses that can be tested with additional data or observation

Professional Practical Skills:

On successful completion of the entire Programme students will be able to demonstrate the following:

• Critically analyse and interpret a range of different types of data related to thephysical geographyresearch processes to investigate a range of topicalearth surface topicsand theoretical concepts
• Plan, design and execute research related to physical geography, critically using a range of qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis in field, offshore, laboratory and desk-based studies
• Critical application of methods used to acquire geospatial data and represent such data in appropriate cartographic and graphic formats using appropriate platforms, including GIS
• Address research problems involving the integration and analysis of diverse and often incomplete and uncertain data using appropriate qualitative and quantitative methodologies and approaches
• Demonstrate advanced practical skills and competence in information technology, geographical information systems, cartographic, statistical and other analytical techniques
• Undertake effective project management and organisational skills through independent working and team work
• Understand and the practical limitations, logistics, safety and ethical aspects of data gathering in various environments, and apply this understanding, as appropriate to advanced, applied research
• An ability to independently plan a complex project at the frontier of a research topic
• Model complex numerical physical geographical data and draw appropriate conclusions from such modelling

Transferable/ Key Skills

On successful completion of the entire Programme students will be able to demonstrate the following:

• An ability to effectively communication of knowledge, ideas and arguments in a variety of formats using oral, written, and visual media to both specialist and non-specialist audiences
• An ability to work competently individually or as part of a team in both problem-setting and problem-solving within a range of advanced, applied research environments where decision-making is complex and multi-disciplinary
• An ability to undertake independent study and advanced personal scholarship, fostered through enhanced personal responsibility, initiative and self-learning experiences
• A commitment to lifelong learning through engaging in the process of personal development planning and ownership of own learning
• An ability to problem-solve as well as reliability, loyalty, social conduct, tact, attitude to learning and research, leadership, resilience, decision-making and reasoning