THE PROBLEMS WITH FIELDWORK - A GROUP-BASED APPROACH TOWARDS INTEGRATING FIELDWORK INTO THE UNDERGRADUATE GEOGRAPHY CURRICULUM

Field study, widely regarded as an essential part of geographical high er education, is under severe pressure due to its high cost, resource demands and a legacy of poor educational practices that have left it o n the fringes of the curriculum. Th is paper outlines a case study of an undergraduate module, framed around a field course, which seeks to integrate fieldwork into the curriculum by combining training in field study with training in research and presentation skills. The module e mploys group-based project work throughout, with no items assessed ind ividually. The paper concludes by pointing to the pedagogic and tactic al advantages of the approach adopted, but warns against the overuse o f group work.