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Annual Report 2007-8

Undergraduate Studies 2007 - 2008

Introduction from the Director

Role of the Undergraduate Office

The Undergraduate Office is run by the Director (Dr H Allen) and Assistant Director (Dr E Watson), both members of academic staff, together with a full-time Assistant to the Director (Mrs D Wanchoo) who manages the work of the Office on a day-to-day basis. The Office organises the Department's teaching programme for the Geographical Tripos, including the timetabling and location of lectures, submission of coursework, arrangements for visiting lecturers, production of the annual course guide, the running of examination business, assessment of courses and lecturers, and producing the agenda and minutes for a range of committee meetings.

The Geographical Tripos

At Part 1A students take five compulsory papers and are required to submit work based on five practical projects. At Part 1B, students choose four papers, including at least one from among five Human Geography papers and one from among five Physical Geography papers. In addition, they submit three projects, including one based on fieldwork carried out on one of the compulsory, residential field classes, an Open Book examination paper and a 1,000 word Dissertation proposal. At Part II students make a free choice of four papers from fifteen offered, in addition to the Dissertation.

The Undergraduate Teaching Committee has overall responsibility for policy matters at undergraduate level. It acts as an executive committee, overseeing the design and delivery of courses and the implementation of the undergraduate teaching programme as a whole. It responds to pedagogic matters arising from examination reports and overseas the annual production of the course guide and considers students' course evaluations. This Committee has student representation. In addition, there is a Staff-Student Committee which addresses issues raised by the students, which can be sent to the Undergraduate Teaching Committee for further discussion when necessary.

The Undergraduate Office, and undergraduate teaching, in general, relies heavily on the intranet for delivery of teaching information and resources. This includes publication of course guides, examination notices, course evaluation, copies of past examination papers, as well as material germane to individual papers and lecturers, including supervision material.

Examination results

Examination statistics reveal that in 2008 66% of students at Part 1A gained an Upper Second Class result or better. This proportion increased at Part 1B and Part II, with respectively 86% and 87% of students performing at Upper Second Class level or above.

The number of Thirds continues to be very low, with only one student falling into this category across the whole Tripos. As in the past, we continue to be concerned about the gender gap in the number of Firsts awarded, with men continuing to outperform their female peers. In 2007-2008 the greatest gap was at Part II. The Department is actively considering ways in which this gap might be addressed and continues to monitor the situation.

Residential field classes

The Department remains committed to its undergraduate fieldwork programme, despite rising costs. In recent years, there has been a move to specialist, rather than general, fieldtrips which has led to the introduction of new fieldtrip locations and the involvement of a greater number of staff. Students are able to express a preference for their destination and in the past two years it has been possible to allocate all students to their first or second preference trip. In addition to increased choice of location, some fieldtrips run in the September immediately preceding the start of Pt IB. This allows for destinations which would not be practicable to visit during the Easter vacation, as well as offering students greater choice. The fieldtrips serve a significant purpose in reinforcing research techniques taught through first- and second-year projects, as well as introducing students to new methodologies that will be helpful to them in carrying out their final-year dissertation.

Vacation/Year
Easter vacation 2004 Algarve Crete Mallorca
Easter vacation 2005 Algarve Puerto Pollensa (Mallorca) Palma (Mallorca)
Easter vacation 2006 Algarve Morroco Dublin Mallorca Crete
Summer vacation 2006 Arolla (Switzerland)
Easter vacation 2007 Algarve Berlin Mallorca Morocco
Summer vacation 2007 Arolla (Switzerland)
Easter vacation 2008 Algarve Berlin Galway Morocco

The Part II dissertation

The compulsory dissertation is, like residential fieldwork, a very long-established feature of the Tripos. It offers students the opportunity to carry out an independent investigation based on geographical ideas, methods, and technical skills acquired during the course of the Tripos. Apart from some restrictions felt to be necessary on grounds of logistics or safety, the Department imposes very little constraint on either the topic chosen or the location of study. Students prepare their proposal for submission to their Director of Studies and the Head of Department, by the division of the Lent term; they are also required to submit an assessment of the risks and ethical considerations involved in carrying out their research. This is followed by submission of a 1,000 word dissertation proposal for assessment as part of the IB Tripos. This was introduced in an attempt to help students plan and focus more clearly on their dissertations prior to data collection. Undergraduates continue to chose a wide variety of topics and locales for their dissertations.

Admissions

While admission to the Department is through the Colleges, the Department plays an important role in liaising with Directors of Studies during the admissions season, particularly in ensuring that high quality pool students are placed. The Assistant Director of the Undergraduate Office prepares the Departmental entry for the University Admissions Prospectus, as well as keeping the Department's website and brochure up to date and responding to queries from prospective students. The Department participates in the two University Open Days held each July. These are very successful events involving talks, tours and advice to individuals; between 150 and 200 prospective students have visited the Department on these occasions.

Dr H Allen,
Director of Undergraduate Studies

Statistics

Part Class 2007-2008 2006-2007 2005-2006 2004-2005 2003-04
IA 1 10 19 14 18 11
2:1 50 67 63 65 58
2:2 30 14 24 20 25
3 1 0 0 1 0
Ordinary 0 1* 0 0 0
Total 91 101 102 104 94
IB 1 14 17 18 11 14
2:1 72 77 67 71 73
2:2 14 11 19 11 17
3 0 0 0 0 0
Ordinary 0 1* 0 0 0
Total 100 106 104 93 104
II 1 24 23 15 19 14
2:1 71 64 65 68 70
2:2 14 16 10 16 13
3 0 1 0 1 1
Ordinary 0 0 0 0 0
Total 109 104 90 104 98

* declared to have deserved honours