Assessment Essay Report for GY 366.
You will complete an extended report on the local learning system in an area of England of your choice. The report will need to describe all aspects of the local learning system in that area. Full guidance will be given in class sessions. Full resources for accessing secondary data will be demonstrated and you are advised to take advantage of the library support person for SET school on the subject of Social and Human Geography. This will be in addition to regular weekly queries you can bring to the class as well as support and advice through email. Please check your emails regularly for any updates on the module.
If you are planning on doing qualitative and Ethnographic research, then please inform your module leader so they can fill up a generic ethics review form for the class. You don’t need to inform your topic to them but do let them know if you plan to do an actual school visit.
More importantly, since the module is only 10 credits, it has been advised not to do qualitative research involving school children. For qualitative research, you are advised to only interview adult students as well school staff. But, you can access quantitative government statistics for any age group and country. If you are doing project outside of the U.K.then please consult the module leader to help with finding statistical information.
Further instructions on how to write your local school report will be discussed in the class and regular instructions will be posted on the studentcentral. Please discuss with your module leader for a doable and feasible project and where to access resources as well as general organisation of your report. This should include a geographical description of your school but please anonymise the school’s name. The statistics used is official and geographical location can be factual.
If you plan to do GIS, then please remember that only computers in the school will have that software installed and pleased ask your module leader on how to access them for the essay report.
Structuring your report
Use a traditional report structure, which will probably have the following main sections:
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Introduction. Explain what you were asked to do. You can repeat what the task was, but use your own words. Say which local area you chose to investigate. If you chose to focus on a particular phase or aspect of education, say what your focus is. Mention any major problems that you encountered or any major decisions you had to make.
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Methods. This section tells the reader what you did and why. Explain your choice of area. If you chose to focus on a particular aspect of education or training, say why. You will probably want to refer to academic sources in your explanation, for example textbooks on research methodology.
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Findings. This is the longest section. It should be divided into appropriate sub-sections of your own choice. Your first sub-section(s) should contain a general socio-economic description of your area, perhaps illustrated with maps. Further sub-sections should consider the different aspects of education and training that you are dealing with. Note that whether or not you are focusing your comparison on one phase or aspect of education, there are some aspects that you need to mention in order to meet the learning objectives of the module: space, place, segregation, and the built environment. Throughout this section refer to academic reading that you have done. Include appropriate tables, charts, graphs, diagrams and maps in these sub-sections. Make sure that they all have labels, legends and sources. Maps may be drawn by hand or in a GIS; they should include a North pointer and scale, or if they are not drawn to scale that should be stated.
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Conclusion. Summarise what you found out in your research and what it all means. How do your findings relate to what you have read about geographies of education? You can include recommendations. If you do, say who the recommendations are made to (local council, Department for Education, etc.). If you wish you can include some reflective comments: how you found the assignment, your own views on what you learnt, your opinions on the issues raised.