[kev watson]

Hi, Ive accepted an unconditional offer to Durham reading Environmental Geoscience BSc (Josephine Butler college)
As a mature student (42) i didn't come through the usual academic route, as a result, im a tad worried about my skill levels and what the course will require, are there any current students who could offer any advice as to subjects i need to strengthen?
Are there any other people starting the same course as me or attending the same college?
thanks.

[muzz.r]

Hey,

I am currently studying geology which has the same 1st year modules as environmental geoscience. I also attend Josephine Butler and am the JCR Social Chair. I imagine as a mature student you may be an MCR but they tend to overlap alot. Josephine Butler is a brilliant college with alot of interesting conferences occuring (tend to orientate around female issues and the environment alot, due to our college values) and many splendid formals (if I do say so myself).

In regards to the department you study in your first year the following compolsary modules:

Principles of earth sci- fairly straight forward 3 exams a year no coursework. would be worth purcasing OCR Alevel geology textbook as it simplifys alot of the topics in this module.
Earth Materials- new content for everyone. This is a difficult module where you look at thin sections and study in detail minerals. everyone struggled with this module so dont worry if you do. It has 2 exams with 1 assesment online and a short essay. A excellent textbook for this is earth materials by Heffran and O'brien its very comprehensive and looks frightening but worth getting as it will become your bible so will Rocks and Minerals in Thin Section (A Colour Atlas). I highly recommend buying both as the library has limited numbers and they are usually always out.
Understanding earth sci- Tricky in the first term was taught in a bizarre way by problem based learning exercises. Second terms was alot easier to do with fossils and sedimentary environments. I cant think of any decent books for this it was just a case of listening to some bbc radio 4 podcasts to do with fossils was extremely helpful. This is assessed by 1 essay, 6 tutorials, 2 exams (practical and theory).
field studies- all new content for most people and was fairly easy to pick up. The handout book is vital to keep and look over to cement ideas. 1st term has a couple of short assessments nothing too tricky so dont worry and 1 exam which is based on the new content. Its all to do with map work and structures. 2nd term you do an assessment in groups regarding the lake district geological history. The field trip in easter is hard work but brilliant experience. you map an area of the lake district its difficult at first but layout is extremely important in your field book and you get alot of phd students help.

Then onto the optional modules where you pick 2. I did further maths and environment & resources. I would say stay well clear of the physics topic unless you are good at physics and stay well clear of the harder maths modules unless again you are good at maths. The easier maths module is designed for those that havent studied maths since GCSE and from what I hear is a good module but some still struggle with maths. Maths is assessed by 5 8% exams over the course of the year and then one 60% final exam in may, thats the same for both the hard maths or easier maths. I also believe thats the same for the physics module.

Lastly environment and resources which i think is compulsory for a enviromental geoscience students is excellent. I really enjoyed this modules with topics of water cycle, oceans, mining minerals and oil & gas. Oceans is pretty difficult topic though with alot of chemistry basis I wouldnt worry too much if you find it hard most people did. The other three topics are great though. The assessment is 10% for each topic either by essay or exam then a 60% final exam in may.


I hope that was of some help if you do have any further questions about either the college or the course feel free to email me as I dont come on here often on rosanne.murray@durham.ac.uk