Adrian Tear

Category: Course Leader

  • Business Geographics

    Business Geographics

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    Designed and delivered in the School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh annually in the 2014-2023 academic years.

    The Business Geographics course was devised at the request of Bruce Gittings – External Relations Co-ordinator for the School of GeoSciences’ MSc GIS programme – who felt that students would benefit from a better understanding of how GISystems and GIScience could be used commercially.

    The course – named after Business Geographics Limited, the company Adrian had co-founded in 1993 and run until 2000 – was wide ranging with learning outcomes enabling students to:

    • Understand typical UK private sector Company structures, ownership and governance characteristics.
    • Consider different models of shareholder ownership and professional responsibilities within business (and analogies within government/third-sector) through group work.
    • Set up a new business (Limited Company) or partnership (LLP), understanding rules and reporting responsibilities.
    • Understand the value of different types of geographic information in various settings and consider ways to exploit its use.
    • Consider how and why ethics and professionalism are important, whether as an internal or external GIS Expert or Consultant.
    • Project plan a number of GI solutions involving open source, public sector and other types of geographic data.
    • Appreciate the future opportunities for use/analysis of geographic information as it gets ‘bigger’, potentially more ‘open’ and certainly more pervasive.
    • Develop communication, management and interactive skills relevant to different types of organisational structure and service delivery mechanism.
    • Locate, read and summarise relevant literature, from both traditional and online media, to extend understanding of topics.
    • Take responsibility for learning through reading and the preparation of assignments, reflecting upon the learning experience.

    The Unit Handbook for Business Geographics, including selected references etc., is shown below.

    2022-23 – 000 – Business Geographics Course Outline

    Colleagues at academic institutions interested in the original PowerPoint slides and bibliographic database may make contact to request access.

    Businesses, government departments, third sector organisations etc. may wish to explore consultancy options.

  • Geographies of Health and Urban Wellbeing

    Geographies of Health and Urban Wellbeing

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    Designed and delivered in the School of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences (SEGG, now SELS) at the University of Portsmouth in the 2019-2020 academic year.

    Geographies of Health and Urban Wellbeing was open to L5 (2nd year) students of Geography. The course, which covered infectious diseases amongst many other topics, progressed as the 2020 Covid crisis unfolded. Luckily, the lectures were pretty well complete before the first lockdown occured!

    The course consisted of a series of ten lectures in two-hour slots with five two-hour lab-based practical sessions featuring content substantially revised from the original slides and practical exercises developed by Professor Liz Twigg, who had retired.

    This marked one of three occasions in which Adrian replaced a professor while teaching at Portsmouth.

    The Unit Handbook for Geographies of Health and Urban Wellbeing, including selected references etc., is shown below.

    U24522 – Geographies of Health and Urban Wellbeing – Unit Handbook 2019-20

    Colleagues at academic institutions interested in the original PowerPoint slides and bibliographic database may make contact to request access.

    Businesses, government departments, third sector organisations etc. may wish to explore consultancy options.

  • GIS and Remote Sensing

    GIS and Remote Sensing

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    Designed and delivered in the School of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences (SEGG, now SELS) at the University of Portsmouth in the 2019-2020 academic year.

    GIS and Remote Sensing was open to L5 (2nd year) students of Geography. Adrian was Joint Course Leader, covering the GIS side of things while his colleague, Dr Howard Lovell, covered Remote Sensing.

    Adrian’s work consisted of a series of five three-hour slots featuring a lecture followed by a lab-based practical session based around a series of mapping and spatial analysis operations he developed to run in ArcGIS Pro, based on his own experience of taking an onshore renewable wind energy generating scheme through planning at Ascog Farm, the family farm on the Isle of Bute, Scotland.

    To get a taste of what was involved, the instructions for the second practical session, by which time things had started to get a bit more exciting, are reproduced below.

    Practical 2 – U30005 – GIS

    Colleagues at academic institutions interested in the original PowerPoint slides and bibliographic database may make contact to request access.

    Businesses, government departments, third sector organisations etc. may wish to explore consultancy options.

  • Transport and Sustainability

    Transport and Sustainability

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    Designed and delivered in the School of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences (SEGG, now SELS) at the University of Portsmouth in the 2022-2023 academic year.

    Transport and Sustainability was open to L5 (2nd year) students of Geography. Students complimented Adrian for using ‘news articles to keep us informed [of] current issues/concerns in the transport sector’ one student stated that he always ‘delivered interesting lecture material […] making each lecture relevant to today’

    The course consisted of a series of ten lectures in two-hour slots with five two-hour lab-based practical sessions featuring content developed separately by Adrian’s colleague Professor Donald Houston, now at the University of Birmingham.

    Donald had delivered the course in the previous year but Adrian significantly updated course material, references and slides for the 2022-2023 session. His appointment to Course Leader was one of three occasions in which Adrian substituted for a professor while teaching at Portsmouth.

    The References for Transport and Sustainability, which developed in real-time as the course progressed, are shown below.

    2023.03.24 – Transport and Sustainability – References – v1.04 – Most recently added first

    Colleagues at academic institutions interested in the original PowerPoint slides and bibliographic database may make contact to request access.

    Businesses, government departments, third sector organisations etc. may wish to explore consultancy options.

  • The Green Economy

    The Green Economy

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    Designed and delivered in the School of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences (SEGG, now SELS) at the University of Portsmouth in the 2022-2023 academic year.

    The Green Economy, a cross-departmental module, was open to L6 (3rd year) students of Geography, Environmental Science and Economics. Adrian’s course was praised by students for ‘linking to current news and real-world examples’ and for its ‘interactive lectures and […] slides’ one student highlighting the ‘good quality of material, lectures, etc…’ going on to state that ‘your presentations are the best I have seen in three years of university in Portsmouth.’

    The course consisted of a series of ten lectures in two-hour slots with five two-hour lab-based practical sessions featuring content developed separately by Adrian’s colleague Professor Donald Houston, now at the University of Birmingham.

    It had originally been planned that Donald would lead The Green Economy but his research commitments elsewhere prompted Adrian’s appointment as Course Leader, one of three occasions in which he had substituted for a professor while teaching at Portsmouth.

    The References for The Green Economy, which developed in real-time as the course progressed, are shown below.

    2023.03.24 – The Green Economy – References – v1.05 – Most recently added first

    Colleagues at academic institutions interested in the original PowerPoint slides and bibliographic database may make contact to request access.

    Businesses, government departments, third sector organisations etc. may wish to explore consultancy options.