Dr Nicola Walshe University of Cambridge Another quantitative revolution? Developing trainee teacher understanding of quantitative methods in geography teaching Dr Nicola Walshe University of Cambridge

Developing trainee teacher understanding of quantitative methods Rationale There is a clear Government focus on improving the numerical literacy of its population, particularly in schools. Quantitative methods content are significantly increased at A Level and GCSE examination specifications from 2016. Quantitative methods are not well integrated in the geography curricula (e.g. RGS, 2013). Geography teachers lack confidence in their knowledge of quantitative methods, especially geospatial technologies. What are we doing in response to this as Geography teacher trainers?

Developing trainee teacher understanding of quantitative methods Aims of the project To understand what trainee understandings of quantitative methods are (and their perceptions of them) To explore how we can develop these understandings both as individuals and teachers of Geography To consider how interdisciplinary work with maths trainees might be able to support this.

Developing trainee teacher understanding of quantitative methods Project outline Work with mentors Exploration of new specifications – emphasis on quantitative methods Interdisciplinary session with the maths trainees Development of exemplar targets and training activities for in school Session on the European I-Use project and the use of statistics in the classroom with Iain Palot in June Questionnaires Ongoing use of GIS Questionnaires & Interviews

What are quantitative methods? Quantitative methods include, but are not limited to, data manipulation, presentation and analysis, visualisation, mapping, cartography, statistics, GIS, modelling etc. (RGS, 2013) Producing information about the world using numerical and statistical techniques and models. These ... reduce complex phenomena down to neat information that can supposedly be used to make generalisations and reach ‘objective’ conclusions. Quantitative methods are research methods that are numerical, “objective”, positivist, including statistical analysis. Methods collecting data that you can count.

GIS? Trainees’ previous experience of quantitative methods University Examples: Statistics packages e.g. Minitab & SPSS Multiple regression modelling T-Testing, Mann-Whitney U Test, mean, mode and median ....... University Mean, median, mode, range, interquartile range and standard deviation Significance tests, such as Chi-squared, Spearman’s rank, Mann-Whitney U test and T-test Lines of best fit and correlation on graphical representations Measurement, measurement errors and sampling School GIS? A platform with which you can perform quantitative data analysis

Interdisciplinary work with mathematicians Developing trainee teacher understanding of quantitative methods Interdisciplinary work with mathematicians Introduction to Core Maths Maths task

Search for information, not for answers!

Example questions How many times round the world is that? What exactly does “1 million base miles flown” mean? How many journeys might that have been? How many years did it take to amass this many air-miles? How long has been spent in the air? How many actual miles have the planes flown? How many plane-delays might have been experienced? What is the total cost of the tickets? What is the carbon footprint of this flier?

GIS Interdisciplinary work with mathematicians Developing trainee teacher understanding of quantitative methods Interdisciplinary work with mathematicians Introduction to Core Maths Maths task Introduction to how quantitative methods are used in Geography GIS

Interdisciplinary work with mathematicians Developing trainee teacher understanding of quantitative methods Interdisciplinary work with mathematicians Introduction to Core Maths Maths task Introduction to how quantitative methods are used in Geography Statistics task on sand dune ecology

Sand Dune Data Analysis Distance along transect Height Ph Moisture level Infiltration rate Temperature Wind speed Plant cover Plant species Explore the patterns and relationships in this data in your inter-disciplinary groups. Try to experiment with at least one of Spearman Rank or Chi-Squared.

Sand Dune Ecology

Interdisciplinary work with mathematicians Developing trainee teacher understanding of quantitative methods Interdisciplinary work with mathematicians Introduction to Core Maths Maths task Introduction to how quantitative methods are used in Geography Statistics task on sand dune ecology Discussion of how we might develop this collaboration within school

Developing trainee understanding of quantitative methods Interdisciplinary working with the maths trainees – what did they learn? I do have a good knowledge of statistical methods, it just needs refreshing How broad quantitative methods are, including GIS Although the equations look complicated, it is not as difficult as it seems at first Information about Core Maths Geographers use maths and statistics a lot - I didn’t know that Geography gives good practical example of the use of maths A Level Geography uses a lot of maths which I did not come across until late at university

Developing trainee understanding of quantitative methods Interdisciplinary working with the maths trainees – what did they particularly enjoy? Refreshing my understanding of statistics Showing the mathematicians how Geography can be used to apply maths The aeroplane task Working with the maths / Geography trainees Learning new statistical techniques Using real world data Seeing what GIS can do I learnt a lot about Geography

Developing trainee understanding of quantitative methods Interdisciplinary working with the maths trainees – what did they take into the school context? We should collaborate more in school - geographers should take pupils to collect raw data, and mathematicians should support them with statistical tests. We should discuss links between subjects more with students Instead of boring statistical data that are given to students to work on, I could use geographical data instead I should think more about what students might already know when they come into maths lessons It might be a good idea to say hello to the geography teachers in the staff room

Trainees confidence with using quantitative methods? Before the training After the training

Developing trainee teacher understanding of quantitative methods Final reflections Our trainee teachers have a clear background in quantitative methods – they need Pedagogy Confidence Importance of involvement of mentors Value of interdisciplinary work in University and Schools Embedding good practice during training year