1. Data Skills in Geography
January
2016
@RGS_IBGSchools
Steve Brace
Head of Education
& Outdoor Learning
@RGS_IBGSchools

2. “Chi-square is a statistical test that is taught to geographers at school and misunderstood thereafter.”
Professor Michael Crawley
Three ‘guess the graphs’ coming up …

3. The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
The learned and professional body for geography
Schools, higher education, with the professions and public
16,000 Fellows
A focus on the discipline and subject knowledge
PG Fellowship ITT students
FRGS/Cgeog tutors and mentors etc

4. How would you rate the data skills of your ITTs
Good, okish or bad?
(Over the last 5 years) getting better or worse?
Sufficient to teach the new GCSE & A Levels?

5. Who ….
Assesses the competence and confidence of their trainees in data/quantitative skills?
Provides specific coverage of this (if necessary) within the ITT programmes?
Assesses whether this is covered within school placements and mentoring support?

6. 99.79% correlation

7. $ on science, space & tech No. Suicides

8. Quant Methods in Geog 2013
93% “QM are an important skill for students to learn, (only 48% enjoyed teaching them).
88% agreed putting QM into a geog content helped students understand (but only 37% agreed that QM are well integrated into the curriculum)
Maths anxiety, confidence and ability were challenges (for students and teachers)

9. Teacher confidence levels

10. Significant changes at GCSE and A Level
Content & assessment
In the classroom & the field
Since 2007/08 no post 16 ‘course work’
Teacher recruitment, (very) broad trends

11. Use of mathematics and statistics in geography
Cartographic skills
Graphical skills
Numerical skills
Statistical skills

12. Individual investigation
What does individual mean …?

13. Only 90% correlation?

14. Pool Drownings – Nuclear power

15. GIS
ESRI – Cambridge, UCL, IOE & Brighton and Sussex

16. Additional Support Data Skills in Geography (2016-18)
Resources
overviews and classroom resources
Teachers & A Level students (NEA)
CPD
Teacher clusters and with ITT networks
Inc DS, GIS and fieldwork
(Esri – Cambridge, IOE, UCL & Brighton & Sussex)
Contact Simon Pinfield for further details

17. GCSE, AS and A Level entries fro geography

18. Further information www.rgs.org Steve Brace s.brace@rgs.org
@RGS_IBGSchools