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Research Reports Archive
| Foundation to key stage 1: Using ICT with reception children |
Permission to reproduce the following information was given by both the Training and Development Agency for Schools and the author. Further details are given on page 85 of Best Practice in Raising Achievement (2002).
The research task: to track the learning of geographical concepts by four year olds through an academic year.
The strategy: to use children’s assessments of place information gathered from postcards and e-mail communication. ‘Semi-structured interviews, using concrete materials such as photographs and e-mails as a focus alongside practical tasks were found to be efficient and effective ways to gather information while continuing to teach’. It was possible to align the tasks with objectives from the Literacy hour and the work was developed within QCA exemplar schemes.
The work was entitled ‘Children's comparative assessments of place through e-mail communication and postcards’ and was undertaken by Colin Storey (Sherington CE First School, Buckinghamshire).
Protocol for use of e-mail
A number of e-mail correspondents were prepared from various sources (see Table 1) and the children 'primed' to construct a questionnaire as part of a literacy lesson on questioning.
The questionnaires were sent as e-mail attachments and the responses received in a similar way. This study was run in parallel with the collection of postcards 'sent' by a classroom collection of soft toys as the children (and other associates of the school) took the toys on holiday.
A variety of places were thus accumulated over the two years of the children’s time in my class (see Table 2). Postcards were also sent by the e-mail correspondents to supplement their questionnaire responses.
With respect to the e-mails, children were assigned to a particular correspondent for the study, but were given a free choice of which postcards to look at from the collection sent by the travelling toys. Postcard messages were read to all the children, since some could read them anyway, as were the e-mail answers to the original guided and class-planned questionnaire.
Questioning in both instances took no more than ten minutes and was carried out in two phases: an initial open question ‘What can you tell me about this place?’, and a more structured checklist of questions to cover the geographical requirements of the year 1 programme of the national curriculum.
All children were spoken with individually during the period 1 to 19 May 2000.
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| Table 1: E-mail correspondents |
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Name and Place
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Contact
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Supplementary materials
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Children assigned
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Sally (Thomas), Lawrenny, South Wales
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ex-colleague
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postcards
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Angela, Amy
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Jane Foster, Goodrich, Ross-on-Wye
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ex-colleague
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postcards
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Lloyd, James
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Paul Giller, Cork, Ireland
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ex-colleague
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none
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Steven, Anna
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David Godfrey, Barnet, London
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'portables' project
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none
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Shanice, Todd
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Vickie Storey, Brookville, Pennsylvania USA
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'ICQ' name search
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postcards
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Freddie, Emma
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Paul Inker, Fujisawa, Japan
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open e-mail request
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photographs
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Rebecca
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| Table 2: List of places represented by the postcards |
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Place
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Features shown
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Chosen by
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Australia
Zimbabwe
Devon
Chicago
Ottawa
Cornwall
Dover
France
Oxford
Canada
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Koala bears
Victoria Falls
map of Dartmoor
night townscape
frozen canal-skating
St Mawes' beach
Castle
Dordogne
spires in landscape
Medicine Lake, Alberta
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Freddie
Todd
Steven
Shanice
Lloyd
Amy
Rebecca
Anna
Angela
James
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| Key stage 1: A study of the development and progression of children’s environmental attitudes and values |
See Raising Achievement (2000) ‘Where has all the wonder gone?’ by Paula Owen, pages 80 and 83.
The task: the children were asked to draw anything in the school grounds that they themselves considered special and important.
The context: held as a whole class activity in year groups. Informal interviews were used with a selection of children as they were completing the task.
The analysis: the drawing elements were classified and entered on a spreadsheet for each group.
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| Table 1: Extract of the feature classifications used with concept drawings of all children in reception and years 1 and 2 |
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Natural features
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Built features
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Activity features
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Imagined features
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Fantasy features
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Flower
Tree
Grass
Field
Pond
Frog/tadpole
People
Bushes
Clouds
Snakes
Beehive
Honeycomb
Sun/moon/star
Leaves
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Buildings
Bin
Gate
Playground
Car park
Cars
Path
Poles
House
Fence/wall
Fire alarm
Mobile hut
Aeroplane
School
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Tyres
Snake
Hop-scotch
Number game
Maze
Alphabet game
Snail game
Compass
Clock
Number grid
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Church
Graveyard
Boat
Pigs
Horse
Sheep
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Dragon
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| Concept drawings: percentage of children drawing a particular feature, years R, 1 and 2 |
| Key stage 2: The role of teaching in learning mapping skills |
The research task: to investigate the differences in children’s mapping abilities and if the mapping abilities could be improved through direct teaching over a short period.
The context: a sample group of mixed ability children taught over six 1-hour long sessions. The focus could have been to draw an understandable map for planning new features in the school grounds; or with older children (e.g. year 4 and above) to develop a map to show relevant features of a village or small town or in conjunction with enquiry in the local area. This group had not had previous teaching involving maps or mapping skills, though the pre-test showed a familiarity with maps.
The methodology: The pre-test instruction ‘Draw me a plan of the school to help a new child’ was accompanied with a structured interview, which guided future teaching emphasis.
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Note: the same child’s work is shown in both map 1 and map 2.
The middle four sessions involved discussion upon map content, use of symbols, pictures and words, ideas of scale, direction, layout, key and location. Children’s misconceptions about scale and keys were addressed. Real maps and plans were used alongside activities in plan drawing, orientating and drawing a map of an imaginary island.
The post-test, i.e. after discussion on map use, map content and symbols, was again accompanied with a structured interview.
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| Map 1: Year 3 child’s pre-test map |
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The analysis was undertaken with a small group of children of mixed ability.
The skills demonstrated were: perspective, key, symbols, pictures, words, colour, scale and direction (see graphs 1 and 2 below). The key differentiated between using, beginning to use and not using a skill. The premise is that early maps use pictures and words whereas the later ones included symbols.
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| Map 2: Year 3 child’s post-test map |
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Graph 1: Initial results of assessment of mapping skills
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Graph 2: Final results of assessment of mapping skills
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Though improvement could be shown, the analysis alongside the results of the structured interviews showed significant areas for development in subsequent lessons.
Acknowledgement: Dawn Jones (2002) Unpublished undergraduate dissertation, University of Greenwich.
Further research work:- Investigations of the links between levels of ability in literacy, numeracy and graphicacy.
- A replication of a study similar to that of Catling (1998 ‘Children as map makers’ which appears in Scoffham, S. (ed) Primary Sources: Research findings in primary geography, pp. 10-11, Geographical Association), but with children of different year groups.
- The use of video, tape and digital camera to record the children’s process of learning and developing understanding.
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