GCSE Geography Revision Questionnaire: 4 of 4

We are at the final of 4 posts which summarise some of the responses from the 94 students and teachers who answered my questionnaire earlier in the year...

This final question asked about Smartphones and whether they were used for revision and teaching and if so, which apps or features were used....

One teacher provided these specific recommendations:

Geography GCSE Revision App (£1.49)

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/geography-gcse-revision/id340221590?mt=8

GCSE Geography Bitesize Last-minute Learner (£1.49)

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/gcse-geography-bitesize-last/id410791814?mt=8

GCSE Geography Bitesize Podcasts

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/audio/geography/

Think Geography GCSE Geog Podcasts

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/think-geography-gcse-geog/id374013012

About a quarter of the respondents didn't own a smartphone, and one teacher said nicely "I am a technical dinosaur and my phone is a brick".

There were 15 people who owned a smartphone but hadn't as yet made use of many apps in their teaching, but said that they would investigate further.

Some apps that were mentioned by name:

• iPlayer (for iPad)
• Flipbook
• The Guardian
• Bitesize App
• USGS Earhquake App
• AQA App
• Twitter
• National Geographic Atlas

One colleague had turned powerpoint slides into JPEGs so that they could be viewed on the phones.

Several teachers pointed out that many students had Blackberries because of the messaging, and wondered about the apps that might be available for these... any ideas ?

Also here are some past papers and mark schemes for those doing SQA exams.... The Badger Book would still be helpful for you...

Google Docs are an area that could be more used.

James Mutton has just created one with the hope of creating a collaborative resource for Edexcel B

Check it out if you'd like to be involved...

Thanks to the teachers and students who took the time to fill in the document.

I shall be creating another document with some questions on the new curriculum later in the year to help guide another product. As before there'll be a prize on offer for all who take part...

GCSE Geography Revision Questionnaire: 3 of 4

OK - so we're coming up to REVISION TIME for GCSE colleagues.
The IB Geography papers are also being sat next week, so there's a lot of teenagers trying to revise.

Remember that there are some key revision tips in Chapter 7 of the Badger Book


This is the 3rd of three posts summarising the 94 responses I got to my Google Doc on GCSE Geography revision earlier in the year....

Two more questions are summarised in this blog post....

The first one asked about the topics that people found the hardest to teach / revise....


There was a broad range of over 20 topics that were mentioned (most of the course really by someone) including some topics that I wouldn't have expected to be there..

The areas that were featured the most were:

• Weather and Climate, particularly depressions 
• Industry / Economic Activities
• Map Skills
• Population
• Economic Development

It seems that there are also some issues with Case Studies: from their frequency to the depth that is needed.

• Some colleagues were concerned about the amount that needs to be revised compared to the amount that is actually examined.
• Level marking
• Timing
• Depth of answers that are required (sometimes too much, at other times not enough...)
• Use of Diagrams

You will be pleased to hear that Chapter 7 tackles revision, and Chapter 8 looks at exam preparation and skills....

Which brings us on to the next question:
What additional help would students / teachers want to help them with revision  ?

This might lead on to some actual resources that need to be prepared, or perhaps some collaborative efforts from teachers. I will share some ideas for these (and the previous question) in future posts on this blog.
Quite a few teachers were fine without any further support, and others suggested that greater consistency from the Awarding Bodies, better Specifications and better questions would help.

Some interesting comments worth mentioning...

• Case Study notes with tasks to help unpick them (have been producing some KS3 resources for Harper Collins very like this...)
• Online Videos
• 'Current' Case Study material (no shortage of ideas for that on Living Geography of course)
• Podcasts

Ready made display and other material was mentioned, although I always enjoyed creating my own displays in my room...

Finally, a multimedia resource / textbook of some kind was mentioned - the arrival of iBooks Author earlier in the year makes this sort of collaborative resource a possibility, and we are planning something related to this for the GA Conference 2013. 

The final post in this series will look at the Apps that people have found useful when revising and teaching GCSE Geography...

Badger GCSE Books in stock....

Thanks to Graeme Eyre for telling me that he had already received his copy of the Badger GCSE Grade Booster book that I wrote, and been using the activities today...
Here's a picture of some of the books in the warehouse ready for distribution, with thanks to Gracey at the warehouse for the pic...

Order yours now to avoid disappointment...

Further feedback welcome...

Coming soon to a classroom near you - I hope....

At the start of the year, I spent rather longer than anticipated putting together a book for Badger Publishing. It brought together some of the ideas I'd been working on for a while, along with a few more that were kindly  lent to me by colleagues (who are all acknowledged in the book, and will also be listed here once I have my hands on a physical copy of the book....)

The book will be useful to those who are preparing students for external assessments, but I would say that a lot of the ideas are transferrable - they are basically good geography....

The book is now available to pre-order (it will be out in April)

GCSE Grade Boosters: Geography Contents

• Introduction – what does a C grade geographer look like, and how can students raise their grade to a C and beyond.
• Memorable geography – a range of geography activities which can be re-versioned for other topics or particular pupils; includes thinking graphs, lucky lines, maps from memory, and ideas funnel to name just a few.
• Students as experts – establishing students as experts and joint creators of resources.
• Enquiries – how to introduce, explore and communicate the Big Geographical Questions.
• Controlled assessment – how to approach controlled assessment, complete with examples to illustrate the support that can be provided.
• Revision techniques – graphic organisers, memory techniques and the power of blogging.
• Help from the examiners – exam specs and question types – where and how marks are gained and lost.
• Memorable vocabulary – key vocabulary for exam success plus techniques for learning it.
• Exciting new tools – word clouds, triptico, google docs and google earth.
• Geography after the exam – why a good grade in geography can take you places.

Author: Alan Parkinson an experienced and award-winning teacher with an international reputation for creative and innovative teaching. He has worked with thousands of teachers at hundreds of CPD events in the UK and Europe. This title draws extensively from the experience of successful schools around the country.
Featuring:

• A wide range of activities to make the topics covered memorable. Activities can be used for class, group, pair and homework tasks. They can be versioned by you for other topics or particular pupils
• Support for exam preparation including a distillation of examiners reports to pinpoint common errors and show
• how easily marks are lost and gained, as well as revision and memory techniques that have been shown to work
• Help with controlled assessment and how to approach it to get the best results
• The key vocabulary for exam success plus techniques for learning it
• 80 page photocopiable book with re-versionable activities on accompanying CD-ROM. 

A perfect gift for Easter.... :)