| The following is an edited extract from my book, "ICT: An Enquiry Approach" (Geographical Association
1999), which focuses on the use of ICT-based questionnaires to compare and contrast UK localities. Although the
text refers exclusively to Junior PinPoint (Acorn and Windows), other software could be used to create the
questionnaires and to analyse the resulting data. The data from the investigation is available here as an Information Workshop (Windows) file compressed in Zip format for easy download - glas.zip |
An appropriate use of ICT in the area of information handling is the analysis of data gathered from questionnaires. As well as surveys in the school locality, questionnaires can be used as part of contrasting locality studies, particularly as a way of developing a link with a school in a contrasting UK locality.
An example
of this approach is the work of a teacher in a school in Ellesmere Port in Cheshire who used Junior PinPoint
questionnaires to develop and explore a link with a school in another locality. The basic idea behind the project
was a very simple one. With her class of 28 Y3 pupils, she wanted devise a set of questions about children's lifestyles
and attitudes and then put them into questionnaire format using the program. She would then arrange for the questionnaires
to be completed by the children in her class and by children in a similar class in a contrasting, rural locality.
After entering the data into Junior PinPoint, her children would be able to make direct comparisons between
the ways in which they had answered the questions and the responses of their partners in the distant place. She
hoped that some clear contrasts in lifestyle would emerge - for example, a different pattern of ways of travelling
to school - as well as some similarities.
For the
plan to get off the ground she needed to identify a suitable contrasting UK locality - for this first tentative
exercise, she wanted to use a UK, rather than overseas, locality - and then contact the local school to see if
a classteacher of a similar class might be interested in taking part in the project. The identification of the
locality was relatively simple - she chose to use Glasson Dock
in north Lancashire, a place she knew well from childhood visits. The choice was not entirely idiosyncratic, as
she felt that Ellesmere Port and Glasson made a suitable pairing for several reasons. The two settlements are,
in some respects, similar. Both are situated on the estuaries of rivers - the Mersey and the Lune. Both have port
facilities and the growth of both places can be linked to the development of canals in the late 18th and 19th centuries.
In Ellesmere Port's case, the canal was the Ellesmere (later the Shropshire Union) canal and for Glasson it was
the Lancaster Canal which spurred development. In other respects the two settlements are very different - Ellesmere
Port has a significant industrial base, a busy shopping centre and extensive housing estates whilst Glasson has
remained a small, predominantly rural, community with modest local services.
The response
to the request to the local school in Glasson was very positive. Mrs Hall, the headteacher, was keen to take part,
but pointed out that she could not provide a similar class of the same size to the Ellesmere Port Y3s. Her whole
school contained 32 pupils aged from 5 to 11, so she would have to get them all to complete the questionnaire -
the younger ones with adult help - if a similar sized sample was needed. Despite this problem, the link was confirmed
and, as soon as they were completed, the questionnaires were sent off to Glasson.The process of making the questionnaires was relatively simple. During a whole class session - following a brief introduction to the linking project - the children came up with a range of questions which they would like to ask. With some prompting and guiding by the teacher, the list was edited to produce a final set which ranged from personal questions to ones which touched on geographical issues. The questions were:
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School Link Questions
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The questions were intended to be child-friendly and also a good source of geographical information - it is fairly easy to spot the questions in the list which were "planted" by the teacher! As the class was already familiar with the questionnaire-making capabilities of the Junior PinPoint program, the questionnaire was constructed and printed out by a group of three children working independently - the teacher needed to make only one or two minor modifications in relation to spelling and layout.
While waiting for the questionnaires to return from Glasson, pupils worked in groups on the computer to enter their answers into the questionnaire forms on-screen. Although each child had to enter their own individual answers to the questions, the co-operative group setting provided support for the less able readers and also led to some productive discussion about possible answers.
When all the questionnaire forms were completed by the class, the teacher showed a group of eight children how to analyse the data using the graphing tools. Using only the data from their own class, the pupils began to generate some interesting geographical information. They found out, for example, that walking was the most common way of getting to school; with five minutes being the time taken by most children. The most popular shopping centre was Ellesmere Port and Asda was the shop most families used. Pupils lived in a wide range of house types - semi-detached being most common - and many had gardens. The reasons for liking and disliking the locality varied greatly, although the presence of family and friends was given as a reason for liking by many children.
By the time the completed questionnaires from Glasson arrived, most of the pupils had carried out some analysis of data so, as they entered the responses from the contrasting locality, many children were able to quickly spot the contrasts and comparisons. Their analysis of the two sets of data was guided by a set of key questions drawn up by the teacher. These were:
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School Link Analysis Questions
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As the questions varied greatly in complexity, they were assigned to ability-groups for investigation on the computer.
Some unexpected answers emerged during analysis of the data. For example, more Glasson children lived in terraced houses than in Ellesmere Port and, although modes of transport differed greatly, most children in both localities took five minutes or less to get to school. Asda was the most popular shop in both places - evidence of the nationwide coverage of some supermarket chains - and a similar number of houses with gardens was evident in Ellesmere Port and Glasson. The range of likes and dislikes was fascinating; with some being unique to one locality. One child in Glasson disliked the locality "because of the noise of tractors". Another hated the dawn chorus of birdsong that woke him every morning!
Overall, as a way of carrying out a contrasting locality study, the questionnaire approach was a great success. It supplemented and supported the use of secondary sources, such as photographs, by providing an insight into the lives and opinions of real people in the contrasting place. It stressed the similarities as well as the differences in lifestyles - an important consideration if children's misconceptions, and possible prejudices about distant places and people are to be confronted and addressed.