WJEC GCSE Geography A Developing a Fieldwork Enquiry for 2015

ThemeGeneric task for the fieldwork Enquiry in An investigation into factors that affect the formation of river landform(s) 4 An investigation of push-pull factors that produce urban to rural migration. 6 An investigation into patterns of quality of life in one urban area. 7 An investigation into the effects of coastal retreat on people. 8 An investigation into factors that create variations in weather/climate in a local area. 9An investigation of a woodland ecosystem. 10An investigation into the impacts of tourism. 11An investigation into the spatial patterns of retailing in a specified area.

Dos and don’ts When planning the fieldtrip, carefully consider the range of techniques and technologies available to your candidates. You want them to have as wide a range as possible. Similarly, consider the data they will collect and how they will be able to present it. Again, you want them to have as wide a range as possible. The Field Studies Council will offer advice on primary data collection later.

Do consider giving all of your candidates some secondary data in a research folder. Do not over-burden your candidates with too much supporting secondary data, or material that is too complex eg information taken from complex professional or scientific documents.

Do allow candidates the opportunity to be independent: 1.Posing enquiry questions to be investigated 2.Deciding on sampling methods and strategies 3.Adding their own questions to questionnaires 4.Selecting the data they want to process 5.Selecting presentational techniques 6.Posing questions that could be asked in further studies

Improving marks for APPLICATION (AO2) in the Fieldwork Enquiry Controlled Assessment – WJEC Geography spec A Geographical concepts? Links to case studies?

Have you thought about why you are doing this enquiry?  What is the concept or theory that underpins the enquiry?  What do you expect to find?  Is there going to be a predictable pattern or trend? How do you know? Have you already taught your students about the wider geographical ideas / concepts / theories that underpin your enquiry?

What kind of evidence of AO2 will I be looking for when I mark the work? At higher levels the candidate is able to...  make links between the place studied and other locations  apply their K & U of the specific place studied in the Fieldwork Enquiry to their wider geographical K & U of geographical ideas / concepts / theories / models / issues  contextualise their findings to pose wider geographical questions

Preparing candidates for AO2 in the Fieldwork Enquiry What are the aims of the task? Have all the teachers in the centre discussed the wider geographical concepts that underpin the task when it was being developed. Have you taught the ‘big ideas’ (using a different context) before you took the candidates out to collect data? Have you reminded the candidates to address these ‘big ideas’?  On any student hand-outs eg ones that suggest a structure for the report  During the research phase when candidates are selecting the relevant data

Create a structure that provides opportunities for students to access AO2 marks Introduction Methodology Results Conclusion Evaluation 1.Which big ideas were we testing? 2.What did we find? 3.How do we explain these results? 4.How does this compare to our big ideas? 5.How reliable and valid is our work?

Improving marks for SKILLS (AO3) in the Fieldwork Enquiry Controlled Assessment – WJEC Geography spec A How do I identify relevant questions? How should I refine and process the data?

Improving opportunities for better AO3 marks  Do candidates have any choice about data collection techniques and technologies?  Do they have the opportunity to select the data?  Do they have the opportunity to identify geographical questions?  Does the data allow a variety of presentation techniques to be used?