class: center, middle, inverse, title-slide # Facilitating quantitative methods pedagogy:<br>Digitalization, innovation, and future needs ## ECTQG 2021 - Manchester, UK (November 3-5, 2021) ### <strong>Cyrille Médard de Chardon^a, Jane Bunting^b, and Oliver Gronz^c</strong> ### <br>^a Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)<br>^b University of Hull<br>^c Trier University ### <br>November 3, 2021 - 10:00-11:30 (UTC) --- class: # Agenda .pull-left[ .tl[ - The Digilego project - Potential of blended learning - **Existing challenges** to quantitative geography teaching - **Recent innovations** - **Future and emerging skill requirements** (instructors and teachers) Resources - [Mural](https://app.mural.co/t/liser6683/m/liser6683/1635859138626/6346f0fcebb28657533c5d411a3180a30202e456?sender=u6404737262004e4bd2183716) - [Work Adventure](https://play.workadventu.re/@/liser/udm/digilego) ]] .pull-right[ [](https://acknowledge-the-climate-crisis.org/) .source[Ed Hawkins (University of Reading) - [showyourstripes.info](https://showyourstripes.info)] ] ??? - Acknowledge the CC. **Read slide** - This workshop will really be a social and discussion event, which I will only moderate, following a brief introduction of our project. --- # Digilego Project .pull-left[ .tl[ The Digilego project aims to provide<br> **geography methodology teaching resources**. Using an open online portal, Digilego will provide resources to facilitate instruction and training using digital resources. Specifically - in the methodology sub-disciplines: - **Quantitative** - Qualitative - Lab - Field ]] .pull-right[  .tl[ Digilego is pragmatic in facilitating the teaching and learning of geographic methods. Interested in learning more?<br> Subscribe to our **newsletter**:<br> [newsletter.digilego.eu](https://newsletter.digilego.eu) ] .source[http://project.digilego.eu] ] ??? This workshop is provided within the Digilego project. The DigiLEGO project (https://project.digilego.eu) is partially funded through the EU Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership. The project aims to support the geography HE community by providing instructors high-quality and shareable open educational resources (OERs) for discipline-specific methods training using digital resources. This will be achieved through an open and participatory collaborative portal that is under development. While the project will aid in the development of four types of geography methodology fields, today I'm just focusing the discussion on the quantitative domain. --- # Blended learning? .pull-left[ .tl[ "*almost anything can be seen as blended learning*" (Oliver and Trigwell, 2005) Some clarification of Digilego: - Technological as tool, not focus - Compliment student instruction/training, not replace conventional - Provide a shared diversity of perspectives and ideas - to instructors, in terms of concepts, tools, resources, - to students, in terms of providing a diversity of pedagogic approaches ]] .pull-right[  .source[http://project.digilego.eu] ] ??? So we're aiming to facilitate the provisionment or sharing of digital resources for methods teaching - something that is commonly referred to as blended learning. Blended learning was heavily criticised 15 years ago for being vague and technocentric. Oliver and Trigwell (2005) state the term originated from cost-driven efficiency instruction models that failed to develop online-only training platforms . We're not going to clarify the term much however, as the Digilego plans to provide a diversity of aides and applications that span multiple blended learning definitions. Regardless, the COVID19 crisis has forced the digitalization of teaching, but perhaps also allowed us, in some aspects, to improve learning, where teaching was stuck within existing frameworks. Whether we do reach a stable state in education again, particularly given the HE funding and climate crises, a diverse teaching and learning approach using digital mediums and resources will likely be helpful or even necessary. **read slide** --- # Ice breaker .pull-left[ .tl[ ### What are the challenges to Higher Education Quantitative Geography Methods Teaching/Learning (HEQGMT) due to COVID-19? **Jump to [Work Adventure](https://play.workadventu.re/@/liser/udm/digilego) for group discussions** **Using [Mural](https://app.mural.co/t/liser6683/m/liser6683/1635859138626/6346f0fcebb28657533c5d411a3180a30202e456?sender=u6404737262004e4bd2183716) to collaborate** *We will try to switch virtual meeting platforms but may return if Work Adventure isn't able to handle as robustly all the participants.* ]] .pull-right[  .source[http://project.digilego.eu] ] ??? **read slide** **activity - share both links** --- # Existing challenges of HEQGMT .pull-left[ .tl[ ### Higher Education Quantitative Geography Methods Teaching/Learning **What are our existing challenges to HEQGMT?** Are challenges related to instructor teaching, or student learning? Are challenges driven by student demand, industry, or academic institutions? **Jump to [Work Adventure](https://play.workadventu.re/@/liser/udm/digilego) for group discussions**<br> **Using [Mural](https://app.mural.co/t/liser6683/m/liser6683/1635859138626/6346f0fcebb28657533c5d411a3180a30202e456?sender=u6404737262004e4bd2183716) to collaborate** ]] .pull-right[ .w40[] .w40[] .w40[] .w40[] .source[http://project.digilego.eu] ] ??? **read slide** **activity - share both links** --- # Changes and innovations in HEQGMT .pull-left[.tl[ HEQGMT domains in ~2000 (for my BSc Program): - Surveying - Statistics - GIS & Remote sensing - Cartography QGM methods are increasingly overlapping with and offered by the domains of: - Engineering - Computing **Jump to [Work Adventure](https://play.workadventu.re/@/liser/udm/digilego) for group discussions**<br> **Using [Mural](https://app.mural.co/t/liser6683/m/liser6683/1635859138626/6346f0fcebb28657533c5d411a3180a30202e456?sender=u6404737262004e4bd2183716) to collaborate** ]] .pull-right[  .source[http://project.digilego.eu] ] ??? My research program hasn't changed much with the exception of active sensors (LiDAR) and web-maps. However, a hybrid CSC and GEOG programs now exists. Other universities provide data science and other aspects (e.g., dealing with big data and cloud computing) - but there's generally more, perhaps, blending within engineering and computing departments. Harris et al. in their 2013 report state that teachers believed: "quantitative methods are not well integrated in the geography curricula. At university, standalone quantitative courses can give the impression that quantitative methods are not part of the substantive themes of human geography in particular". Additionally, I wonder how well these departments integrate geographic concepts such as Tobler's law and MAUP? So by collaborating with other domains, are we losing the spatial aspect? Please discuss recent changes HEQMT but also new innovations - populating the MURAL board when doing so. --- # Future and emerging HEQGMT needs .pull-left[ .lt[ *"To resist [companies' influence over scientists], a successful quantitative geography must reinforce community-led pedagogically-orientated scientific infrastructure"* (Wolf et al., 2021) What HEQGM are emerging and will be necessary in the future? To what extent must future quantitative geographers become programmers to effectively implement new methods? **Jump to [Work Adventure](https://play.workadventu.re/@/liser/udm/digilego) for group discussions**<br> **Using [Mural](https://app.mural.co/t/liser6683/m/liser6683/1635859138626/6346f0fcebb28657533c5d411a3180a30202e456?sender=u6404737262004e4bd2183716) to collaborate** ]] .pull-right[ .w75[] Discipline requirements of quantitative geography<br> (Wolf et al. 2021): - "**replicable** in our design - **inclusive** in our self-concept - **specific** in our theory - **open** in our execution" .source[http://project.digilego.eu] ] ??? Wolf et al. (2021) note the importance of reproducibility, replicability, wider inclusion of participants, perspectives, greater evaluation of one-another's work, and disabling technologies (e.g., GIS tools vs manual programming, R vs ggplot2 - see Jeff Leek's post on Simply Statistics ["Why I don't use ggplot2"](https://simplystatistics.org/2016/02/11/why-i-dont-use-ggplot2/)). With larger data tools are also more specialized (and constrained?). Do HPC allow integration of explicitly geographic data science? Are these tools limiting geographic research and practical innovation? Given these complex structural or even existential issues however, what **practical** steps, on which topics, can be taken to facilitate methods teaching of emerging and future discipline requirements? --- class: inverse background-image: url(images/Satellite.jpg) background-size:cover # Thanks for taking part .tl[ Visit **[project.digilego.eu](https://project.digilego.eu)** for more information Have a great ECTQG 2021 **[cyrille.mdc@liser.lu](mailto:cyrille.mdc@liser.lu)** ] --- # References **Oliver**, M. and K. Trigwell. 2005. *Can ‘Blended Learning’ Be Redeemed?* E-Learnging. Volume 2(1). **Harris**, R., Fitzpatrick, K., Souch, C., Brunsdon, C., Jarvis, C., Keylock, C., Orford, Scott, Singleton, A. and Tate, N. 2013. Quantitative methods in geography: making the connections between schools, universities and employers. [Project Report]. London: Royal Geographical Society with IBG. **Wolf**, L. J., S. Fox, R. Harris, R. Johnston, K. Jones, D. Manley, E. Tranos, W. W. Wang (2021) Quantitative geography III: Future challenges and challenging futures. Progress in Human Geography. Volume 4(3).