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National STEM Learning Centre and Network
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These resources have been reviewed and selected by STEM Learning’s team of education specialists for factual accuracy and relevance to teaching STEM subjects in UK schools.
Recording field work
Purpose: Digital tools have radically changed the way that fieldwork data can be recorded and saved. There is no longer a need for clipboards and pencils in the field, as digital technology can record details of observations, times, location and images within a single app. This data can be saved to an online data base but good apps will allow the recording of data offline for later transfer.
Teaching approach: Some planning is needed before embarking on fieldwork for anything more than basic data collection. Downloading appropriate maps, and the design of a data collection form will speed up data collection once in the field.
Preparation: Open source software, such as Fieldtrip Open, is available for advanced users who are confident to configure the software to their needs. This software builds on the Fieldtrip GB app that was available until recently. A gentle introduction to digital recording of fieldwork data is available through various OPAL projects that have been designed for ‘citizen science’ and which are appropriate to younger students. Many of these surveys can be completed online or on paper.
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