From data to knowledge: teaching data skills in geography

This article draws on material produced for the RGS-IBG Data Skills in Geography programme and presented at the 2017 Geographical Association Annual Conference. It argues that the role of data skills in geography goes beyond measurement, analysis and the rote learning of statistical tests to embedding data into the heart of geographical curricula. The twin pillars of statistical and disciplinary knowledge provide the means to tell geographic stories with data and to assess the credibility of the stories told. The skill of reasoning with numeric evidence is a tool for inclusivity and to challenge the propagation of misinformation.