Assessing geography knowledge in primary education with mental map analysis: a Balearic Islands case study

Views of the islands: The geographical perception of the Balearic Islands among graduate students in primary education

“…This essay deepens a thematic area for which some relevant articles have already been published and others are currently in press. In short, the geographic literacy of future primary education teachers (Binimelis & Ordinas, 2018) and that of students who complete primary education (Binimelis et al, 2021) have been investigated. Therefore, we can observe a crossroads between a recurring theme, minimum knowledge of geography, and the use of mental maps, a source of information that has been used since the emergence of what is called cognitive geography, as an instrument for this theme's investigation.…”

“…Regarding the social sciences curriculum of the LOMCE (Ley Orgánica para la Mejora de la Calidad Educativa) (Rodríguez-Doménech, 2015), recent research has tested for a minimum knowledge in geography using the content (territorial organization, enclaves, physical aspects) of mental maps (Binimelis & Ordinas, 2018). This approach has also been extended to other levels of the compulsory education system (Binimelis et al, 2021).…”

The use of mental maps in the assessment of geographic knowledge: Form and content of map sketches drawn by last year Primary Education students in the Balearic Islands (Spain)

“…In former studies, progress in the search for a quantitative methodology fitting to assess students' mental maps was made (Binimelis Sebastián et al, 2021;Binimelis Sebastián & Ordinas, 2022b). Research here is focused on future teachers and primary education schoolchildren's geographic knowledge of the Balearic Islands.…”

“…A total of 220 schoolchildren belong to 7 aided schools and the remaining 336 to 10 public education centers, all of them scattered across the insular geography, although convenience sampling was used. In a previous study, we addressed the content of mind maps drawn by primary education schoolchildren based on the toponyms or places they mentioned (Binimelis Sebastián et al, 2021). This study approaches the analysis of formal aspects of mental maps and delves into their relationship with their contents.…”

“…This has been used as a basis for several studies whose first results analyzed the areas or enclaves mentioned in mental maps by the participating students (Binimelis Sebastián & Ordinas, 2018, 2022. The relationship between the distance to the school center and the frequency of appearance of the quoted placenames was another of the addressed topics, alongside differences in school students' cognitive patterns regarding the islands (Binimelis Sebastián et al, 2021). Moreover, how students from different universities view Spain has also been studied (Gómez-Gonçalves et al, 2021;García-González et al, 2023).…”