The Ability of Elementary School Children to Analyse General Reference and Thematic Maps

Michaelidou, Evanthia; Nakos, Byron; Filippakopoulou, Vassiliki

doi:10.3138/k63j-1260-8416-863w

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The results confirmed that Czech students were able to understand the map symbols and cartographic methods used in European school atlases. These results were consistent with Michaelidou, et al [31], who analysed the ability of elementary school children to analyse the map content of different thematic maps.…”

Section: Evaluation Of Thematic Maps and School World Atlasessupporting

confidence: 91%

Differences in Thematic Map Reading by Students and Their Geography Teacher

Beitlova

Popelka

Voženílek

2020

IJGI

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A school world atlas is likely the first systematic cartographic product which students encounter in their lives. However, only a few empirical studies have analysed school atlases in the context of map reading and learning geographical curricula. The present paper describes an eye-tracking study conducted on 30 grammar school students and their geography teacher. The study explored ten tasks using thematic world maps contained in the Czech school world atlas. Three research questions were posed: (i) Are students able to learn using these particular types of maps? (ii) Have the cartographic visualization methods in the school atlas been adequately selected? (iii) Does the teacher read the maps in the same manner as students? The results proved that the students were sufficiently able to learn using thematic maps. The average correctness of their answers exceeded 70%. However, the results highlighted several types of cartographic visualization methods which students found difficult to read. Most of the difficulties arose from map symbols being poorly legible. The most problematic task was estimating the value of the phenomenon from the symbol size legend. Finally, the difference between the students’ and teacher’s manner of reading maps in each task was analysed qualitatively and then quantitatively by applying two different scanpath comparison methods. The study revealed that the geography teacher applied a different method than her students. She avoided looking at the map legend and solved the task using her knowledge.

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Section: Evaluation Of Thematic Maps and School World Atlasessupporting

confidence: 91%

Differences in Thematic Map Reading by Students and Their Geography Teacher

Beitlova

Popelka

Voženílek

2020

IJGI

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“…Research on thematic learning has been conducted by many experts, such as research on the success of integrated thematic learning to improve the quality of learning (Lipson, Valencia, Wixson, & Peters, 1993), Thematic learning with inquiry methods that can improve student literacy (Shanahan, 1997), theme mapping with thematic maps in elementary schools (Michaelidou, Nakos, & Filippakopoulou, 2007;Trifonoff, 1995) and research on the effects of thematic learning, direct science teaching with a textbook approach for students (McCarthy, 2005).…”

Section: Teacher Of 1 St Gradementioning

confidence: 99%

The Elementary teacher readiness toward STEM-Based contextual learning in 21st Century Era

Kartimi¹,

Shidiq²,

Nasrudin³

2021

ilkonline

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Learning in the 21st century is expected to advance knowledge and improve student learning achievement, including at the elementary school level. In addition, learning in the 21st century is also expected to prepare students with 21st century skills that they should have. One learning approach that can be used is STEM-Based contextual learning. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the readiness of elementary school teachers to implement STEM-Based contextual learning in schools. The purposeddesign survey method was used in this study. Questionnaire and observation were used to collect the data. The questionnaire consisted of eighteen open-ended questions to find out the learning process conducted by the teacher, their perceptions of integrated contextual learning, and how the readiness of teachers towards the implementation of STEM-Based contextual learning. Respondents' involeved in this study were 32 elementary school teachers in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. The result of the study indicated that elementary school teachers were ready to implement STEM-based contextual learning. However, the main problem faced by the teachers to implement STEM-based contextual learning was the difficulty of integrating the subjects and providing contextual aspects related to students' real life. This study was expected to provide an overview of the problems and possibilities in implementing STEM-based contextual learning at the elementary school level.

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“…Ory et al [31] emphasize the critical role of cartographic symbols in reading maps and interpreting spatial patterns. The impact of used cartographic symbols, together with the map scale and background complexity, on the users' level of general reference map analysis skills was proved to be significant [13]. Michaelidou et al [13] stress the need to focus specifically on the influence of hypsographic tints, direction determination, and the use of both small-and large-scale general-reference maps.…”

Section: Related Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Different types of maps call for employment of different map skills and various cognitive processes [12]. Although the thematic map share has increased in school cartography in recent decades, traditional general-reference maps are still one of the predominant types in primary and secondary levels of cartography education [12,13]. This is somewhat in contrast with research attention devoted to the investigation of general-reference map use.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repertoire and Efficiency of Students’ Strategies for General-Reference Maps

Trokšiar

Havelková

Hanuš

2022

IJGI

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Maps are not just powerful tools to communicate spatial information; they also have significant educational potential to develop students’ knowledge, skills, and thinking. To fully exploit this potential, deep research is needed into map-use processes considering the variability of map types and the cognitive complexity of map operations. Whereas research on map reading is relatively common, the research into cognitively more demanding operations is lacking. Therefore, this study employed an eye-tracking experiment combined with a follow-up questionnaire with 20 upper-secondary students to examine the strategies students choose when analyzing general-reference maps. Specifically, attention is paid to the strategy repertoire, distribution, efficiency, and adaptiveness of strategy choice. Subsequently, the study is focused on students’ perception of strategies. According to the results, participants used a rich repertoire of strategies (although many of them unconsciously) and adapted the strategy choice to task demands. The solution efficiency varied among task demands, as did the efficiency of individual strategies and their combinations. The research design allowed a comparison with earlier studies on strategies for thematic map use. The results should be of interest to cartographers (to design effective educational tools) and educators (to educate map users complexly and effectively).

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The Ability of Elementary School Children to Analyse General Reference and Thematic Maps

Cited by 17 publications

References 29 publications

Differences in Thematic Map Reading by Students and Their Geography Teacher

Differences in Thematic Map Reading by Students and Their Geography Teacher

The Elementary teacher readiness toward STEM-Based contextual learning in 21st Century Era

Repertoire and Efficiency of Students’ Strategies for General-Reference Maps

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