Map literacy and spatial cognition challenges for student geography teachers in South Africa

South African geography student teachers should master map skills to teach mapwork effectively in their future classrooms. Spatial cognition, prior learning of map skills and map interpretation at secondary school-level are highlighted as being important in furthering map literacy, which is required by geography student teachers. A mixed-method research framework investigated the causes of map literacy difficulties experienced by first year geography student teachers. Lecturers who train prospective teachers should be aware of the conceptual and/or skills-based difficulties associated with poor map literacy amongst their own students in order to address these problems. This paper outlines problems experienced by first year geography student teachers associated with their own acquisition and understanding of mapwork. Furthermore, it argues that without deeper comprehensive development of their own mapwork content knowledge, the geography student teachers’ ability to teach map skills effectively will be adversely affected

Development and evaluation of a specialized task taxonomy for spatial planning – a map literacy experiment with topographic maps

Topographic maps are among the most commonly used map types, however, their complex and information-rich designs depicting natural, human-made and cultural features make them difficult to read. Regardless of their complexity, spatial planners make extensive use of topographic maps in their work. On the other hand, various studies suggest that map literacy among the development planning professionals in South Africa is not very high. The widespread use of topographic maps combined with the low levels of map literacy presents challenges for effective development planning. In this paper we address some of these challenges by developing a specialized task taxonomy based on systematically assessed map literacy levels; and conducting an empirical experiment with topographic maps to evaluate our task taxonomy. In such empirical studies if non-realistic tasks are used, the results of map literacy tests may be skewed. Furthermore, experience and familiarity with the studied map type play a role in map literacy. There is thus a need to develop map literacy tests aimed at planners specifically. We developed a taxonomy of realistic map reading tasks typically executed during the planning process. The taxonomy defines six levels tasks of increasing difficulty and complexity, ranging from recognising symbols to extracting knowledge. We hypothesized that competence in the first four levels indicates functional map literacy. In this paper, we present results from an empirical experiment with 49 map literate participants solving a subset of tasks from the first four levels of the taxonomy with a topographic map. Our findings suggest that the proposed taxonomy is a good reference for evaluating topographic map literacy. Participants solved the tasks on all four levels as expected and we therefore conclude that the experiment based on the first four levels of the taxonomy successfully determined the functional map literacy of the participants. We plan to continue the study for the remaining levels, repeat the experiments with a group of map illiterate participants to confirm that the taxonomy can also be used to determine map illiteracy.http://www.elsevier.com/ locate/ isprsjprs2018-05-3

Interpreting the Experience: The Impact of Map Literacy on Installation Usability Design

The design of highly interactive displays or installations for public spaces requires understanding of the capabilities, preferences, and experiences of broad audiences. In the case of immersive maps, levels of map literacy are particularly important. This project, The NC Audio Map, explores the ways by which geography might catalyze knowledge acquisition goals. The project seeks to identify what effects information processing through map literacy has on design of a novel installation. Map literacy and interpretation at large, as discussed in previous research are applied to the design of the NC Audio Map ubiquitous computing environment. The ultimate goal is to explore how user experience design may benefit from anticipating user information processing skills

Improving map literacy: The application of second language instruction views and techniques

Maps are a common and useful tool, yet many people do not know how to use them effectively. Map education has typically been inadequate for teaching people the skills involved in map use and map reading. Map education in schools, where people typically learn their mapping skills, can be improved. This thesis looks at specific ways to improve map education. Based upon previous research, it looks at cartography from a language perspective to determine whether findings from the language research can be applied to cartography, and more specifically to map education. Maps serve to communicate information, and have been compared to a language by several different authors. A discussion of this comparison revealed that there are significant parallels between cartography and language. Cartography can be shown to have a well-established sign system, a grammar system acting for the map, and meaning resulting from the interaction of the signs and grammar. It has also been described as having analogous aspects to the cultural component and spoken form of a natural language. As such, the cartographic language can be defined as a systematic means of communicating meaning or ideas through the use of the set of cartographic symbols, which have understood meaning. An exploration of the literature surrounding second language teaching was undertaken to determine its applicability to cartographic teaching. While language teaching has varied over time, there has been a move towards flexible language programs which focus on using the language rather than teaching about the language. The lexicon, grammar, meaning and the relationships between these, should form the basic content of a language program. The second language literature can be applied, in part. to the cartographic language. In doing so, suggestions for what to teach and how to teach can be provided. Map education should incorporate aspects of the cartographic lexicon, grammar and meaning, as well as how these interact. Some of the specific teaching methods for languages have been adapted in order to teach the cartographic language. By also considering some of the important suggestions from the recent map education literature, a framework for teaching cartography can be developed. Objectives for map education are outlined, and then five successive levels for teaching map comprehension to school children are proposed. Level One is ideally intended for Kindergarten and Grade One classes and teaches early map awareness and appreciation. The levels progress in difficulty until Level Five, which expects map proficiency for Grade Eight and Nine students. Specific learning goals plus suggested activities to achieve these goals are provided for each level. This work can be valuable for educators. it places map education in a new framework and hopes to be able to improve the map literacy of students. Further work is needed to test the effectiveness of the proposed guidelines and to further develop the concepts of the cartographic language

Parental Hearing Status and Sign Language Use as Predictors of English Literacy Outcomes for Deaf Children in a Bilingual Educational Setting

Deaf children in the United States are not achieving age-appropriate literacy in English. Nearly 90-95% of deaf infants are born to hearing parents who do not know American Sign Language (ASL). These deaf children are experiencing limited access to a spoken language and as a result do not develop skills needed to be prepared for academic learning because language acquisition during the sensitive period in development is crucial for the development of literacy skills. However, 5-10% of deaf children have deaf parents who use ASL. Studies show correlations between higher ASL fluency and higher English literacy scores in deaf children from deaf parents. The current study uses NWEA Measures of Academic Performance (MAP) Literacy data from 778 deaf children attending ASL-English bilingual school in the Southwestern United States to examine pathways by which ASL can boost print English literacy using Vygotsky’s social cultural theory of language and cultural development. Covariates included socio-economic status, age of ASL exposure, and age of entry to school. It was predicted that (1) deaf children from signing parents would show faster growth in their MAP literacy and (2) within families who report signing, those from deaf parents will show faster literacy growth than those from hearing parents. Results from a multi-level modeling analysis showed that deaf children from signing parents had a 2.5-year advantage on their MAP performance at school entry and deaf children from deaf signing families had a 4.5-year advantage on their MAP performance at school entry. Implications for effects of covariates on the growth models are discussed

Education in cartography: what is the status of young people's map-reading skills?

Due to recent technological progress, maps have become more popular than ever before. This is especially true for young people, who interact with these technologies on a daily basis. Therefore, it is essential that these potential map users possess sufficient knowledge and skills to process the content of cartographic products. A user study was conducted during which pupils (aged 11-18years) and geography students (>18years) had to solve a number of cartography questions using topographic maps. The data were analyzed statistically, taking into account a number of potentially influencing factors (user characteristics) on the participants' results: age, gender, youth club membership, knowledge about the area, among others. The results show a rising trend in the pupils' scores with increasing age, which can be explained by education in cartography at school. Geography students perform much better, but no influence of any other user characteristics was detected. For pupils, knowledge about the area and gender might be considered as influencing factors. However, the detected influence of gender depends on the scoring system

Towards evaluating the map literacy of planners in 2D maps and 3D models in South Africa

South Africa is faced with numerous socioeconomic problems, such as poverty and resource depletion. Sustainable planning is of great importance to ensure that the necessary resources are available for future generations. However, research has suggested that South African planners do not have the necessary level of map literacy and that new geovisualizations may be required. The goal of this paper is to present preliminary results of comparative experiments to evaluate map literacy of planners in 2D maps and 3D models in South Africa. In these experiments, participants performed equally well when exposed to 2D maps and 3D models. These preliminary results were used to inform the conceptual design of an experiment to evaluate map literacy of users with 2D maps and 3D models. The new experiment was developed using a mixed factorial design and aims to address the challenges identified in the preliminary results. The implementation and execution of the new experiment design will contribute to understanding the strengths and limitations of 3D geovisualization for planning in South Africa. Results will inform guidelines for the appropriate use of these non-traditional technologies for development planning.http://www.geo.uzh.ch/~arzu/publications/rautenbach-etal-2014-AfricaGEO.pd

Oryantiring Uygulamalarının 6. Sınıf Öğrencilerinin Akademik Başarı ve Harita Okuryazarlık Düzeylerine Etkisi

This study aimed to examine the effects of orienteering practices on the sixth-grade students' academic achievement and map literacy in social studies. As one of the mixed-method designs, this study adopted an experimental (intervention) design, which provides a means of integrating the qualitative approach into an experimental process. Fifty-three sixth-grade students from a secondary school in the eastern region of Turkey comprised the study sample. The study included an experimental group (n= 26) and a control group (n= 27). In the experimental group, the "People, Places, and Environments" unit was taught using orienteering techniques, whereas, in the control group, standard curriculum-based instruction was conveyed. The quantitative data were collected through the Academic Achievement Test (AAT) and Map Literacy Test (MLT), while a semi-structured interview protocol was used to gather the qualitative data. The experimental and control groups were administered the AAT and MLT as pre- and post-tests, and the SPSS 22.0 program was used for the analysis. The students' opinions in the experimental group regarding the orienteering practices were taken through a semi-structured interview protocol. The data obtained from these interviews were subjected to content analysis. The results show no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups on the pre-test regarding academic achievement and map literacy levels; however, there was a substantial difference in favor of the experimental group on the post-test. Additionally, the analysis of qualitative data showed that all of the stuBu çalışmanın amacı, sosyal bilgiler öğretiminde kullanılan oryantiring uygulamalarının öğrencilerin akademik başarı ve harita okuryazarlık düzeylerine etkisini belirlemektir. Araştırma, deneysel bir sürecin içine nitel yaklaşımın gömüldüğü karma araştırma yöntem desenlerinden biri olan, deneysel (müdahale) desene dayalı olarak yürütülmüştür. Araştırmanın örneklem grubunu, Erzurum ili Pasinler ilçesinde bulunan bir ortaokulda öğrenim gören 6. sınıftaki 53 öğrenci oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmada bir deney grubu (n= 26), bir de kontrol grubu (n= 27) yer almaktadır. Deney grubunda “İnsanlar, Yerler ve Çevreler” öğrenme alanında yer alan konuların öğretimde oryantiring uygulamaları kullanılırken; kontrol grubunda ise öğretim süreci, mevcut programa dayalı olarak yürütülmüştür. Araştırmada nicel veriler, Akademik Başarı Testi (ABT) ve Harita Okuryazarlık Testi (HOT), nitel veriler ise yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu aracılığı ile toplanmıştır. ABT ve HOT deney ve kontrol grubuna ön test ve son test olarak uygulanmış ve analizleri SPSS 22.0 paket programı ile yapılmıştır. Deney grubunda yer alan öğrencilerin oryantiring uygulamaları ile ilgili görüşleri yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu ile alınmıştır. Görüşme formundan elde edilen veriler içerik analizi yöntemi ile yorumlanmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda deney ve kontrol grubu arasında, akademik başarı ve harita okuryazarlık düzeyleri açısından ön testte istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir farkın olmadığı, son testte ise deney grubu lehine anlamlı bir farkın olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Deney grubu ile yapılan yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme sonucunda, öğrencilerin tamamının oryantiring uygulamaları ile ilgili olumlu düşünceler geliştirdiği görülmüştür

MODEL PEMBELAJARAN LITERASI PETA UNTUK MENGEMBANGKAN KETERAMPILAN BERPIKIR KERUANGAN:Studi Pada Sekolah Menengah Pertama di Kota Cirebon

Penelitian ini mengkaji pentingnya pengembangan literasi peta dan keterampilan berpikir keruangan melalui sebuah model pembelajaran dalam Pendidikan IPS. Dua keterampilan tersebut perlu dikembangkan karena merupakan kompetensi penting dalam persaingan di Abad ke 21. Optimalisasi pemanfaatan peta dalam sebuah model pembelajaran dapat menjadi peluang untuk mewujudkan pendidikan IPS yang powerful. Berdasarkan urgensi tersebut, maka tujuan penelitian ini adalah merancang, mengembangkan dan menguji efektivitas model pembelajaran literasi peta dalam meningkatkan keterampilan berpikir keruangan berdasarkan kondisi faktual pemanfataan peta dalam pembelajaran IPS. Secara metodologis studi ini menggunakan model penelitian dan pengembangan pendidikan. Tahap penilaian kebutuhan dengan melakukan survei kondisi faktual pemanfaatan peta di sekolah. Tahap pengembangan model pembelajaran literasi peta dilakukan melalui pendekatan ADDIE. Hasilnya, model siap validasi dieksperimenkan dengan non equivalent pretest-posttest control group design untuk menguji efektivitas model dalam mengembangkan keterampilan berpikir keruangan. Hasil penilaian kebutuhan menujukan pemanfaatan peta di kelas belum optimal, akan tetapi guru sadar bahwa peta dapat digunakan untuk mengembangkan keterampilan berpikir keruangan. Model pembelajaran literasi peta dirancang berlandaskan Teori Sosio-Kognitif Vygotsky dengan pendekatan kolaboratif. Sintaks model terdiri atas empat tahap pembelajaran yaitu: literasi dasar, orientasi, asosiasi dan refleksi. Hasil studi eksperimen menunjukan bahwa model pembelajaran literasi peta secara efektif meningkatkan keterampilan berpikir keruangan peserta didik. Selain itu, model literasi peta terbukti mewujudkan pembelajaran yang powerful (meaningful, active, challanging, value-based dan integrative) bagi peserta didik. Penelitian ini merekomendasikan model literasi peta dapat menjadi alternatif pembelajaran IPS dalam mengembangkan keterampilan berpikir keruangan dan kompetensi lain yang sangat dibutuhkan peserta didik di era global dan komunikasi digital saat ini. .... This research investigates the importance of developing spatial thinking skills through a map literacy learning model in social studies education. These skills need to be developed, as they are key competencies in the 21st century competition. Optimal use of maps in a social studies learning model can provide an opportunity to realize powerful social studies education. Based on this urgency, the research aims to design, develop, and test the effectiveness of a learning model of map literacy in improving spatial thinking skills based on the factual use of maps in social studies teaching and learning. Methodologically, this study employed the educational blended research approach. Needs assessment was done by conducting a survey to find the actual condition of map utilization in school. The development phase of the map-literacy learning model was done using the ADDIE approach. The developed model was then ready for validation by conducting an experiment with the non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group design to test the effectiveness of the model in developing spatial thinking skills. The results of needs assessment indicate the utilization of maps in the classroom has not been optimal, although teachers are aware that maps can be used to develop spatial thinking skills. The result of development phase is a map-literacy learning model. Syntactically, the model consists of four learning stages: Basic literacy, orientation, association, and reflection. The results of the experiment show that the map-literacy learning model could effectively improve the spatial thinking skills of learners. In addition, the map-literacy learning model has proven to be a powerful (meaningful, active, challenging, value-based, and integrative) learning model for learners. This research recommends that the map-literacy learning model be used as an alternative to social studies teaching and learning in developing spatial thinking skills that learners need in today’s global and digital communication era