This study contributes to our understanding of children's development of map-reading skills through a systematic 'step-by-step approach'. Utilising an ecological research design, we investigated how children perceive and utilise maps in a large-scale outdoor environment. A total of 156 children, aged 5-11 (both boys and girls), participated in the…

The main purpose of this study was to assess children's skill in using a simple map. The study was conducted among 262 children (141 girls and 121 boys), aged between 61-78 months (average 71 months), attending to 4 public pre-schools in Istanbul, Turkey. The simple map skills (requiring mental rotation and understanding spatial relation) of the…

Map skills are included in the curriculum of different courses in basic education and secondary education, although they are more involved in the Social Sciences Curriculum (SSC) and Geography Curriculum (GC). Based on this situation, the research aimed at a comparative examination of the mapping skills included in the SSC and GC, which were…

Since the publication of "Geography for Life: National Geography Standards" in the United States (Geography Education Standards Project, 1994), it has been widely used to develop quality curriculum materials for what students should know and able to do in geography. This study compared geography content taught in Omani public schools…

Teaching high-school geomorphological concepts and topographic map reading entails many challenges. This research reports the applicability and effectiveness of Google Earth in teaching topographic map skills and geomorphological concepts, by a single teacher, in a one-computer classroom. Compared to learning via a conventional instructional…

The National Research Council emphasizes using tools of representation as an essential element of spatial thinking. However, it is debatable at what age the use of spatial representation for spatial thinking skills should begin. This study investigated whether young Korean children possess the potential to understand map-like representation using…

The National Council for Social studies defines Social sciences as the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence". At the elementary school level, social studies generally focuses on the local community and family. By middle and high school level, the social studies curriculum becomes more…

A study is described to measure place awareness among college students in terms of (1) general level of place awareness, (2) variations of place awareness for different world regions, and (3) patterns of place awareness among U.S. colleges and universities. (Author/AV)

Map and compass skills are a neglected aspect of the elementary school curriculum. Orienteering--a sport that involves running a prescribed course with the aid of map and compass--may provide an avenue for teaching these skills. This study taught orienteering to 148 10-year-old children and compared the effectiveness of a serial approach based on…

Examines children's knowledge and understanding of global spatial relationships. Utilizing cut-outs of continents to estimate their size in relation to Europe, the students consistently underestimated the size of Asia and overestimated Australia. Possible reasons for this are discussed and teaching approaches suggested. (MJP)