This study tested the proposition that the Augmented Reality Sandbox's (ARS) user-interaction from tactile sensory feedback and a realistic 3D perspective improved topographic map comprehension among novice users with reduced cognitive load compared to the same instruction and practice from a 2D topographic map. Undergraduate students were…

This article provides an overview of learning progressions (LP) and assesses the potential of this line of research to improve geography education. It presents the merits and limitations of three of the most common approaches used to conduct LP research and draws on one approach to propose a first draft of a LP on map reading and interpretation.…

Learning a novel environment involves integrating first-person perceptual and motoric experiences with developing knowledge about the overall structure of the surroundings. The present experiments provide insights into the parallel development of these egocentric and allocentric memories by intentionally conflicting body- and world-centered frames…

This study formulates an empirically derived model of the cognitive transformation of information from urban geographic fields to map representation. It appears that four variables (subject, touring, environmental, map) all contribute to levels of map performance. (BT)

This study investigates the strategies people use to acquire knowledge from maps. Among the questions examined were (1) what distinguishes poor learners from good learners, and (2) how do the learning strategies of map-using experts differ from those of nonexpert learners? Eight subjects participated in the study. Five were undergraduate students…

Two experiments investigated learners' procedures in acquiring knowledge from maps. The better learners used successful techniques for encoding spatial information, evaluating their progress, focusing attention on unlearned information, and partitioning the map by spatial region or concept. Visual memory ability was also important. (Author/GDC)

Maintains that region familiarity is an important prerequisite in the instructional use of cartograms. Cartograms are value-by-area maps that increase or decrease areas in order to illustrate various data (e.g. book reading in the western United States). Discusses necessary cognitive processes for the visualization of data. (MJP)

This research attempts to diagnose the skills required for successful spatial performance in order to provide a theoretical foundation for military training in such tasks as map reading, surveying, and navigation. It is known that successful performance on spatial tasks depends on task requirements (e.g., requisite knowledge, alternative paths to…

Outlines a variety of activities using each of Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences to teach map reading skills. The Multiple Intelligences are logical/mathematical, linguistic, musical, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Includes multiple activities for teaching six key ideas and four skills. (MJP)

Presents the results of a study contrasting conventional instruction with protocol lessons (a sequence of lessons based on developmental stages of learning with each lesson building on the previous one) concerning sketch maps. The students taught with the protocol lessons showed significant improvement over the other group. (MJP)