This study investigates the way a kindergarten teacher implemented a three-stage project to support children's map understanding. The project, the Map and Play, was designed to help children understand the relationship between reality and its abstract representation. The guided play was adopted as the pedagogical approach because it empowers…

Empirical evidence is insufficient on the specific roles GIS learning plays in developing students' understanding various spatial concepts. The present study aims to draw attention to common struggles of learning some spatial concepts in geography and offer directions for future research on GIS learning and the development of student spatial…

Geography education requires a combination of knowledge, skills, and geospatial relational thinking. To improve the learning efficiency and durability of knowledge, a new inquiry-based instruction system using tangible user interfaces has been developed. The tangible landscape modeling system (TLMS) comprises four components including a malleable…

Myriad research in a variety of contexts shows spatial skills benefit students; however, they are not given enough attention in classroom instruction. In this review we systematically explore geoscience education literature focusing on spatial interventions to answer research questions on trends in spatial skills and other characteristics. We…

Using geographic information systems (GIS), spatial data, and web mapping tools to enrich teaching and learning in geography courses is an effective way to integrate critical thinking and spatial analysis into the classroom (or virtual classroom). This lesson describes mapping song lyrics through ArcGIS Online. It explores how students analyze and…

The research literature on the topic of "spatial ability" reveals that it has a major influence on achievement in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Additionally, previous studies indicate the existence of a gender gap in spatial ability in favour of males. Mental rotation, one subskill of spatial ability, is…

In this article, we use eye-tracking technology to analyze the eye movement differences in cognitive maps between high and low level map-based spatial ability participants, revealing key factors of superior spatial ability. It is found that focusing on the perception of spatial structure information, constructing and manipulating complex images…

Connecting just four components that compose modern geographic information systems (GIS)--field surveys, dashboards, interactive maps, and story maps--can help foster spatial thinking, critical thinking, and rigorous use of GIS tools and data. The guidelines in this article walk an educator through the creation of a survey in Survey123, mapping…

The main objective of this experimental study was to reveal the importance and effectiveness of the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based materials in the course of the earthquake topic to high school 10th grade students. The selected topic of the study was "The relationship between faults, plate movements and earthquakes in…

This article discusses the authors' experience implementing the use of the online platform Story Maps, which allows students to create digital geographic information systems (GIS) maps of past people, places, and events and combine them with text, images, and other multimedia, in three different undergraduate history courses. The authors found…

Geography can improve citizens' quality of life by improving their understanding of the population, resources, environment and development of geographical areas. The emergence of remote sensing technology provides a convenient method for understanding the regional geographical landscape. It is important to develop a regional geography curriculum…

When a student remembers an educational geography activity involving a map twelve months later, the events count as a step toward spatial understanding. Giant playground and floor maps capture students' attention and inspire teachers to develop new ways to explain geographical features and phenomena. For almost a decade, National Geographic…

Teaching and learning about political boundaries in an effective, engaging manner can be enriched through the use of webGIS mapping tools and spatial data. WebGIS enabled tools bring problem solving, critical thinking, and spatial analysis to education. Teaching with GIS is conducive to a multi-disciplinary, problem-solving learning environment…

In the field of geographical and environmental education, maps and geo-referenced information are frequently used, in which the earth's surfaces are represented in a two-dimensional (2D) way. Students have difficulty interpreting the relief representation and switching between 2D and 3D scenarios. Digital terrain modelling is added to the…

Currently, modelling of knowledge and skills in a MOOC and the associated instructional and pedagogical engineering process is a major challenge in order to support designers and facilitate learning. This article explains how visuo-cognitive metaphors of the "metro map" and "travel" make possible the design of connections…