Presents a model for visual learning and describes an approach to skills instruction which aids students in using atlases. Maintains that teachers must help students see atlases as tools capable of providing useful information rather than experiencing atlas learning as an empty exercise with little relevance to their lives. (JDH)

This article describes how to design and implement a map reading tournament for college students enrolled in an introductory map reading course. The tournament takes place within the classroom. Includes guidance in forming the questions and tips on running the tournament. (JDH)

Describes an approach to eliminating "map illiteracy" in college students. Map illiteracy is defined as the inability to read and draw meaning from simple maps used in history texts and teaching. (JDH)

Described are activities which will increase fluency in the use of north, south, east, west, up, and down; reinforce the proper positioning of the cardinal directions on a map grid; relate map symbols to familiar surface features; give practice in identifying map symbols; and provide an opportunity to construct maps. (RM)

This paper identifies how comparative educators have chosen to visually represent the field of development education since about 1963. This is an attempt to historicize the vision as scholars struggle with the representational dilemmas and opportunities of late modernity/postmodernity. The paper is organized in three parts. Part 1 illustrates how…

Introductory courses in Geographic Information Systems and cartography cover the fundamentals of map design. Students are given guidelines for producing a good map, but visual demonstrations are much more impressive. ArcView was used to produce illustrations of bad mapping practices and placed in a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation to demonstrate…

Describes an activity for college geography classes in which students study demographic transitions and spatial patterns which provide a clear understanding of what modernization implies in Middle and South America. Students make maps, construct scattergrams, and analyze birth rates, gross national products, and infant mortality rates in 19…

Recommends the use of microfiche readers to enlarge imagery transparencies for mapping or tracing of images. The reader permits close viewing so the apparent resolution of the enlarged image is superior to that obtained with overhead or slide projectors. Additionally, the reader is compact and easily used at individual work stations. (LS)

Discusses the project undertaken by MMF Publications to micropublish a collection of rare Dutch maps and drawings. Background information about the collection is given and decisions regarding the choice of microfiche format are explained. MMF elected to publish a printed guide to accompany the collection for enhanced access. (Author/JKP)

Presents hands-on activities to help teach elementary students map skills during Geography Awareness Week. The map skills are made fun by being incorporated into meaningful activities like learning about global resources, tracking the progress of sports teams, and conducting climate experiments in faraway places. (SM)

Examines the "sedimented" history of probability in America using Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray's "The Bell Curve." Suggests this model reinforces ethnic hierarchy and differences by creating a "moral cartography" for the nation. Defines this spatial rhetoric with three sociographic dynamics. Concludes with…

Presents an abstract for a planned session on the need to coordinate user studies and information retrieval system design research. Topics include human-based research and system-based research; children's information use; usability and cartographic information systems; and ethnomethodology and system design. Panelists included: Nick Belkin, Dania…

In summary, this highly conceptual activity helps middle school students understand that the lines on the contour map represent intersections of the surface of the landform with regularly spaced horizontal planes. Building the landform and relating its features to the contour map offer many opportunities for visualization, all grounded in concrete…

A way for teachers to counter duality in traditional patterns of thinking, especially in social studies classrooms, is to plan a lesson involving conflicting sources. In this article, the author discusses a mapping lesson for high school and college students, which helps students understand dualities. From this lesson, the student recognizes the…

This article discusses modern stereoscopic displays for geographic education, focusing on a large-format display--the GeoWall. To evaluate the potential of the GeoWall, geography instructors were asked to express their reactions to images viewed on the GeoWall during a focus group experiment. Instructors overwhelmingly supported using the GeoWall,…