Abstract
What Are They Thinking: Studying Students' Spatial Thinking Skills
Track: Educational Research and Teacher Education
Author
What's really going on in students' minds as they use GIS and how does the use of GIS impact spatial thinking? These are critical questions that, when carefully answered, could positively impact attempts to broaden the use of GIS in K-12. In this presentation, we'll share the preliminary results of a new set of studies on the impact of the use of GIS with high school students in Virginia. Using an interdisciplinary research team comprised of a GIS curriculum/professional developer with a cognitive psychologist and an educational researcher, we're exploring the change in students' spatial thinking processes through standard spatial measures, careful classroom observation, student work products, and conversations with teachers and students.
Bob Kolvoord
James Madison Univ.
MSC 4102
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
United States
Phone: 540-568-2752
Fax: 540-568-2768
E-mail: kolvoora@jmu.edu