Spatial Ability and Earth Science Conceptual Understanding
Alice A. (Jill) Black
Relatively little research has considered the relationship of spatial abilities with common misconceptions and broader conceptual difficulties in the Earth sciences. This article from the Journal of ...

Water Towers, Pump Houses, and Mountain Streams: Students' Ideas about Watersheds
Daniel P. Shepardson, Jon Harbor, Bryan Wee
The watershed concept is important in many areas of geology and environmental science, and the purpose of this study was to investigate students' ideas about watersheds and how these ideas change ...

Selective encoding in the interpretation of topographic maps
M. Eley
This paper describes two experiments in which experienced adult map readers compared three-dimensional land surface drawings against previously and separately studied contour maps. Results indicate ...

The differential susceptibility of topographic map interpretation to influence from training
M. Eley
This study appraises the extent to which subjects' implementation of map to landsurface matching is task-determined or influenced by training. Study subjects comprised three groups of 19 early ...

Skill in map reading and memory for maps
K. Gilhooly, M. Wood, P. Kinnear, and C. Green
This paper investigates the applicability of the maxim on expert memory to the case of topographic contour map reading. This study aims to clarify the role of map reading skill in map memory through ...

Students, fieldwork, space and time
C. King
This paper suggests how to get students to build up an overall perspective of the different rock sequences they see during a field excursion. It outlines a five-prong approach aimed at understanding ...

Children's understanding of spatial representations of place: Mapping the methodological landscape
L. S. Liben

Position Location on Topographical Maps: Effects of Task Factors, Training and Strategy
N. Schofield, and J. Kirby
This study examines task factors, cognitive processes, and individual differences as determinants of performance differences when locating a position on a topographical map from a given position on ...

Earth and Mind: How Geologists Think and Learn about the Earth
C.A. Manduca, D.W. Mogk
What does it mean to be a geoscientist? What characterizes the expertise that geoscientists bring to understanding the Earth? How do students develop this expertise? This volume brings together ...