Cognition: A Key Factor in Interpretation and Visualization?

At the 2012 annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, Clare Bond, Carol Ormand, Robert Krantz, and Iain Stewart convened a session focusing on the role of cognition in spatial thinking. Posters in this session described research on 3D and 4D thinking. Here are links to their abstracts and, in some cases, electronic posters, hosted on the AGU website.

Conceptual Mobility of Geoscience Concepts in Introductory College-Level Courses: Results from Pre- and Post-testing with the Geoscience Concept Inventory

Steven W. Anderson, University of Northern Colorado and Julie Libarkin, Michigan State University

Developing Scientific Reasoning Through Drawing Cross-Sections

Kimberly A. Hannula, Fort Lewis College

A bird's eye view: the cognitive strategies of experts interpreting seismic profiles

Clare E. Bond and Robert Butler, University of Aberdeen

Developing Connectivist Schemas for Geological and Geomorphological Education

Brian Whalley, Sheffield University

Understanding geological processes: Visualization of rigid and non-rigid transformations

Thomas F. Shipley and Kinnari Atit, Temple University; Cathryn A. Manduca and Carol J. Ormand, SERC, Carleton College; Ilyse Resnick, Temple University; and Basil Tikoff, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Gestures and metaphors as indicators of conceptual understanding of sedimentary systems

Eric M. Riggs, Texas A&M University and Juan S. Herrera, Purdue University

What Do Geoscience Experts and Novices Look At and What Do They See When Viewing and Interpreting Data Visualizations?

Kim A. Kastens, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University; Thomas F. Shipley and Alex Boone, Temple University

Three-dimensional presentation of the earth and planets in classrooms and science centers with a spherical screen

Akinori Saito, Kyoto University; Takuya Tsugawa, NICT; Yoko Odagi, Kyoto University; Noriyuki Nishi, Kyoto University; Shin'ichi Miyazaki, Kyoto University; and Hiroki Ichikawa, Ehime University