Integrating Geographic Information System in Secondary Classrooms: Factors in Relation to Spatial Thinking Ability

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 2
  In Poster Session: Intersections Among Technology, Instruction, Cognition, Learning, and More

Abstract

To respond National Research Council (2006)’s call on fostering a new generation of American students who are equipped to think spatially, the study has a two-fold purpose: 1) to explore the possible factors influencing students’ spatial thinking ability 2) to investigate the effectiveness of GIS integration disciplinary classes. The study involved 974 students and 17 teachers from two urban secondary public school districts. Spatial Thinking Ability Test and survey data were collected. Descriptive statistics, Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) were applied for data analysis. The findings suggest 1) using GIS and taking science courses are recommended in developing spatial thinking 2) students’ average spatial thinking varies across classes, more factors in class level need to be investigated.

Authors

• Siqi Li, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Xiufeng Liu, University at Buffalo - SUNY