Learning to Think Spatially: GIS as a Support System in the K-12 Curriculum

333 Pages·2005·7.87 MB·English

by  National Research Council

LEARNING
THINK
TO
SPATIALLY
Committee on Support for Thinking Spatially: The Incorporation of
Geographic Information Science Across the K–12 Curriculum
Geographical Sciences Committee
Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
Division on Earth and Life Studies
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS • 500 Fifth Street, N.W., • Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National
Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the
National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible
for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Environmental Systems Research Institute, Department of Interior/U.S. Geologi-
cal Survey Grant No. 00HQAG0011, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant No. NAG5-9857,
National Geographic Society Education Foundation Grant No. 200-0123, and National Science Foundation
Grant No. BCS-0076284. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publica-
tion are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that
provided support for the project.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Learning to think spatially : GIS as a support system in the K-12 curri-
culum.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-309-09208-6 (pbk.) — ISBN 0-309-53191-8 (PDF)
1. Space perception—Study and teaching. 2. Geographic information
systems. I. National Academies Press (U.S.)
BF723.S63L43 2006
370.15′2—dc22
2005032115
Additional copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, N.W.,
Lockbox 285, Washington, DC 20055; [phone] or [phone] (in the Washington metropolitan
area); Internet, http://www.nap.edu.
Cover designed by Van Nguyen. Photo © Blauel/Gnamm—ARTOTHEK. Courtesy of the Städelsches
Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt.
Copyright 2006 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
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Research Council.
www.national-academies.org
SUPPORT FOR THINKING SPATIALLY: THE INCORPORATION OF
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE ACROSS THE K–12 CURRICULUM
ROGER M. DOWNS, Chair, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park
SARAH WITHAM BEDNARZ, Texas A & M University, College Station
ROBERT A. BJORK, University of California, Los Angeles
PETER B. DOW, First Hand Learning, Inc., Buffalo, New York
KENNETH E. FOOTE, University of Colorado, Boulder
J. FREEMAN GILBERT, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla
REGINALD G. GOLLEDGE, University of California, Santa Barbara
KIM A. KASTENS, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades,
New York
GAEA LEINHARDT (member until February 28, 2002), University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
LYNN S. LIBEN, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park
MARCIA C. LINN, University of California, Berkeley
JOHN J. RIESER, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
GERALD M. STOKES, University of Maryland and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
College Park
BARBARA TVERSKY, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
National Research Council Staff
ANTHONY R. DE SOUZA, Director, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
KRISTEN L. KRAPF, Program Officer (until November 2004)
YVONNE P. FORSBERGH, Research Assistant (until November 2002)
MONICA R. LIPSCOMB, Research Assistant (until June 2004)
VERNA J. BOWEN, Financial and Administrative Associate
RADHIKA S. CHARI, Senior Project Assistant (from November 2002 to November 2003)
AMANDA M. ROBERTS, Program Assistant (from April 2004)
TERESIA K. WILMORE, Project Assistant (from November 2003 to April 2004)
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GEOGRAPHICAL SCIENCES COMMITTEE
ROGER M. DOWNS, Chair, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park
BRIAN J. L. BERRY, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson
SUSAN L. CUTTER, University of South Carolina, Columbia
RUTH S. DEFRIES, University of Maryland, College Park
WILLIAM E. EASTERLING III, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park
PATRICIA GOBER, Arizona State University, Tempe
MICHAEL F. GOODCHILD, University of California, Santa Barbara
SUSAN HANSON, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
JONATHAN D. MAYER, University of Washington, Seattle
EMILIO F. MORAN, Indiana University, Bloomington
DAVID L. SKOLE, Michigan State University, East Lansing
National Research Council Staff
HEDY J. ROSSMEISSL, Senior Scholar
VERNA J. BOWEN, Financial and Administrative Associate
v
BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCES
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER, Chair, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
M. LEE ALLISON, Office of the Governor, Topeka, Kansas
STEVEN R. BOHLEN, Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Washington, D.C.
ADAM M. DZIEWONSKI, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
KATHERINE H. FREEMAN, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park
RHEA L. GRAHAM, Pueblo of Sandia, Bernalillo, New Mexico
ROBYN HANNIGAN, Arkansas State University, State University
V. RAMA MURTHY, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
RAYMOND A. PRICE, Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada
MARK SCHAEFER, NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia
STEVEN M. STANLEY, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
BILLIE L. TURNER II, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
STEPHEN G. WELLS, Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada
THOMAS J. WILBANKS, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee
National Research Council Staff
ANTHONY R. DE SOUZA, Director
DAVID A. FEARY, Senior Program Officer
ANNE M. LINN, Senior Program Officer
RONALD F. ABLER, Senior Scholar
ELIZABETH A. EIDE, Senior Program Officer
HEDY J. ROSSMEISSL, Senior Scholar
ANN G. FRAZIER, Program Officer
SAMMANTHA L. MAGSINO, Program Officer
TANJA E. PILZAK, Research Associate
CAETLIN M. OFIESH, Research Assistant
VERNA J. BOWEN, Financial and Administrative Associate
JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Financial Associate
JARED P. ENO, Program Assistant
JAMES B. DAVIS, Program Assistant
AMANDA M. ROBERTS, Program Assistant
vi
Acknowledgments
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives
and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s
Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical
comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to
ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to
the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the
integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of
this report:
Tanya M. Atwater, University of California, Santa Barbara
Victor R. Baker, University of Arizona, Tucson
Angelo Collins, Knowles Science Teaching Foundation, Haddonfield, New Jersey
Mary D. Gunnels, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.
Mary Hegarty, University of California, Santa Barbara
Roberta L. Klatzky, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mark Monmonier, Syracuse University, New York
M. Duane Nellis, Kansas State University, Manhattan
Herbert L. Pick, Jr., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Nancy Rankin, Hillview Middle School, Menlo Park, California
Cary I. Sneider, Museum of Science, Boston, Massachusetts
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and sugges-
tions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final
draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by David J. Cowen,
University of South Carolina, Columbia, and Lyle V. Jones, The University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain
that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional
procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final
content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
vii
Frontispiece: Young students in a GIS learning laboratory.
Preface
The title of this report, Learning to Think Spatially, is a description of its contents and, at the
same time, a description of the process that led to the report. Although the original charge to the
committee appeared clear and definitive when the study proposal was approved by the National
Academy of Sciences, the writing process has been a less linear path than we expected. To begin
with, the committee comprised a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds: astronomy, education,
geography, the geosciences, and psychology (for biographical sketches, see Appendix A). Learning
about and from each other took considerable time and effort. It became clear that the original charge
had to be reshaped; we could not address that charge until spatial thinking itself had been explored
and explained. Only after that was done could we focus on the second part of the title: GIS as a
Support System in the K–12 Curriculum.
Spatial thinking—one form of thinking—is based on a constructive amalgam of three ele-
ments: concepts of space, tools of representation, and processes of reasoning. It is the concept of
space that makes spatial thinking a distinctive form of thinking. By understanding the meaning of
space, we can use its properties (e.g., dimensionality, continuity, proximity, and separation) as a
vehicle for structuring problems, for finding answers, and for expressing solutions. By expressing
relationships within spatial structures (e.g., maps, multidimensional scaling models, computer-
assisted design [CAD] renderings), we can perceive, remember, and analyze the static and, via
transformations, the dynamic properties of objects and the relationships between objects. (Abbre-
viations are spelled out in full at their first use in the body of the report and are defined in Appendix
I.) We can use representations in a variety of modes and media (graphic [text, image, and video],
tactile, auditory, kinesthetic, and olfactory) to describe, explain, and communicate about the struc-
ture, operation, and function of objects and their relationships. Spatial thinking is not restricted to
any domain of knowledge, although it may be more characteristic of architecture, medicine, phys-
ics, and biology, for example, than of philosophy, business administration, linguistics, and com-
parative literature.
Although spatial thinking is a universal mode of thinking, it has distinctly different manifesta-
tions in different disciplines. Part of the nonlinear committee process involved understanding and
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