An Interactive Multimedia Tool for Helping Students “Translate” from Maps to Reality and Vice Versa

Abstract

We have developed a computer-aided learning tool to help students develop their ability to translate mentally between their visually perceived, three-dimensional physical surroundings and a planview schematic representation of that reality: in other words, a map. The ability to visualize reality from maps and vice versa is a valuable life skill, a prerequisite for success in many jobs including virtually all geoscience careers, and, we believe, a prerequisite for using the powerful map metaphor as an organizing principle for complex bodies of knowledge. Our application, called “Where are We?” simultaneously displays a visual representation of an interesting, real environment, and a map view of that same terrain. The student/user is challenged to (a) determine his/her location on the map based on clues in the visually perceived environment, (b) plan a route to a destination on the map and follow that route based on clues in the visually perceived environment, and (c) locate specific unmapped features in the visually perceived environment and add appropriate symbols to the map to indicate these new features. The program is targeted at middle-school social-studies classes and eighth- or ninth-grade earth-science classes.