International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education
Editors: A/Prof John Lidstone, Queensland University of Technology and Prof Joseph P. Stoltman, Western Michigan University
Book Review Editor: Dr Sarah Witham Bednarz, Texas A & M University
Editorial Assistant: Donna Bennett, Australia
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Volume: 8 Number: 3 Page: 222–238
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Assessing Progression in Primary Children's Map Drawing Skills
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Doug Harwood and Margaret Usher
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Following Piaget & Inhelder (1956), doubts have been raised about the worthwhileness of teaching map drawing skills to children before the age of 11. This paper discusses the issue of whether there
is a progression in mapwork and reports on the effects of trying to teach eight- and nine-year-olds the skills needed to draw a map of the route from their school to church. The average quality of their
maps did improve when compared with a control group, especially their representation of 'perspective', 'symbols' and amount of 'content', although concepts of 'scale' and 'spatial arrangement' proved more
difficult to develop. Giving the children more experience of the route increased the 'content' on their maps, but did not improve mapping skills unless accompanied by teaching, which seemed crucial. Despite
performing at a higher level at the beginning, the girls seem not to have responded to the teaching as positively as the boys. Although worthwhile, the benefits of short-term teaching were relatively modest
and only statistically significant for 'perspective' and 'content', confirming that this is a difficult activity for young children. However ,longer-term improvements since the introduction of the National
Curriculum were statistically significant.
© Channel View Publications 1998
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