Title: 
Headings:  Maps and Map Learning in Social Studies
Research
 
and
 
Practice

Maps
 
and
 
Map
 
Learning
 
in
 
Social
 
Studies

Sarah
 
Witham
 
Bednarz,
 
Gillian
 
Acheson,
 
and
 
Robert
 
S.
 
Bednarz

Assessing
 
Students’
 
Knowledge

Teachers’
 
Goals

www.odt.org

Map
 
Learning


 
Map
 
Curriculum

An
 
Invitation
 
to
 
“Live
 
and
 
Learn
 
in
 
Historic
 
Virginia”

For
 
details,
 
call
 
(804)
 
493-8038,
 
ext.
 
1558

 
—Denis
 
Wood

Talking
 
Back
 
to
 
Maps

RESOURCES
 
FROM
 

RETHINKING
  
SCHOOLS

VISIT
 
US
 
AT
BOOTH
 
216
 
ATNCSS2006
 

IN
 
WASHINGTON,
 
D.C.

RETHINKING
 
SCHOOLS
 
MAGAZINE

THE
 
LINE
 
BETWEEN
 
US
Teaching
 
About
 
the
 
Border
and
 
Mexican
Immigration

RETHINKING
 
GLOBALIZATION

Teaching
 
for
 
Justice
 
in
 
an
 
Unjust
 
World
 

OPEN
 
MINDS
 
TO
 
EQUALITY


Sourcebook
 
of
 
Learning
 
Activities
 
to
 
Affirm
Diversity
 
and
 
Promote
 
Equity

Here
 
are
 
three
 
strategies
 
to
 
help
 
students
 
become
 
more
 
critically
 
“carto-literate”:

MAPS
 
from
 
page
 
404


Content: Assessing
 
Students’
 
Knowledge
Assessments
  
indicate
  
that
  
students
  
are
 
not
  
competent
  
map
  
users. An
  
analysis
 
of
  
the
  
2001
  
National
  
Assessment
  
of
 
Educational
 
Progress
 
(NAEP)
 
geography
 
exam
 
revealed
 
that
 
at
 
every
 
level
 
(grades
 
4,
 
8,
 
and
 
12)
 
test
 
items
 
that
 
required
 
stu-
dents
 
to
 
use
 
and
 
interpret
 
maps
 
were
 
the
 
most
 
challenging
 
(see
 
Table
 
1). At
 
grade
 
4,
  
nine
  
of
  
the
  
ten
  
most
  
difficult
  
items
 
required
  
map
  
interpretation,
  
construc-
tion,
 
or
 
use. For
 
grades
 
8
 
and
 
12,
 
five
 
and
 
seven
 
of
 
the
 
ten
 
most
 
frequently
 
missed
 
questions
 
involved
 
maps.9
Teachers’
 
Goals
One
 
explanation
 
for
 
these
 
low
 
scores
 
is
 
that
 
few
 
social
 
studies
 
teachers
 
are
 
aware
 
of
 
the
 
growing
 
importance
 
of
 
maps,
 
or
 
are
 
Figure
 
1. Election
 
Results
 
by
 
State. Figure
 
2. Election
 
Results
 
by
 
State
 
in
 
a
 
Population
 
Cartogram. Source: M.
 
Gastner,
 
C.
 
Shalizi,
 
and
 
M.
 
Newman. Maps
 
and
 
Cartograms
 
of
 
the
 
2004
 
U.S.
 
Presidential
 
Election
 
Results,
 
www-personal.