Geo-literacy is defined by National Geographic as "the ability to reason about Earth systems and interconnections to make far-reaching decisions."3 As environmental destruction and cultural conflicts deepen, understanding how, when and where humans affect our planet is more important than ever. Unfortunately, many students lack even basic geo-literacy skills.
Eighth grade geography scores from the 2018 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) indicate that only 25% of eighth grade students performed at or above the NAEP Proficient level. This result is essentially unchanged from 2014 and and it is alarmingly lower than the 28% of 8th graders who scored at or above the proficient mark in 1994.2 Rather than making gains, U.S. students are falling behind!
In order to address this issue, we conducted a pilot study in 2017 to investigate the potential for interactive web map puzzles to encourage student engagement with geography. We used PuzzleMap™ (PM), an innovative online geospatial learning application created by SpherAware Geospatial Solutions. PM solvers learn spatial reasoning skills by manipulating geographic puzzle pieces until their correct placement is found. This involves studying the topographical features of a map, panning the view, zooming in and out and considering a variety of clues provided by the software. Results from the pilot revealed that 5th graders who used PM regularly, in conjunction with their social studies curriculum, made significant gains from pre- to post-assessments.4
We then designed a follow-up, multi-year study to investigate how self-directed, hands-on engagement with map content can stimulate student interest, enrich teacher involvement and improve student understanding of social studies and STEM content. The following questions guided our research:
Our study took a qualitative approach and was conducted as a partnership between Washington State University and local teachers. Data include video recordings of teachers' professional development (PD), informal classroom observations of students working with PuzzleMap and photographs of teacher- and student-created artifacts. Eight teachers completed all eight workshops across the 2019-2020 school year. We analyzed data inductively for emergent themes and used open-coding and thematic delineation techniques.1 Two key themes emerged from these data:
First, PuzzleMap provides a fun and engaging way to acquire geo-literacy skills. Teachers could be observed working intently while also talking and laughing with one another about the challenges they encountered in solving the puzzles. They enjoyed sharing when they correctly placed a puzzle piece and they also had fun racing one another and pointing out discoveries. One fourth grade teacher reflected, "For myself, I find the subtle aspects of the content clues manageable and interesting to investigate." Teachers also reported that students also enjoyed the challenges of solving PM. A sixth-grade teacher remarked, "it gives me goosebumps to see 31 students, engaged, helping each other, and navigating to figure out the different clues, and just to look that intently at a map. It’s so much better than the curriculum I’m supposed to use!"
A second finding was that teachers successfully created curriculum-aligned PuzzleMap content. The fourth-grade team researched and created content for the Level III Washington ecoregions. The fifth-grade team researched and created content aligned with colonial America. The 8th grade social studies teacher focused on content for a Civil War puzzlemap while the 3rd grade teacher planned a PuzzleMap to help teach the various cultural regions within the U.S.
We maintained a study web site to document our meetings and to display our progress in developing puzzle content. The site also includes other example puzzles and a collection of useful resources on geo-literacy and spatial learning in general. This school year, we are taking our custom Ecoregion and Colonial US puzzles into the classroom for observation and evaluation. A more challenging puzzle of Japan, an older bilingual puzzle of South America and the original USA puzzle from our 2017 study are also included in the puzzle atlas we will be using. You are welcome to try all of these puzzles HERE. If you would like to follow along and learn more about our efforts, please sign up for our occasional newsletter HERE.
In light of NAEP geography scores and the need for better geographic competence of Americans in general, we believe it is crucial to engage elementary and secondary students in a spatial study of our planet because its fascinating features, complex web of life and many priceless inhabitants all become far more meaningful and connected when you understand where they are. Geo-literacy is therefore an important foundation for advanced language skills and motivating student performance in all STEM areas. These are the fundamental skills they will need to understand the past, navigate the present and take action in the future. And, as geo-literate citizens, they will also be better able to make careful and informed decisions about their communities – both local and global.
For more information about the current study, please see: NRMERA Proposal.
Thank you for your interest in geo-literacy. Please sign-up below for email announcements about upcoming events of interest and to receive the occasional PuzzleMap newsletter. We may also reach out to you individually with relevant questions or to engage further on topics of mutual interest.
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You may also make direct contact if you prefer:
sarah.newcomer@wsu.edu
jonah.firestone@wsu.edu