Title
Influence of Academic Variables on Geospatial Skills of Undergraduate Students: An Exploratory Study
Author
Kanika Verma
Published
2015
Abstract
Spatial thinking and learning are essential components of geography education. e National Research Council’s 2006 report “Learning to ink Spatially” emphasized that people vary with respect to performance on spatial tasks. is pilot study at a large Texas university investigated geospatial thinking variances among undergraduate students based on academic experience of students. is exploratory study uses the Geospatial inking Survey (GTS), based on the Spatial inking Ability Test (STAT) endorsed by Association of American Geographers (2006) and published by Lee and Bednarz (2012), to assess the geospatial thinking differences of undergraduate students. e results show that academic major, academic classification, and exposure to academic geography influence comprehension of geospatial concepts, use of geospatial representation tools, and application of geospatial reasoning processes.
Key Words: geospatial thinking, geography, academic major, academic classification