Promoting and assessing student´s Critical Spatial Thinking skills for

significant learning in ESD through geospatial technologies

Vânia Carlos (University of Aveiro) | vania.carlos@ua.ptNorberto Santos (University of Coimbra) | norgeo@ci.uc.pt

Example of a cycle..

The Action/Research Project

Geographical Teaching and Learning strategies supported by geospatial technologies promote significant learning in ESD through Critical Spatial Thinking

Hypothesis

http://vampcat.wikia.com/wiki/File:ArcView_GIS_Spatial_Analyst.gif

How to promote and assess Critical Spatial Thinking, on the scope for ESD?

Does the use of geospatial technologies promote the development and assessment of Critical Spatial Thinking?

What are the main difficulties to promote CST skills?

Goals and research questions

Literature Review Focus Group (specialists researchers) Learning goals with Geographic Information

Technologies Assessment of Critical Spatial Thinking skills

through fieldwork (geographic enquiry) Focus Group (students)

Methodology

Taxonomies of Spatial Thinking- National Research Council (2006)- Jo, I., Bednarz, S., & Metoyer, S. (2010)- Janelle, D. G. and M. F. Goodchild (2011)

Literature Review

http://www.teachspatial.org/finding-spatial/6485&docid

http://www.teachspatial.org/finding-spatial/449&docid

http://www.teachspatial.org/finding-spatial/6486&docid

Taxonomies of Critical Thinking

Literature Review

http://pegiflynt.com/images/criticalThinkingSkills.png

Focus Group (specialists)

CT attitudes- Try to be well informed- Having an open mind- Take a position (and

change) CT capabilities- Focusing on one issue- Analyze arguments - Make and evaluate

inferences

ST concepts- scale, space, territory, place- distance and routes- location- spatial dependence- “thirdspace” or lived places ST reasoning processes- scaling and levels of

conceptualization - generalization and relativisation, - spatial perception- summarizing

Focus Group (specialists)

Geographical competences- The development of the ability to think geographically- The correct use of graphic and cartographic techniques - The predisposition to be geographically well informed - The relativization of the importance of the place where the individual

lives Geographical learning goals- The student develops fieldwork for the collection of data needed to

understand places and physical and human phenomena- The student identifies and uses arguments based on the discussion of

environmental and social issues- The student evaluates alternative views on interventions in the territory

Spatial Thinking – fundamental concepts

- Spatial primitives (LG1 - LG3)- Simple spatial concepts (LG4 – LG7)- Complex spatial concepts (LG8 – LG12) Geographic Enquiry and Spatial

Thinking process- Intern (LG13 – LG14)- Extern (LG15 – LG21) Geographic Education and

Transdisciplinarity- (LG22 – LG29)

Learning goals with Geographic Information Technologies

Group I - LG1 - Uses formal and informal

methods to determine "where" through Reference System coordinates (Location)

- LG15 - Speak, write and think spatially, through the use of spatial language (limit, boundary, region, area, location, direction, distance, ...)

- LG19 - Represent geographic phenomena using geometric shapes (points, lines and polygons)

- LG23 - Values socio cultural and biological diversity

- LG27 - Combines the use of TIG with traditional resources (books, atlas, globe, photography)

Learning goals with Geographic Information Technologies

Group II - LG1 - Uses formal and informal

methods to determine "where" through Reference System coordinates (Location)

- LG2 - Recognizes the identity and uniqueness of places and territory space (Space, Place, Territory)

- LG15- LG23- LG26 – Uses GIT to collect data

and to present and analyze the data collected in the field

- LG29 - Is motivated with articulated strategies in with ICT, Art, TE, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, etc.

Factual enquiry / Values enquiry- Observation and perception- Definition and description- Analysis and explanation- Prediction and evaluation- Decision-making Personal evaluation and judgment Personal response General attitudes- Curiosity- Respect- Attention- EngagementLevels: 1.Beggining 2. Developing 3. Accomplished 4. Exemplary

Assessment of Critical Spatial Thinking skills through fieldwork

and geographic enquiry

Group I Values enquiry : - Analysis and

explanation - Prediction and

evaluation Transversal

attitudes: - Curiosity- Respect- Engagement

Assessment of Critical Spatial Thinking skills through fieldwork

and geographic enquiry

Assessment of Critical Spatial Thinking skills through fieldwork

and geographic enquiryGroup II Factual enquiry : - Observation and

perception- Definition and

description Transversal

attitudes: - Curiosity- Respect- Attention - Engagement

Does the use of Geospatial Technologies (GT) promote the development and assessment of CST?

- Purpose: ‘see if there were changes or not’, ‘know if there´s a connection between man and nature’

- Competences: ‘sustainable consumption’, ‘environmental responsibility’, ‘entrepreneurship and innovation’, ‘civic participation’

- GT and (C)ST: ‘get to places where I have never been’, ‘explore’, ‘find things, know more about them and why they are there’, ‘without GT we couldn´t mark places and we couldn´t know where we had passed´, ‘preserve’

- Best: ‘had fun and learned at the same time’, used new technologies’, ‘shared different ideas’, ‘we were not taking classes… we were, but in a fun way’

Focus Group (students / Group I)

Focus Group (students / Group II)

Does the use of Geospatial Technologies (GT) promote the development and assessment of CST?

- Purpose: ´go to the reserve of oleander’, ‘Explore, choose the paths, discover new ways´, ‘Take pictures of what we found most important’

- Competences: ‘critical thinking and solving problems’, ‘entrepreneurship and innovation’, ‘environmental responsibility’, ‘civic participation’

- GT and (C)ST: ‘Mark paths, record routes’, ‘Find places, with GPS’, ‘take pictures, notes, descriptions’, ‘know the distance between the reserve and the school’, ‘to travel’, ‘ít´s like a touristic center, we go there (Google Earth) and check if we would like to go to some place or not’

Focus Group (students / Group II)

Does the use of Geospatial Technologies (GT) promote the development and assessment of CST?

- Best: ‘In class we can only hear how it is, and here we actually experienced it’, ‘We had various disciplines at the same time without realizing it’, ‘some subjects we don´t like, here we enjoyed (mathematics)’, ‘never had crossed the river, and did not even know that there were trout and barbel’, ‘Knowing the oleanders, never had there been’

- Relevance of (C)ST: ‘to think about where we are’, ‘why is it reserve?’, ‘In what other places there are oleander?’, ‘why only there?’, ‘To outsiders this is a surprise. For us is not much, because we see it so often…’, ‘to know the tourist and economic value’

- Fieldwork: ‘If we go there with a purpose, we find better things. When we just walk we are distracted’ / ‘When we go there with no goal we can discover no more goals’

Spatial thinking and GT » focus now on the “Critical”

Design strategies/materials (scripts) for the promotion of CST skills, as examples…

Evolve students in their own evaluation process…

Conclusion and further development

Thanks, Danke, Obrigada!