Animated, interactive maps in middle level social studies

Students at all levels are experiencing difficulty with mastery of geographic content. This trend has been documented over time and little progress has been made in overcoming the problem despite a growing understanding of both the problem and of alternative techniques in presenting geographic information via maps. While other fields (e.g. ecological studies, anthropology, archeology, city planning, and cartography) have moved quickly to incorporate technological solutions into map reading efforts, education has not.; The current study tests the hypothesis that (a) students trained to read maps with the temporal dimension (time) illustrated by scaled animations rather than by symbolic representations and (b) having control over the features depicted on the map (animated, interactive maps) will be more successful in solving problems. This will be contrasted with students using maps illustrating time with fixed, immovable symbols (static maps) and using static maps in problem solving.; Following instruction, students in eight, sixth and seventh grade socials studies classrooms, were tested on three aspects of geography, (a) map reading, (b) feature recognition, and (c) vocabulary. Students were randomly assigned to use either printed static maps, computer-delivered static maps, or animated, interactive maps during the assessment. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that students performing a map reading exercise using animated maps outperformed students using static maps (whether on paper or computer-delivered) for an identical exercise without regard to their assignment for instruction. Student success on measures of feature recognition and vocabulary was not affected by either instruction or assessment.; The study concludes that students provided with animated, interactive maps are more successful with measures of understanding and problem solving. This indicates that animated maps can enhance student learning on exercises where map content is more important than development of map reading skills.