Cognitive Ability Of Map Representation Of Preschool Children And Its Application In Orienteering

ObjectiveIn the children’s orienteering curriculum,the curriculum design lacks a theoretical basis,the curriculum content and the development characteristics of children are difficult to match.This study studies the preschool children’s cognitive ability of map representation,explores the development trend of preschool children’s cognitive ability of map representation in the real environment,and the impact of different mapping methods on the preschool children’s cognitive ability of map representation;using the results of the study,put forward a number of principle for developing preschool children’s orienteering curriculum,hoping to provide theoretical support for the development of scientific orienteering.MethodIn a kindergarten in Beijing,90 young children were randomly selected as subjects,30 in each age group.Two research paradigms were used: rotation task and positioning task.Each child tested 3 times using black and white map,landmark map,and color map.Analyze the development trend of map representation and cognitive abilities of preschool children and the influence of different map drawing methods on map cognition of preschool children’s map representation.Some principle were put forward for children’s orienteering.Result1.In the rotating task,the proportion of children in the three age groups who can complete the task independently does not exceed the random probability(50%).2.In the localization task,the score increases with age,and the score of localized independent feature markers is significantly higher than that of non-independent feature markers(P<0.05).The 3-year-old children and 4-year-old children’s score of positioning flag was significantly higher than the score of positioning building(P<0.05);when locating the trees at the edges and center,the 4-year-old and 5-year-old have better performance.3.In the rotation task,the score of girls in the 4-year-old group was similar to that of boys in the 3-year-old group,and that of girls in the 5-year-old group was similar to that of boys in the 4-year-old group.In the localization task,girls’ scores increased significantly with age(P < 0.05).4.When completing the rotation task,the score of the 4-year-old group using the marker map was significantly higher than that of the black and white map(P < 0.05),and the score of the 5-year-old group using the marker map was significantly higher than that of the color map(P < 0.05).When children in the 5-year-old group were using the marker map,the rotation task score was correlated with the positioning task score(P < 0.05).Between the ages of 4 and 5,the score of children using color map to complete the positioning task was significantly improved(P < 0.05).ConclusionThrough experimental research,this paper examines the developmental characteristics of preschool children ’s cognitive abilities of map representation,and the impact of different mapping methods on the children’s cognitive ability of map representation,and draws the following conclusions:1.Children’s cognitive ability of map representation gradually increases with age.The corresponding ability of map representation gradually reaches a higher level,but the development level of corresponding ability of map geometry is still relatively low.2.Children of different genders show different developmental characteristics of map representation cognitive ability: boys’ development level of corresponding ability of map geometry is higher;girls’ development of corresponding ability of map representation is faster.3.4 ～ 5 years old is a sensitive period for children to develop color cognition,and it is suitable to use color maps in orienteering;5-year-old children are suitable to use marker maps to learn “upright maps”.4.In the children’s orienteering,the following principles should be observed:Set up different positioning task locations for children of different ages.The positioning tasks at the age of 3 are mainly independent markers with distinctive characteristics,and independent markers represented by abstract symbols are gradually added.At the age of 4 years,non-independent markers are used as the main task location,and they are set at the edges and central positions.5 years old children use non-independent objects as their main location;Began to use color maps between the ages of 4 and 5 years,and began teaching "upright maps" using marker maps at the age of 5;Boys are suitable for starting the "upright map" teaching earlier,and girls are suitable for setting more difficult positioning task locations.