The cognitive factors of spatial ability, human-computer interaction, problem
solving ability, and geographic attitude have been recognized as relevant to teaching and
learning GIS. The goal of this research was to examine these cognitive abilities in
university students taking an introductory course in GIS; examine any changes in these
abilities after completing the class; and examine the relationship between those abilities
and the students grades in the class. It was hypothesized that students with higher
cognitive ability scores would have higher grades than students with lower cognitive
ability scores. Nine different self-report surveys were used to assess the studentsÂ
spatial, computer, problem solving, and geographic cognitive abilities. The surveys
were administered at the beginning and end of the two academic semesters. Analysis of
the students scores revealed a significant improvement on four of the nine cognitive
ability surveys; one that measured computer experience and three that measured spatial
ability. Bivariate correlations and multiple regression analyses were used to measure the
relationship between the students scores on the cognitive ability surveys and the
students grades. Students received grades on lecture exams, lab exercises, individual
projects, and an overall grade. Only two of the bivariate correlations were statistically
significant: the factors of geography attitude and learning style were significantly
correlated with the students project grade. Multiple regression analysis also revealed a
very weak relationship, explaining less than 20 percent of the variance between the
scores on the cognitive ability surveys and the students lecture grade, lab grade, and
overall grade. However, a much stronger relationship, explaining more than 45% of the
variance, existed between the cognitive ability surveys and the students project grade.
These findings suggest that cognitive processes utilized for traditional classroom
learning to pass lecture exams are different than those utilized to learn the software skills
necessary to complete a GIS project. Therefore, it was concluded that the cognitive
ability scores are poor predictors of grades related to traditional classroom learning such
as lecture exams; however, these scores are more useful as predictors of the grades on a
GIS project.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/3349 |
| Date | 12 April 2006 |
| Creators | Vincent, Paul C. |
| Contributors | Bednarz, Robert S. |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | 491072 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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