Using Eye Tracking to Explore the Impacts of Geography Courses on Map-based Spatial Ability

Weihua Dong, Qi Ying, Yang Yang, Siliang Tang, Zhicheng Zhan, Bing Liu and Liqiu Meng
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Weihua Dong: Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental Remote Sensing and Digital Cities, Research Centre of Geospatial Cognition and Visual Analytics and Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Qi Ying: Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental Remote Sensing and Digital Cities, Research Centre of Geospatial Cognition and Visual Analytics and Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Yang Yang: Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental Remote Sensing and Digital Cities, Research Centre of Geospatial Cognition and Visual Analytics and Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Siliang Tang: Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental Remote Sensing and Digital Cities, Research Centre of Geospatial Cognition and Visual Analytics and Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Zhicheng Zhan: Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental Remote Sensing and Digital Cities, Research Centre of Geospatial Cognition and Visual Analytics and Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Bing Liu: Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental Remote Sensing and Digital Cities, Research Centre of Geospatial Cognition and Visual Analytics and Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Liqiu Meng: Technical University of Munich, 80333 Munich, Germany

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: As part of geography education, geography courses play an important role in the development of spatial ability. However, how geography courses affect map-based spatial ability has not been well documented. In this study, we use an eye-tracking method to explore the impact of geography courses on map-based spatial ability. We recruited 55 undergraduates from Beijing Normal University (BNU) to attend the map-based spatial ability test before and after six-month geography courses arranged by the Faculty of Geographical Science, BNU. The results show that the participants’ map-based spatial ability significantly improved after taking the geography courses; specifically, accuracy increased by 22.3% and response time decreased by 14.7% after training. We analysed two types of eye-movement behaviour; in terms of processing measures, the fixation duration of the topographic map decreased by 18.4% and the fixation distribution was more concentrated after training, and in terms of matching measures, participants have more switch times per second for both photographed scenes and topographic maps. Switch times between options decreased by 48.2%, which is a notable decrease. These empirical results are helpful for the design of geography courses that improve map-based spatial ability.

Keywords: eye tracking; spatial ability; geography education; geography courses (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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