Analysis of Discourse in Collaborative Cartographic Problem Solving

Abstract

Small-scale thematic maps that use point symbols to show the location of economic activity are a common feature of school atlases. They have, however, undergone a considerable amount of generalisation in their preparation and we know little about how school students make meaning from them. Using a simple software mapping tool, 50 pairs of school students, aged 11–14 years, were invited to make a map involving point symbol generalisation in order to identify their map making strategies. Discourse between participating pairs was recorded and analysed for its strategic and ideational content. The quality of map made was associated with the type of talk used whilst making it. Older pairs of children used more reasoning and questioning strategies in conjunction with greater use of cartographic concepts.

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