TY - JOUR
T1 - Investigating and facilitating children's graphic, geographic, and spatial development
T2 - An illustration of Rodney R. Cocking's legacy
AU - Liben, Lynn S.
AU - Downs, Roger M.
N1 - Funding Information:
It was several years later that the parallels in our intellectual lives intersected through our response to the fortuitous combination of a public concern and a professional opportunity. The concern was expressed in a series of headlines that appeared in the media and highlighted the shocking state of geographic ignorance in children. Illustrative was a headline reporting that “20 Percent of American Youths Can't Find U.S. on a World Map” (Innerst, 1984) and another entitled “Why Johnny Can't Read Maps Either” (Solorzano, 1985) . The professional opportunity was presented by the announcement from the National Institute of Education (NIE) of a new grant program on cognition and learning. We responded with a collaborative proposal to NIE to study children's developing geographic and graphic understanding. Our idea was to take an interdisciplinary approach to try to understand the developmental challenges that might account for the geographic ignorance documented in those newspaper headlines. Although our training and experiences led us to put basic research questions at the core of our work, we were also intrigued by the implied educational challenges, and thus saw our interests as fitting well with the goals of the NIE program.
Funding Information:
Portions of this article were presented at the biennial meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Tampa, FL, April 2003. The work described here was supported in part by the National Institute of Education (No. G-83-0025) and by the National Science Foundation (No. RED-9554504). We are grateful for this support, but note that no endorsement by any agency is implied for the opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed here.
PY - 2003/12
Y1 - 2003/12
N2 - Presented here is a case history of an interdisciplinary program of research on children's graphic, geographic, and spatial development that integrates approaches from developmental psychology, geography, and education. Some of the theoretical and historical roots of this work are discussed, with a particular emphasis on the roles that Rodney R. Cocking played in the evolution of this work. Described are findings from basic research on children's developing understanding of place representations, such as maps, educational interventions designed for public television and elementary school classrooms, and efforts aimed at national educational reform. Taken together, the work illustrates Rodney Cocking's profound, diverse, and continuing legacy to the scholarship of the academy and to the lives of children.
AB - Presented here is a case history of an interdisciplinary program of research on children's graphic, geographic, and spatial development that integrates approaches from developmental psychology, geography, and education. Some of the theoretical and historical roots of this work are discussed, with a particular emphasis on the roles that Rodney R. Cocking played in the evolution of this work. Described are findings from basic research on children's developing understanding of place representations, such as maps, educational interventions designed for public television and elementary school classrooms, and efforts aimed at national educational reform. Taken together, the work illustrates Rodney Cocking's profound, diverse, and continuing legacy to the scholarship of the academy and to the lives of children.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.appdev.2003.09.008
DO - 10.1016/j.appdev.2003.09.008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0344898996
SN - 0193-3973
VL - 24
SP - 663
EP - 679
JO - Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
JF - Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
IS - 6
ER -