The development and testing of an instructional package to teach the basic map reading skills of latitude and longitude to low-achieving junior high school students

Greenham, Lloyd G. (Lloyd George) (1981) The development and testing of an instructional package to teach the basic map reading skills of latitude and longitude to low-achieving junior high school students. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop and test an instructional unit on the topic, Latitude and Longitude, and to decide whether such a social studies instructional unit produced positive achievement for slow-learning students at the junior high school level. The unit was developed in response to an educational problem that centers around the fact that children vary individually in their learning capacities as they enter junior high school. Prior to and in conjunction with the development of the instructional package a review of literature and research related to instructional development and learning theories in general and to map skills specifically was conducted. Also, it was hypothesized that the instructional unit leads to a greater achievement than the traditional textbook-lecture method of instruction. -- The steps involved in designing the instructional package were described and revisions were made on the basis of criticisms from teachers, a professional geographer, an instructional development specialist, and a group of students. The package was subjected to the Lorge-Thorndike word list and revisions were made, where necessary, in order to arrive at a vocabulary level appropriate for a slow-learning grade seven class. -- After the program was developed, it was tested and evaluated at Beothuk Collegiate, Baie Verte, Newfoundland. The kit was compared with the textbook-lecture method of instruction in an experimental versus a control group situation. Through a table of random selection the students in a slow-learning grade seven class were assigned to treatments. A pretest-posttest design was used to test the hypotheses. A t-test was used to test for significant differences. -- The limitations and findings of the study were listed and described briefly. Also, suggestions for future research and development were presented for consideration. -- On the basis of the findings it was concluded that the instructional package may be used as prerequisite material to assist pupils in gaining an understanding of place location and other related map reading skills.

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