Summary: | 碩士 === 國立交通大學 === 理學院碩士在職專班網路學習學程 === 94 === Through the literature investigation and the analysis of influence factors of three-dimensional space search, this research investigates how the spatial ability and spatial cognition of junior high school students would affect the performance on three-dimensional space search by using the new technology product, Google earth search system. The analysis of spatial cognition provides the researchers with the understanding of human behavior ability on processing of spatial information.
The cognitive map is used as a powerful tool to understand human spatial cognitive ability because the cognitive map is a spatial environment model in human brain. Through the cognitive map, one can extrapolate the spatial cognitive environment in human brain. This research attempts to analyze if junior high school students’ spatial cognition and spatial ability would affect the result of these students’ performance on the three-dimensional space search task. The free software, Google earth, provided by Google Corporation is used in this experiment. This system may truly present the three-dimensional satellite image of every place. It also has the tree-dimensional simulation function in the buildings and terrains. Students may complete the search task by operating this system. The research objects are the ninth grade students of a junior high school in Taichung County. In order to get the information on the students’ spatial ability and spatial cognition, some tests were used for the first stage. Spatial ability is determined by using spatial relationship and abstract reasoning tests in multifactor aptitude test. Spatial cognition is examined by drawing cognitive maps. After that, the teaching experiment is the next stage. The first step in this stage is that the search task is announced by the researcher. The research objects were asked to complete the goal search task assisted by the learning sheet. The goal search of the task was transferred to the internet work area. Then the researcher inspected every student’s search result and quantified the data into numerous scales which is ready for the quantification analysis.
This research shows the students who have greater spatial ability did better on the three-dimensional space search task than those who have lower spatial ability. The result is shown most significantly on the students who score high in spatial relationship test. Students of high rank in spatial cognition also have superior performance in three-dimensional space search to those of lower rank in spatial cognition. It is found, through the experiment, that students’ reference construction abilities have not yet reached the level of integrating reference. Instead, quite a few students are still in the self-reference stage. This reveals that the map ability of the research objects is insufficient.
The outcome from the research on this experiment not only provides the reference for developing three-dimensional search system, but also hopefully, does help the research of junior high school students’ map education.
|