The power of maps (22 Oct. ‘08)

Paths and patterns on Earth:
The power of maps

What are maps? What do they tell us? How can they help bring geographical thinking to help teach not just Geography but also art, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, etc.? Teachers in Kuppam found out.

• Date: 22 October 2008
• Venue: Agastya International Foundation (AIF), Kuppam (AP).
• Participants: Teachers of various subjects including Art, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Social Studies, Economics, and Mathematics.
• Total number of participants: 33, distributed as follows:  Agastya Staff - 25   ( 7 women+ 18 men), Chikkaballapura - 4   (men), Kunigal - 2   (men), Government Schools - 2  ( women)  (14 were scheduled; there was a strike o only 2 could come).
• Time: 9.30am to 5 pm
• Languages: The workshop was conducted in a mixture of English (main), Telugu, and Kannada. Almost all participants were at least bilingual and understood the English parts fairly well. Translation was provided as needed.

Abstract: 

Singly or in atlases, maps are the most important communication tools of Geography. They help us understand our world and our location in it with all the other things..and people.. With whom we share the world. What are maps? What do they tell us? How do the help us organize information about the world? How do we use maps? What are the elements in a
map? Are all maps the same?

Background:

Pedagogical strength reaches its maximum potential only when:

1. Individual subjects are made relevant to the lived experiences of students, and
2. Inter-disciplinary connections are emphasized to overcome the ‘water-tight’ view of academic learning.

These are vital to promote creative and critical thinking skills in students.

TIIGS strongly believes in this approach to Geography education. Therefore, the engagement with teachers and students always takes this as a standard philosophy. As a result, TIIGS workshops are generally aimed at teachers of ALL subjects, not exclusively Geography or Social Studies teachers.

It was therefore fitting that this workshop saw teachers of various subjects who work with the AIF. They teach art, physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, etc.  We do not know what subjects the Government school teachers might have represented because they were unable to attend the workshop due to a strike.

It is important to note that nothing in the workshop content, structure, or delivery needed changing on any of these counts. This is the power of TIIGS’s philosophy stated above.

Objectives:

1.  Understand
   • Fundamentals of maps
   • Elements of a map
   • How to use an atlas as a teaching aid
   • Types of maps
2. Develop a lesson unit for 1 or 2 class periods that uses maps and map skills to teach a topic of your choice. (These lesson uints are being revised at the time of writing this. When they are ready, a soft copy will be posted on this site. They are in Telugu, Kannada, and English.)

Some participant feedback:

• [The presenter’s] way of thinking was very good. The classes were interesting and very easy to understand. (J. Munaswamy)
• It will be kind of you to develop some Geography projects, through which I can teach Physics. I will also work on it.  (A. Natesh)
• Nice workshop. Now I really understand that Geography is a part of life. (Muniraju K.C.)
• Teaching method is very good. (J.P. Ramesh Kumar)
• Excellent presentation. (M. Jayalakshmi)
• I think the presentation was very good. (P.S. Jayamma)
• Teaching method is good and involved both, students and teachers. (J. Sreenivasulu)

(Thanks to Dr. L. Ramakrishnan for guidance on data analysis)

View glimpses of the two workshops; the teachers’ workshop is at the end.
(When it starts playing, press PAUSE. Let the buffer fill up, then press PLAY)