PROBLEM POSING FROM MAPS - UTILIZING UNDERSTANDING

In this study, pairs of students in fifth and seventh grade generated and answered questions based on maps. More than 90 percent of the ques tions they generated made sense with reference to the map on which the y were based. Each of these questions was coded in terms of both its i nformational content (symbols: latitude and longitude, and scale) and the process by which a map user obtains the information from the map ( map reading, map interpreting, map inferring). Results indicated that students most often generated three types of questions, which together accounted far more than 80 percent of all the questions: I) read symb ol, 2) infer latitude and longitude, and 3) interpret scale, Qualitati vely, the questions were analyzed for what they revealed about student confusion about map content. Problems with all three aspects of map c ontent were common among both fifth-and seventh-grade students, The pr oblem-posing technique proved useful for evaluating student's knowledg e.