THE PERSISTENCE OF SELECTED GEOGRAPHIC MISPERCEPTIONS - A SURVEY OF JUNIOR-HIGH THROUGH UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE-STUDENTS

The degree to which students misperceive the relative locations of con tinents, states, and ocean sizes was assessed. In order to test suspec ted geographic misperceptions, identical questionnaires were given to more than 700 students from the junior high school through upper under graduate levels, including future teachers. Misperception rates as a f unction of class level, gender, and expressed student interests were t ested using Chi Square. Geographic misperceptions were found to persis t across all measured educational levels. Upper level undergraduate ge ography and earth science students had the best overall score. Junior high school students scored better than students entering both general elementary and science-related teacher preparation classes. Junior hi gh males did significantly better than females. This gender difference decreased in high school and was virtually absent at the university l evel. No significant differences in misperceptions were found between students with different subject matter interests.