Browsing by Author "Engelbarth, Susanna"

The purpose of this study is to explore 13–14-year-old Finnish and English students' knowledge of the location of countries in the world and whether experiences related to their hobbies, interests or travelling will have an effect on this knowledge. The aim is to determine which countries' locations students are aware of and which ones they find difficult, and also to recognise areas on the world map where students place countries of which locations they are unsure. In this study a comparison is made between gender and nationalities both in their level of knowledge of country locations and the differences in that knowledge. Students' (n = 90) knowledge of the locations of world countries was investigated by using a map test, whereby students were asked to place 20 given countries on a blank world map containing country borders. Students were also encouraged to attempt to place those countries of which locations they were unsure. On the other side of the map test, students answered questions about their travelling-related experiences of the countries in the test, questions about their general interest towards geography and world events, and also if maps somehow played a part in their hobbies. Overall students were found to have a reasonable understanding of countries' locations on the world map. According to this study students were more successful in placing countries on the map that have a large surface area, which have a specific shape, whose culture is more familiar to the students, or are popular holiday destinations. Students found it difficult to place countries that are located in the middle of a continent, are smaller in surface area, have a non-specific shape or have a more remote location. Furthermore, it was revealed that as an area, Africa is largely unfamiliar to the students, and a proportion of the countries whose true location was unknown to the students were placed in Africa. As has been previously reported, this study concurs with earlier research, that boys excel above girls in their knowledge of world country locations. English students received higher scores in the map test compared to their Finnish counterparts. Factors such as an interest in geography, travelling-related experiences and having maps on display at home all had a moderate effect on student's score in the test. It was confirmed in this study that it is important in school geography to emphasise the teaching of the location of world countries and places, because without purposeful teaching, the student's mental map of the world remains potentially vague.