What we know about map-reading skill

Maps and map-reading skill are relevant to professional fields, such as natural resource exploration, land management, conservation, and military operations. They are also relevant to the pursuit of personal interests, such as back-country hiking and camping. Knowing how people read maps has educational applications for systemic instruction across grade levels to develop their map-reading skill. The aim of the present study is to answer the question: How do individuals develop of map-reading skill from infancy to adulthood? This research is conducted with a pragmatic worldview (Creswell, 2014) and utilizes the methodology of an integrative literature review (Arthurs, 2019; Torraco, 2005. Articles that constitute the data for this study were collected from the ERIC (ProQuest) database. They were found utilizing combinations of the following search terms: map reading, map interpretation, skill, and development. The search yielded a total of 154 articles. Fischer’s skill theory (Fischer, 1980; Fischer, 2009; Fischer & Bidell, 2007; Fischer & Lamborn, 1989) informs the coding manual developed to record certain information from each article, the discussion of the recorded information, and the synthesis of that information. The discussion of the recorded and analyzed information shows wide interest in map-related tasks among three principle research communities: cartographers, cognitive psychologists, and science education researchers. Most research focus on studying map-use skills instead of the development of map-reading skill. Map-use skills, such as navigation, are dependent on map-reading skill, but research on the development of actual map-reading skill is scant. The lack of much research in this area is connected to the lack of identified skills, tasks, strategies, and processes related to map reading (e.g., Lobben, 2004). Within-map skills and tasks identified in the reviewed literature and Fischer’s skill theory are used to develop a theory of map-reading skill development. This new theory brings together otherwise seemingly unconnected map-related skills in different studies into an orderly framework for conceptualizing the development of map-reading skill.