A Study of Educators' Perceptions of Spatial Thinking

dc.contributor.advisorDr. Stacy Nelson, Committee Memberen_US
dc.contributor.advisorDr. Robert Serow, Committee Memberen_US
dc.contributor.advisorKenneth H. Brinson, Jnr., Committee Co-Chairen_US
dc.contributor.advisorDr. Paul Bitting, Committee Co-Chairen_US
dc.contributor.authorBranch, Benjamin DeWayne Jr.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2010-04-02T18:42:29Z
dc.date.available2010-04-02T18:42:29Z
dc.date.issued2009-04-22en_US
dc.degree.disciplineEducational Research and Policy Analysisen_US
dc.degree.leveldissertationen_US
dc.degree.namePhDen_US
dc.description.abstractABSTRACT BRANCH, BENJAMIN D. A Study of Educators’ Perceptions of Spatial Thinking (Under the direction of Dr. Paul Bitting and Kenneth H. Brinson, Jnr.) The purpose of this dissertation study was to explore perceptions of policy makers and educators towards spatial thinking. Following the issuance of Executive Order 12906, Coordinating Geographical Data Acquisition and Access: The National Spatial Data Infrastructure, by the federal government in 1994, educators have become interested in exploring their possible roles in spatial thinking, broadly defined as the use of space to define, formulate and solve problems. This work was a qualitative study that relied on interview data from educators and policy makers who have some knowledge and/or experience with spatial thinking. From the interviews, four themes emerged: public interest, administrative capacity, classroom use and policy and research. Suggestions are offered for enhancing the role of spatial thinking in each of these areas.en_US
dc.identifier.otheretd-03122009-111511en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://www.lib.ncsu.edu/resolver/1840.16/4017
dc.rightsI hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dis sertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report.en_US
dc.subjectDeweyen_US
dc.subjectExecutive Order 12906en_US
dc.subjectgeographical information systemsen_US
dc.subjectSpatial thinkingen_US
dc.titleA Study of Educators' Perceptions of Spatial Thinkingen_US

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
etd.pdf
Size:
1.06 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format

Collections