Enhancing Students’ Ability in Reading Contour Maps Using Gis

Terrain relief is an important feature of geographic environment and a major element of topographic maps. Contour lines are widely adopted as representation of terrain relief in traditional maps. In general, contour maps are still indispensable due to the following reasons: 1) Abundant terrain data are still represented by contour maps; 2) Contour maps contain fewer limits for use in different situations; 3) Reading contour maps can train students’ logical thinking. Yet, contour maps are difficult to comprehend for most students due to their abstract nature. This research takes into account three essential elements involved in contour interpretation: terrain information, map representation and spatial cognition. We incorporate these elements into the creation of terrain relief using GIS and computer mapping software, such as ArcMap and Surfer. The representation being developed include vivid ones and abstract ones so that students can learn to comprehend abstract representations of terrain relief, such as contour maps, through vivid representation. A teaching module composed of these representations is developed and tested before serving as a teaching supplement to geography teachers. It is anticipated that this will contribute to geography teachers’ instruction of contour map reading and facilitate students’ map cognition process. * Corresponding author.