Globetrotting and Trendspotting: Research Mapping with Google Maps Engine

Encouraging Innovation and Technology: HHLib 9 Online ConferenceFeb 27, 2014

Margot Hanson & Michele Van HoeckCalifornia State University Maritime

Incident Map Assignment

Poll: Your perspective on annotated bibliographies as a learning tool?

• They’re useful for teaching information literacy concepts

• They have some value for certain students

• I find them tedious and ineffective

Freshman view...

Pointless

Enter the Annotated Map

Inspiration from...

Inspiration from...

Poll: Have you used mapping apps in class?

• I haven’t used mapping tools at all

• I plan to in the future

• I’ve tried a tool such as Google Maps or ZeeMaps

• I’ve incorporated mapping into my teaching repertoire

• I am ArcGIS certified

Learning Outcomes

1. News Research:Students will locate relevant news stories on a current issue in their major in order to select the most significant and reliable sources of information.

2. Synthesis and Mapping:Students will create an annotated map in order to synthesize and organize information spatially.

News Research Competencies

• Identify types of news articles: daily news, investigative news, opinion pieces, press releases

• Evaluate search results for significance & relevance

• Use filter tools of LexisNexis and CountryWatch

Incident Map Assignment

• Identify a topic you would like to illustrate with a map.

• Identify four significant events related to your topic. These events should have occurred in different places within one country or region of the world. For many topics, Lexis/Nexis or CountryWatch will help with this.

• Create a map using Google Maps and mark the location of your four events using pushpins. Annotate each pushpin with date and brief summary (2 sentences) of each event in the description.

• Create APA citations for your sources and add them to their relevant descriptions.

• Change the settings in your map to share with anyone who has the link (otherwise I won’t be able to see it), and email a link to your Google map.

Grading Checklist

___ Are incidents significant and all related to topic?

___ Are incidents located accurately on map?___ Are incidents described clearly and concisely?

___ Are sources reliable and cited correctly?

Handout online: http://bit.ly/OnxxDe

Examples of Student Work

Let’s go for a test drivehttps://mapsengine.google.com/map

Poll: If you’ve used mapping in a class, what have you tried? Please share...

Free text response

Assessing this assignment

• Students had trouble limiting topic to one region of world

• Annotations too brief

• Selected articles not always well-focused

• Google maps platform not intuitive, always changing

Assignment revisions to try:

• Teach “who what when where how why” checklist for annotations

• Introduce hypothetical audience for map

• Check-in and vet topics earlier or more explicitly in class

• Emphasize value of regional focus

Thank you!Questions?

mhanson@csum.edumvanhoeck@csum.edu

Globe image from Flickr user ToastyKen