Map-Based Argumentation in Teacher Training: Conceptual Beliefs of Geography Students in Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain

Abstract The acquisition of map-based argumentation skills is of great importance to prepare learners for social participation in finding solutions to current global challenges. Since it is the task of geography education to teach students these skills, it requires adequately trained teachers who themselves have an appropriate conceptual understanding of map-based argumentation and are aware of the didactic advantages and challenges of this approach. This international study therefore investigated the didactic understanding of map-based argumentation among 246 geography students in Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain using questionnaire in a pre–posttest design. Additionally, this study examined the importance they attach to teaching these skills in the context of map skills and whether their attitudes change as a result of completing a project seminar. It was shown that the majority of students had only a rudimentary understanding of the concept before the course and attributed little importance to map-based argumentation in relation to other map skills. Participation in seminars across the three countries, where map-based argumentation was explicitly taught and applied, enhanced students’ conceptual understanding and increased their appreciation of its didactic value. These findings underscore the importance of targeted training in teacher education to embed map-based argumentation as a core component of geography instruction.