Influence of Academic ABSTRACT Variables on Geospatial Skills of Undergraduate Students: An Exploratory Study

Spatial thinking and learning are essential components of geography education . The National Research Council’s 2006 report “Learning to Think Spatially” emphasized that people vary with respect to performance on spatial tasks . This pilot study at a large Texas university investigated geospatial thinking variances among undergraduate students based on academic experience of students . T his exploratory study uses the Geospatial T hinking Survey (GTS), based on the Spatial T hinking Ability Test (STAT) endorsed by Association of American Geographers (2006) and published by Lee and Bednarz (2012), to assess the geospatial thinking differences of undergraduate students . The results show that academic major, academic classification, and exposure to academic geography influence comprehension of geospatial concepts, use of geospatial representation tools, and application of geospatial reasoning processes