Spatial Thinking or Thinking Geographically? On the Importance of Avoiding Maps without Meaning. GI_Forum 2013 – Creating the GISociety|

It is widely accepted that to produce a map students need to be able to think spatially. This article does not question the importance of spatial thinking, but it argues that to produce a geographically sound map, that is a map that does not only show where things are, but that tries to answer a geographical question, it is also relevant to be able to think geographically. In its empirical part it shows that students who are half-way through their studies to become teachers often lack this ability which inevitably has repercussions for school geography