New book Teaching Mathematics Using Interactive Mapping bridges the disciplines of mathematics, geography, and GIS
I am very pleased to announce a new book that I was honored to write with Dr Sandra Arlinghaus and Dr Bill Arlinghaus, entitled Teaching Mathematics Using Interactive Mapping. As the title implies, it is intended to:
- Offer new, relevant, exciting ways to teach and learn math topics such as ratios, set theory, area and volume measurement, and hierarchies through foundational text and graphics, and interactive maps tied to hands-on activities.
- Help students become comfortable using mathematics using problems from a variety of professions, including natural hazards mitigation, city planning, utility management, health, business, habitat restoration, and many more.
- Break down disciplinary barriers and encourage a cross-disciplinary approach to teaching and learning.
Why combine math and maps?
- It helps make mathematics more interesting, by tying it to 21st Century issues such as water, population change, energy, 3D landscapes, natural hazards, and other topics, and to in-demand career paths.
- It can help reverse the downward trend that has been occurring in the math achievement test scores for many years, giving instructors some wonderful interactive methods and data sets,
- There are no maps, nor any GIS, without mathematics. Mathematics provides the foundation for all mapping—the topological relationships, the database structure, the shape of the Earth that we are mapping, everything.
- Math-with-maps provides a rich array of data and tools: The book immerses students in creating scatter plots, analyzing tables, mapping multiple variables, creating simple expressions, measurement, coordinate systems, and more.
- The combination enables students to build practical and problem-solving skills that rest on mathematical principles. Students move from thinking about maps as references that focus solely on "where is" something, to analytical tools, focusing on the "whys of where." Success with this transition through interaction permits most readers to master mathematical concepts and also, in the process, GIS tools.
What tools are used in the book?
The web-based GIS maps, apps, and other tools and data in the book can be accessed on any device, anywhere, at any time, requiring no prior GIS background. These tools include 2D and 3D maps in ArcGIS Online, infographics, dashboards, multimedia story maps, ArcGIS Living Atlas apps, and selected other tools such as GapMinder graphs and charts, cartograms, and environmental mapping tools. No software is required; a standard web connection is all that is needed. None of the activities requires any sign in or log in to ArcGIS Online or any other tools. The book features an accompanying Solution Guide that is beneficial for instructors, students, and other readers as an aid to gauging progress, and a complete set of resources including data, lessons, and mapping tools to keep learning.
Who can use the book?
This textbook can be used for undergraduate and graduate students in universities and community colleges including those in basic mathematics courses, and in selected secondary schools. It can also be used for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in geographic information systems, remote sensing, photogrammetry, geography, geodesy, information science, engineering, and geology. Professionals interested in learning techniques and technologies for collecting, analyzing, managing, processing, and visualizing geospatial datasets will also benefit from this book as they refresh their knowledge in mathematics. The book can be used wholly or selected chapters can also be used. However, for maximum benefit, the book was written as a scaffolded set where each chapter builds on concepts and skills learned in previous chapters. The book can also be used by GIS professionals to deepen their skills in selected topics.
Chapters and Threads
The 9 chapters include: Classifying Numbers and the Distributive Law, Fractions and Decimals, Simple Relational Measures and Measures of Central Tendency and Variation, Earth Measurement, Coordinate Systems and Trigonometry, Data, Variables, and Thematic Maps, Set Theory and Algebra, Dimension and Geometry, Proximity and Adjacency, and Measuring Hierarchies and Patterns.
Several threads run through the book, including understanding how to use and understand many types of data (maps, imagery, 3D scenes, and more), that scale matters, and that mathematics can be applied through maps to understand our world. The book fosters spatial thinking, critical thinking, problem-based learning, community connections, content knowledge, and students as agents of positive change.
For More Information
To access the book, particularly the ebook + format that offers the most interactivity, see:
A chapter listing for the book is provided here:
Videos: Seeing is Believing
In the following video, you will see selected interactive maps that you will interact with in the book:
https://youtu.be/GqisuReZoO4?si=MSrZYcG2ToLoeeuo
In the following video, we discuss why we authored the book and describe its contents:
https://youtu.be/Lkcnrohzbm0?si=So--H5D8IdB7V_zi
As educators and researchers with deep experience in teaching mathematics, geography, and spatial analysis, we love presenting these topics in a way that we believe can enliven mathematics and make it more inquiry-driven. I look forward to your feedback and how you are making use of the book.