ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT CARTOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Joshua Comenetz
Department of Geography, University of Florida
PO Box 117315, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
comenetz@geog.ufl.edu
Joshua Comenetz obtained his Ph.D. in geography from the University of Minnesota in 1999 and
has been assistant professor of geography at the University of Florida since then. His research
areas are thematic cartography, data quality analysis, and population geography, with a
specialization in mapping ethnic and religious groups, and he has served as a consultant for
political redistricting. He also holds a geology degree from Harvard University.
Summary
The introductory cartography course at the University of Florida is constructed around a series of laboratory exercises
and exams in thematic mapping. Assessment of student performance is designed to encourage student creativity
rather than to judge adherence to a set of rigid principles. Exercises of increasing complexity combined with a
flexible grading method have resulted in a considerable increase in student enthusiasm for improving their own
cartographic abilities.
Cartographic Instruction
Cartography has been taught at the University of Florida for more than 50 years. Erwin Raisz,
author of physiographic maps still in use at many American universities, worked here for several
years, and for more than 40 years the cartography instructor was John Dunkle, creator of the
Florida Graphic Atlas. There are currently two cartography courses, an introductory one focusing
on thematic mapping and an advanced course that covers graphic design. Until the 1990s, only
manual methods were used, but currently all instruction in cartography is computer-based.
As relatively few students enroll in the advanced cartography course, the main vehicle for
cartography instruction is the introductory thematic mapping course. As is common elsewhere,
this course (called Maps and Graphs) consists of lectures and hands-on laboratory sessions.
Topics covered include map projections, map scale, classification, choropleths, dot maps,
proportional circles, hatching, multivariate maps, mental maps, generalization, queries, buffers,
acquisition of data, data quality, cartographic ethics, and map layout and design. As a recent
survey of cartographic instruction in the US and Canada (Fryman and Sines 1998) confirms, this
course resembles those at many other universities.
Laboratory exercises in Maps and Graphs are currently based on ArcMap, a component of ESRI's
ArcGIS software package. The course was previously taught with MapInfo Professional, which
was easier for students to learn but more costly to license. Several textbooks have been
employed, including those by Campbell (1998), Kraak and Ormeling (1996), and Slocum (1999).
Unfortunately, both students and instructors have found no text to be a good match with the
material presented in the course. Therefore, students are now advised to purchase any basic
cartography text for their own reference, and that they will not be examined on their knowledge of
information derived specifically from the text. This means that assessment of student
cartographic knowledge is based entirely on what they have learned in lecture, through
completion of lab assignments, and from listening to guest lectures and viewing several
cartographic websites. The current syllabus for the course is available at
http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/comenetz/jc.html.
Assessment
Students' cartographic knowledge is assessed in three ways: through their performance on (1)
eleven lab exercises, (2) three written exams, and (3) a lab exam. About half the students enter
the course with no prior experience with any type of computer graphics, while around three
quarters have no significant prior knowledge of cartography or geographic information systems.
The University of Florida does, however, require that all students have access to and be able to
use a computer for word processing and spreadsheet functions. Nevertheless, because the course
attracts students from a variety of academic fields besides geography (anthropology, geology,
history, teacher education, and urban planning, among others), the first step is to ensure that
everyone understands basic computer methods. This is accomplished through an introductory
exercise with the Excel spreadsheet. After this, the following series of exercises are assigned,
mostly using ArcMap:
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Map projections
Classification
Choropleth maps
Point symbols
Data quality
Multivariate cartography
Fieldwork
Basic queries
Buffers and queries
Demographic mapping
Apart from a gradual increase in technical difficulty, these exercises also require progressively
more attention to map layout and design. Each exercise is graded according to both technical
accuracy and the clarity and completeness of map layout, providing for a ten-step improvement in
students' cartographic abilities. While many aspects of map design and technique are assessed
through written comments, students are intentionally graded fairly generously, especially in the
first three exercises, to help build the confidence of those with little background in computers. In
addition, in recognition of the fact that cartography incorporates elements of both science and art,
students are encouraged to vary from the color schemes or layout templates presented by the
instructor. The concepts of measurement levels and visual variables are introduced to explain
different kinds of data and the ways in which symbols can be applied, and principles of
cartography are (mostly) presented as a series of guidelines for good mapping rather than a set of
invariate laws.
Assessment of Laboratory Exercises
Evaluation of lab exercises is based on a combination of specific factors and general principles. A
list of essential elements of a good stand-alone map layout is posted on the course website, while
the assignment sheets for each lab describe the use of cartographic techniques. For example,
students are required to include a title, their name, and a source note on every map, while a
specific exercise might describe different methods for scaling proportional circles (technique)
along with some advice about ensuring a good map layout ("don't let your circles get too large or
they will overlap too much"). Students receive less than full credit for omitting essential elements
or for misusing the assigned technique or type of symbol, but they are not penalized for creative
experimentation. The latter might include use of proportional squares rather than circles, choice
of a different color scheme than those suggested by the instructor, or original ideas about the
arrangement of map elements on the page. Numerous examples of good, bad, and mediocre
maps, using a variety of techniques and employing individual techniques in a variety of ways, are
presented in the classroom, and maps from many different countries are introduced to show that
cartographic techniques are universal yet open to interpretation by individuals.
Though this flexible assessment method initially results in some students going down the wrong
paths, the end result is that most students finish the course with a degree of confidence in their
abilities to create maps that would not have been achieved had cartography been presented as a
rigidly structured science with a goal of perfection that they could not reach without years of
study. This is not to say that one semester of study produces professional cartographers, but this
method does increase students' enthusiasm for mapping, and makes them more eager to improve
their maps--as evidenced by numerous inquiries about aspects of cartography not covered under
the regular course syllabus. Another advantage of this system is that it gives students an
appreciation of the kinds of issues that arise in real-life cartography outside of the classroom or
university, and most students at least become cognizant of some of the most important elements
of effective maps (defined in the course as maps that successfully and accurately communicate
their message to the intended audience). With the spread of geographic information systems, the
vast majority of people who make maps today have little or no cartographic training; thus, one
goal of Maps and Graphs is to improve the quality of maps produced by people who will make
maps as part of their future careers, without actually becoming cartographers or completing
further cartographic training.
Exams and Overall Assessment
The same principle of flexible guidance on which laboratory assessment is based is applied as
much as possible to the exams. Each exam includes a mix of multiple choice or true/false
questions and short answer exercises. The former are used for essential facts about cartography
("A map projection can perfectly preserve both the shape and relative size of map objects: true or
false?"), while the latter ask either for simple reasoning ("Using geometric intervals, divide the
numeric range 1 to 1,000 into 3 ranges") or look for commentary on the appropriate methods for
mapping a hypothetical set of data or for improving a given map (displayed on an overhead
projector during the exam). There is also a lab exam, in which students must create several maps
using ArcMap without any notes or other aids. This is based on the same data sets employed for
the lab exercises, in order to ensure that only cartographic skills are evaluated and extraneous
factors such as the student's ability to comprehend a new data set rapidly are excluded.
Experience shows that while students vary extraordinarily widely in how fast they are able to
complete lab exercises, there is no correlation between speed and quality of cartography--or
between speed and students' final grades.
Exams and lab exercises are each worth 50% of the grade in Maps and Graphs (graduate students
also have to complete a research paper on a cartography-related topic of their choice). Students
like the simplicity of this, while for the instructor it represents an even balance between practical
learning and retention of information. Though the lectures, texts, and lab exercises have all
undergone significant revision over the past few years, the grading scheme has remained
unchanged: the final grades that result truly do (in the instructor's opinion) reflect the range of
student ability and achievement. The proof of this is that the students themselves mostly agree
that the grading is fair, even those who would prefer a smaller quantity of work or less complex
lab exercises.
Future Progress
How will assessment of student cartography change in the future? The increasing presence of
cartography on the internet may not represent as dramatic a change as the shift from manual to
computer-based cartography, but a shift to production of maps for online use rather than paper
publishing means that student maps could be evaluated according to whether they are appropriate
for internet display. For example, the next generation of the Florida Graphic Atlas (Dunkle 1996)
is now being produced on the internet as the Florida Online Population Atlas (Comenetz 2002).
In the same vein, perhaps students ought to be expected to develop maps appropriate for inclusion
in the online atlas rather than the printed atlas. From the point of view of assessment in an
introductory cartography course, however, it is still better to concentrate on building students'
understanding of the core of cartography.
REFERENCES
Campbell, John. 1998. Map Use and Analysis, 3rd ed. Boston: WCB McGraw-Hill.
Comenetz, Joshua. 2002 (latest update). Florida Online Population Atlas. Available online at
http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/comenetz/FL2000maps.html.
Dunkle, John. 1996. The Florida Graphic Atlas, 6th ed. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida.
Fryman, James F., and Bonnie R. Sines. 1998. Anatomy of the Introductory Cartography Course
Revisited. Cartographic Perspectives 30, 6-17.
Kraak, M.J., and F.J. Ormeling. 1996. Cartography: Visualization of Spatial Data. Harlow,
England: Longman.
Slocum, Terry A. 1999. Thematic Cartography and Visualization. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.