Development of space thought: case study since the management of cartographic representations in the primary level classroom

Abstract

This article is the product of the systematization of the didactic experience generated from the teaching of Social Sciences using information and communication technologies -ICTs-, based on the use of cartographic representations for develop spatial thinking in elementary school students. The research is carried out with fourth grade students of the Juan Bautista Migani Educational Institution of the municipality of Florencia (Caquetá, Colombia), as part of the didactic strengthening for the appropriation of strategies that facilitate teaching and learning processes in the Social Sciences and contribute to a greater apprehension of knowledge on the part of the student and the qualification of the teaching exercise through the use of innovative educational tools. The didactic research was developed under the qualitative approach based on the case study; for this, it was started by the intervention of teachers-tutors of Social Sciences to design and develop practical exercises that sought to establish students' comprehension capacity in terms of space management, from the location and identification of cartographic elements using ICT's - from the Google Maps application - as a didactic tool. This process led to establish the need to incorporate new teaching strategies in the classroom to enrich the teaching practice and facilitate skills and abilities in students to apply knowledge in their interaction with the environment.