Detlev Mares

Place in Time: GIS and the Spatial Imagination in Teaching History

The chapter argues that GIS can be a fundamental tool in the teaching of historical spatial thinking. Using GIS in education enhances pupils’ awareness of space on two levels: On a theoretical level, it will help them to understand that visualizations of historical space are constructions which may serve as impulses for further investigations instead of space being taken for granted. On a more pragmatic level, GIS supports the fundamental aims of history teaching, such as raising pupils’ capacity for framing questions and employing problem solving approaches. The main section of the paper will be devoted to developing a model combining both levels in the use of GIS in history teaching.