The Relationships and Mediated Effects of College Students' Spatial Self-Efficacy, Map-Drawing Ability and Map Literacy

This study investigated the relationships among Taiwanese college students' map-drawing ability, spatial self-efficacy (direction judgment, distance estimation, and location memory), and map literacy (using maps, estimating maps, drawing maps). The mediated effects of students' map-drawing ability on the relationship between their spatial self-efficacy and map literacy were explored. A total of 182 undergraduates were selected from a university in Kaohsiung City through convenient sampling. Campus sketch maps as well as the spatial self-efficacy scale (SSES) and map literacy scale (MLS) were employed to measure college students' map-drawing ability, spatial self-efficacy, and map literacy. These skills were then compared and contrasted through factor analyses, t tests, correlation analyses, hierarchical regression, and theme content analyses. The results revealed that male college students possessed significantly higher map literacy than their female counterparts did. The students' spatial self-efficacy, map-drawing ability, and map literacy were significantly and positively related. In addition, this study provides evidence to support that map-drawing ability partially mediates between direction judgment and map use. The implications of the findings and recommendations for future research are discussed.