Meaningful Spatial Frame (Place)

"Organizing events and people in a meaningful space frame" is another way of knowing history in Hennings' model (1993, p. 363). Building a spatial frame of reference facilitates interpretation of history. Hennings argues that "visualizing a mental map of places to which reference is made is important in reading history because readers must 'see' the whole picture if they are to build supportable relationships" (1993, p. 365).

Instructors should encourage students, or students should remind themselves, to mentally picture a map of the area being studied. This is especially effective for areas about which students have prior knowledge.

If students lack the knowledge base to picture a map from memory, atlases should be kept handy for quick and easy reference. After familiarizing themselves with the area, students close the atlas and mentally picture the map.

Differentiate various information or highlight significant information on the mental map. Students may "superimpose arrows on their mental maps to show migrations and routes of travel, to color their mental maps to differentiate mountains, plains, and deserts, and mentally to add labels for important cities, provinces, and countries" (Hennings, 1993, p. 365).

We might add this approach to Herring's strategies. For students who have difficulty picturing things mentally or remembering mental images, try actually recording important spatial information on map templates. Blank map templates are available in most book stores, usually in the teacher/education section. Use different colors to distinguish different types of information.

In addition to abstract mapping, students should try to mentally picture the realistic settings of the places mentioned in the book or during lecture. Try to indulge all of the senses to make the images more meaningful. Imagine the sights, smells, and sounds of the places being studied. If students lack the prior knowledge to mentally experience places or situations, refer them to pictures in the text or provide encyclopedia pictures, movies, slides, and other media.