The Effect of the Border on Student Views of the World: Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora

A comparison of freehand sketch maps of the world provides a simple but effective means of exploring images of the world. The maps of 60 high school students from Nogales, Arizona, and 60 from Nogales, Sonora, were analyzed according to number of map features included, percent of features for each continent, frequency of country identification in South America and Asia, perceived relative sizes of the continents, and the accuracy of forms of the continents. The data were examined to discover cultural influences on map differences, and other influences such as proximity, size and shape of countries and continents, and currency in the news of particular countries. Results indicated a tendency for Mexican students to have a better conception of South America, while the American students were more aware of many Asian areas. Both groups saw North America and Europe as the most important areas of the world, suggesting the importance of their cultural roots there. (Author/JH)