Student preferences in the depiction of the water cycle and selected landforms

This paper reports an experiment, conducted with 116 undergraduates at an institute of Higher Education in the United Kingdom, to determine if preferences exist in the way selected landscape features and the water (hydrological) cycle are portrayed. The results show that most students can draw simple diagrams of physical landforms from descriptions, but there is some confusion between bird's eye and side views. A significant number of students draw bird's eye views of drainage basins which flow downwards and coastlines which trend from east to west. In sketches of the side views of cliffs, waterfalls, river profiles and landslips, a significant number of students place the feature on the left, facing towards the right. No significant differences exist in the orientation of side views of the water cycle. It is proposed that the preferred orientations are explained by research findings into stroke patterns, although other factors are also identified to explain the results.