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Jeremiah,
You are exactly correct in your note about the interconnections being made visible. I should add that, in my experience, the compass is best used after some basic knowledge has been collected already. For example, in a service learning unit I recommend the use of the compass as an activity to bring all the investigation data together and analyze it before determining a plan. It’s a bridge activity between Investigation (step 1) and planning (step 2). If there is insufficient knowledge (as, for example, a start of a unit) it could also work, but it’s impact is hampered, potentially, by a lack of knowledge, data or opinions that might not be verified (similar to the “need” of a service learning project being unverified).