Visual-spatial Ability in STEM Education: Transforming Research into Practice

263 Pages·2017·6.72 MB·English

by  Myint Swe Khine (eds.)

Myint Swe Khine Editor
Visual-spatial
Ability in STEM
Education
Transforming Research into Practice
Visual-spatial Ability in STEM Education
Myint Swe Khine
Editor
Visual-spatial Ability
in STEM Education
Transforming Research into Practice
Editor
Myint Swe Khine
Emirates College for Advanced Education
Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates
Curtin University, Perth, Australia
ISBN 978-3-319-44384-3 ISBN 978-3-319-44385-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-44385-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016954308
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017
T his work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
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does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
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Printed on acid-free paper
This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature
The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland
Contents
Part I Introduction
1 Spatial Cognition: Key to STEM Success ............................................. 3
Myint Swe Khine
Part II Measurement and Development of Spatial Ability
2 Validity of Spatial Ability Tests for Selection into STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Career Fields:
The Example of Military Aviation ......................................................... 11
James F. Johnson , Laura G. Barron , Mark R. Rose ,
and Thomas R. Carretta
3 Spatial Ability: Measurement and Development ................................. 35
Rita Nagy-Kondor
4 Measuring Spatial Visualization: Test Development Study ................ 59
Nazan Sezen Yüksel
5 Various Spatial Skills, Gender Differences,
and Transferability of Spatial Skills ...................................................... 85
Lu Wang
Part III Research and Practices in Spatial Ability
6 What Innovations Have We Already Lost?: The Importance
of Identifying and Developing Spatial Talent ....................................... 109
Jonathan Wai and Harrison J. Kell
7 Empowering Visuo-spatial Abilities Among Italian Primary
School Children: From Theory to Practice .......................................... 125
Maria Chiara Fastame
v
vi Contents
8 The Improvement of Spatial Ability and its Relation
to Spatial Training .................................................................................. 143
Yi-Ling Cheng
9 A Spatial-Semiotic Framework in the Context of Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs) ............................................ 173
Melih Turgut
10 Gender Differences in Spatial Ability: Implications
for STEM Education and Approaches to Reducing the
Gender Gap for Parents and Educators ............................................... 195
David Reilly , David L. Neumann , and Glenda Andrews
11 Ranking and Predicting Results for Different Training
Activities to Develop Spatial Abilities ................................................... 225
Jorge Martín-Gutiérrez and M. Montserrat Acosta González
12 How Does Space Interact with Numbers? ............................................ 241
Virginie Crollen and Marie-Pascale Noël
Part I
Introduction
Chapter 1
Spatial Cognition: Key to STEM Success
Myint Swe Khine
1.1 Introduction
T he capacity to perceive the visual images accurately, construct mental representa-
tions and imaginary of visual information, understand and manipulate the spatial
relations among objects have been considered as spatial ability, a powerful indicator
of personal quality and individual differences. Past and present studies reveal the
signifi cant correlations between spatial ability and success in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics courses and to some extent, gender. Some researchers
suggest that spatial ability is malleable and can be improved with interventions,
enrichment and training activities. There is currently a renewed interest in visual
and spatial reasoning skills to identify the talented students and encourage them to
pursue the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related
careers and function well in techno-centric world.
T his book attempts to address in defi ning spatial abilities, ways to measure them,
impact and how it can affect learning subjects in scientifi c domains. Each chapter in
this book provides unique contribution to the body of the literature and enhance the
understanding of spatial ability and its infl uence on learning. The aim of this book
is deliberately broad to cover wide ranging topics and perspectives from cognitive
psychology, educational psychology, science, technology, engineering and mathe-
matics disciplines and human development. The topics covered in this book are
defi ning spatial ability and its factors, measurement of spatial ability and psycho-
metric analyses, educational strategies to improve spatial skills and implication to
science and technology education. It is hoped that information contained in this
book will provide knowledge growth and current thinking about visual-spatial abil-
M. S. Khine (*)
Emirates College for Advanced Education , Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates
Curtin University , Perth , Australia
e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 3
M.S. Khine (ed.), Visual-spatial Ability in STEM Education,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-44385-0_1
4 M.S. Khine
ity, spatial reasoning, spatial cognition and spatial intelligence. The book is
organized in two parts. While Part 1 introduces the measurements and development
of spatial ability, Part 2 covers research and practices in spatial ability in different
educational settings.
1.2 Measurements and Development of Spatial Ability
P art 1 begins with the chapter by Johnson, Barron, Rose and Carretta from the US
Air Force. Johnson and co-investigators presented the validity of spatial ability tests
for selection into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
career fi elds with the examples from the military aviation sector. In their chapter
(Chap. 2 ) the authors reviewed the research literature on the validity of spatial abil-
ity tests for predicting performance in STEM fi elds and examined the validity of
spatial ability tests compared to verbal and quantitative measures for predicting
training outcomes of aircrew and pilots. The chapter presents three studies that
show that spatial ability tests add substantive incremental validity to measures of
numerical and verbal ability for predicting pilot training outcomes. The authors
recommended that future studies should explore to discover which combination of
spatial cognition tests would maximize incremental predictive validity over the tra-
ditional tests.
In Chap. 3 , Nagy-Kondor from the University of Debrecen suggested that spatial
visualization skills are important to be successful in several academic disciplines
including technical education, mathematics and engineering subjects. Past studies
consistently pointed out that there is a correlation between various measures of
spatial skills and performance in the STEM subjects. The author described various
tests that measures spatial abilities that include Mental Cutting Test, Purdue Spatial
Visualization Test, Mental Rotation Test, and Heinrich Spatial Visualization Test.
Among these tests visualization of rotation is widely used to measure the spatial
ability. The author presents other tests that utilize interactive animation and virtual
solids in training spatial skills with the use of Dynamic Geometry Systems.
A test development study to measure spatial visualization is presented by
NazanYukselin Chap. 4 . The author describes the development of new test to mea-
sure spatial visualization ability with the use of contextual items specifi cally related
to mathematics. The test consists of 29 items that cover six different types of ques-
tions. The test is designed to fi nd out whether the student can (i) determine the
three-dimesional form of geometric shapes after they are rotated around an axis of
two-dimensional geometric shapes, (ii) determine the three-dimesional shapes
resulting from which two-dimensional geometric shapes after rotating around any
axis, (iii) identify the close state of a three-dimensional object from a given open
state, and (iv) identify the open state of three-dimensional object from a given close
state. The test was administered to 236 students who are studying in mathematics
and mathematics education programs and various statistical analyses were con-
ducted. The chapter reports the fi ndings and the author concluded that the test
achieved high level of reliability and validity.
1 Spatial Cognition: Key to STEM Success 5
In Chap. 5 , Lu Wang from Ball State University, USA presented the various spa-
tial skills, gender differences and trainability and transferability of spatial skills.
The author attempted to clarify the conceptual distinctions among terms that have
been used interchangeably in the literature. These include spatial perception, mental
rotation, spatial visualization, mental imagery and visuospatial working memory
(VSWM). The focus of the chapter is the review of the fi ndings on the association
between numerical magnitude and space, and predictive relationship between spa-
tial skills and mathematics achievement. The literature suggests that spatial abilities
are malleable through interventions. The author cautions that it is important to
investigate the effect of longer duration spatial intervention programs and its long-
term impact.
1.3 Research and Practices in Spatial Ability
Part 2 of the book begins with the chapter by Jonathan Wai from Duke University,
USA and Harrison Kell from Educational Testing Service, USA. In their chapter
(Chap. 6 ) the authors describe the importance of identifying and developing spatial
talent among students. They observed that standardized tests commonly used in
schools today did not include spatial ability measures and as a result many spatially
talented students are not being identifi ed. The chapter reviews over 50 years of data
that shows that spatial ability, in addition to mathematics and verbal ability has
predictive power in STEM domains. In the area of spatial ability training the authors
caution to make the distinction between training the trait of spatial ability and pro-
viding spatially enriched e ducation to develop spatial mode of thinking.
In Chap. 7 , Maria Fastame noted that the development of visuo-spatial abilities
plays a crucial role in many scholastic achievement including problem solving
skills. In this chapter the author presents the development of visuo-spatial working
memory in early life span and the impact of such abilities at school and described
the effect of Non-Verbal Syndrome. The author cited the literature that suggests that
children with spatial abilities defi cits can be benefi tted by the training aimed at
enriching such abilities. The author then described the specifi c training and inter-
vention strategy that could help in visuo-spatial cognition. The training includes
enrichment of different aspects of non-verbal abilities, visuo-motor coordination
and non-verbal long-term memory. The author suggests the importance of active
exploration of environment to improve the spatial cognition among children.
On the topic of improvement of spatial ability among students, Cheng from
Michigan State University, USA examined whether the existing tests measure what
they are supposed to measure. In Chap. 8 she discusses the psychometric properties
of some of the instruments and how spatial ability is assessed and the way it relates
to spatial training. The chapter begins by defi ning spatial ability and described some
types of spatial measures such as water level task, mental rotation, visual spatial
working memory task and map reading task. The chapter also examines whether
spatial ability can be improved by training and its effects on STEM achievement. In