Bridging the gap: blending spatial skills instruction into a technology teacher preparation programme

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a surge in research in spatial thinking across the international community. We now know that spatial skills are malleable and that they are linked to success across multiple disciplines, most notably Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). While spatial skills have been examined by cognitive scientists in laboratory environments for decades, current research is examining how these skills can be developed in field-based environments. In this paper, we present findings from a study within a Technology Teacher preparation programme where we examined first-year students’ spatial skills on entry to university. We explain why it was necessary to embed a spatial skills intervention into Year 1 of the programme and we describe the impact that this had on students’ spatial scores and on academic performance. The findings from our study highlight a consistent gender gap in spatial scores at the start of the first-year with female students entering the Technology Teacher preparation programme at a lower base level than male students. We describe how we integrated spatial development activities into an existing course and how an improvement in spatial scores and overall course performance was observed. The paper concludes by discussing the long-term sustainability of integrating spatial interventions within teacher preparation programmes while also highlighting the importance of future research to examine spatial skills as a fundamental component of technological capability.

An Examination of the Effects of Virtual Reality Training on Spatial Visualization and Transfer of Learning

“…Virtual reality training has also been used to promote spatial ability in older adults with mild cognitive impairment [34], allocentric space representations in young males [35], as well as spatial visualization and mental rotation in a controlled experiment [12]. The latter study used college-age students (27 females and 22 males, ages [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. The evidence clearly supports the use of VR training in an effort to enhance spatial visualization ability in first year college students.…”

“…The Purdue Spatial Visualization Test: Rotations (PSVT:R), which involves rotating objects, was selected for this study since it is one of the most widely used spatial visualization tests in the engineering education research community [ 20 , 23 ]. The PSVT:R was designed by Guay in 1976 to determine a “student’s ability to visualize and recognize orthographic drawings” [ 24 ] (p. 161).…”

Professional Development for Primary School Teachers Intended to Promote Students’ Spatial Ability

“…Traditional pedagogical approaches prioritize verbal and numerical skills, inadvertently neglecting the potential for enhancing cognitive development through spatial training. In addition, studies indicate a lack of teacher Professional Development for Primary School Teachers Intended to Promote Students' Spatial Ability awareness and understanding of the role of spatial abilities in learning [25,26]. Many educators may not be familiar with the specific strategies and instructional methods that can nurture and cultivate spatial thinking among students.…”

Editorial: From paper and pencil tasks to virtual reality interventions: improving spatial abilities in girls and women

“…Furthermore, Yang et al, 2020 conducted a meta-analysis with children aged 0-8 years, which showed that various interventions (such as hands-on exploration, visual prompts, and gestural spatial training), could significantly improve young children's spatial abilities. It is important to note that multiple studies have shown that these interventions sometimes benefit women more than men (Provo et al, 2002;Feng et al, 2007;Sorby et al, 2018;Lane and Sorby, 2022).…”