Spatial Thinking by Young Children: Neurologic Evidence for Early Development and “Educability”

Gersmehl, Philip J.; Gersmehl, Carol A.

doi:10.1080/00221340701809108

Cited by 125 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…(NRC 2006;Plummer 2014). Spatial thinking combines three elements: ''concepts of space, tools of representation, and processes of reasoning'' (NRC 2006, p. 5), and it can be developed through systematic training (NRC 2006) which should start in preschool years (Gersmehl and Gersmehl 2007). Each of these concepts has a rich and complex structure that needs to be learned in relation to the variety of functions it performs in different disciplines (NRC 2006;Plummer 2014).…”

Section: Fundamental Concepts and Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Astronomy in Early Childhood Education: A Concept-Based Approach

Ampartzaki

Kalogiannakis

2015

Early Childhood Educ J

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In an attempt to understand the natural world's phenomena, young children form their perceptions of different aspects of the macrocosm, which they contrast with new scientific concepts. This process calls for an early intervention that will provide the stimuli and the tools for the development of new concepts, ideas, and cognitive structures. The purpose of the present article is to present an instructional intervention for young children about the science of celestial bodies, with some reference to the pedagogical content knowledge of astronomy. A concept-based, multidisciplinary approach to developing curriculum activities is adopted and the content of activities places particular emphasis on: (1) Spatial learning and spatial thinking, which are considered as central and fundamental to astronomy education, and (2) the alternation between the Earth-based and space-based perspectives of the shape, position, and movement of celestial bodies.

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Section: Fundamental Concepts and Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Astronomy in Early Childhood Education: A Concept-Based Approach

Ampartzaki

Kalogiannakis

2015

Early Childhood Educ J

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“…Our ability to process spatial information, however, is more fundamental and distributed throughout the brain. Gersmehl and Gersmehl (2007) cited evidence from neuroscience that spatial concepts are mapped to di erent parts of the brain. Furthermore, spatial processing plays an important role in the phenomenon of neuroplasticity, which describes the brain's ability to adapt or "rewire" itself a er cognitive or sensory damage or loss (Chinnery & ompson Simon, 2015;Collignon, Voss, Lassonde, & Lepore, 2009;Voss et al, 2004).…”

Section: Neuroscience Ndingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transform Spatial: Making the Case for Spatial Thinking in Higher Education

Lowry¹

2017

Crossing the Border: Int. J. Interdiscip. Stud.

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ABSTRACTis white paper argues in favor of an interdisciplinary approach to curriculum design that places greater emphasis on spatial thinking in order to prepare students in higher education for life and careers in the 21st century. While part one of the paper outlines and supports various claims regarding spatial thinking, the second part of the paper proposes an intervention, and introduces the transformed curriculum of a compulsory rst-year composition course that emphasizes spatial thinking and experiential learning.

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“…We took as reference a) the brain presents structures for spatial reasoning and are fully functional at a very early age; b) the intervention of an adult can improve both the use and the representation of maps; c) practices in early grades are important, perhaps essential, for the learning of geography in subsequent years. (Gersmehl and Gersmehl 2007). Therefore, it would be an important practice with the students, even if around school.…”

Section: Reading the Mental Map To Identify The Living Spaces Of Pedamentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental map and spatial thinking

Castellar¹,

Juliasz²

2018

Proc. Int. Cartogr. Assoc.

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Abstract:The spatial thinking is a central concept in our researches at the Faculty of Education of University of São Paulo (FE-USP). The cartography is fundamental to this kind of thinking, because it contributes to the development of the representation of space. The spatial representations are the drawings -mental maps -maps, chart, aerial photos, satellite images, graphics and diagrams. To think spatially -including the contents and concepts geographical and their representations -also corresponds to reason, defined by the skills the individual develops to understand the structure, function of a space, and describe your organization and relation to other spaces. The aim of this paper is to analyze the role of mental maps in the development of concepts of city and landscape -structuring concepts for school geography. The purpose is to analyze how students in Geography and Pedagogy -future teachers -and young children in Early Childhood Education think, feel, and appropriate these concepts. The analys is indicates the importance of developing mental map in activities with pedagogy and geography graduate student to know that students at school can be producers of maps. Cartography is a language and allows the student to develop the spatial and temporal relationships and notions such as orientation, distance and location, learning the concepts of geographical science. Mental maps present the basic features of the location such as the conditions -the features verified in one place -and the connections that is to understand how this place connects to other places.

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Spatial Thinking by Young Children: Neurologic Evidence for Early Development and “Educability”

Cited by 125 publications

References 65 publications

Astronomy in Early Childhood Education: A Concept-Based Approach

Astronomy in Early Childhood Education: A Concept-Based Approach

Transform Spatial: Making the Case for Spatial Thinking in Higher Education

Mental map and spatial thinking

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