Physical manipulatives enhanced knowledge acquisition by engaging learners in hands-on experiences that supported spatial reasoning. These tools allowed learners to see, touch, and manipulate objects, improving their ability to mentally rotate and visualize structures. This study challenged the assumption that most learners are purely visual by…

Computational thinking and spatial thinking ability play a critical role in enabling students to respond effectively to disasters. However, limited research has examined the impact of digital literacy, disaster education, and cognitive skills in secondary school students. This study aims to assess the impact of digital literacy and disaster…

Objective: Measurement tools for children's foundational skills provide important insights towards the developmental mechanisms of these domains. This study examines the structure of sensorimotor, visuospatial processing (VP), executive function (EF) skills and their interrelationship. The NEPSY is a widely-used neuropsychological instrument, but…

Non-rigid spatial thinking, or mental transformations where the distance between two points in an object changes (e.g., folding, breaking, bending), is required for many STEM fields but remains critically understudied. We developed and tested a non-rigid, ductile spatial skill measure based on reasoning about knots with 279 US adults (M = 30.90,…

In recent years, the field of geography in higher education has increasingly embraced the integration of visual and audio-visual methods as it enables enhanced understanding, multimodal learning, and geospatial literacy. Therefore, there is ample opportunity to incorporate new techniques from various disciplines to improve modern education for…

Background: Disembedding is a crucial spatial thinking skill in visual arts and mathematics education. It is important in creating and analyzing artworks by separating a figure from its background, as well as for solving geometric problems where shapes must be viewed from new perspectives. Drawing upon research in psychology, arts, and mathematics…

Tangible programming tools (TPTs) are promising teaching aids in programming courses due to their interactivity and ability to enhance early childhood students' computational thinking, spatial reasoning, and executive function skills. However, it remains unclear whether TPTs support these skills simultaneously. This study examines the impact of…