Spatial reasoning -- the ability to mentally visualize, transform, and recognize symbolic information -- is known to predict long-term success in many educational and occupational areas, including in STEM. Despite this, spatial reasoning measures are virtually absent in K-12 tests. Thus, such strengths are not prioritized in gifted identification…

Purpose: Despite the fact that research on creativity and cognition have garnered the attention of researchers and practitioners for decades, there is a lack of valid, reliable, and accessible instruments for enhancing and measuring these critical skills. Leveraging research from The LEGO Foundation and in collaboration with BrainPOP and the…

Spatial skills are associated with mathematics skills, but it is unclear if spatial training transfers to mathematics skills for preschoolers, especially from underserved communities. The current study tested (a) whether spatial training benefited preschoolers' spatial and mathematics skills, (b) if the type of feedback provided during spatial…

Object construction involves organizing multiple objects into a unified structure (e.g., stacking blocks into a tower) and may provide infants with unique spatial information. Because object construction entails placing objects in spatial locations relative to one another, infants can acquire information about spatial relations during construction…

The word "test" comes to mind when a person, who is unacquainted with education discourses, reads about assessment issues. Beyond issues of reliability and validity in designing measurement constructs, assessment for school geography must result in better geographical learning. In other words, there must be "consequential…

The ability to mentally rotate objects in space has been singled out by cognitive scientists as a central metric of spatial reasoning (see Jansen, Schmelter, Quaiser-Pohl, Neuburger, & Heil, 2013; Shepard & Metzler, 1971 for example). However, this is a particularly undeveloped area of current mathematics curricula, especially in North…

Mental rotation ability is important for success in a number of academic and career fields, especially the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains. Individual differences in intelligence, spatial ability, strategy selection biases, and gender are all associated with proficiency in mental rotation. Interventions and…

The authors' purpose was to investigate the effect of origami-based instruction on elementary students' spatial ability. The students' self-reported perceptions related to the origami-based instruction were also examined. Data was collected via purposive sampling techniques from students enrolled in a private elementary school. A spatial ability…

Previous research into the effectiveness of dynamic versus static instructional design paradigms has reported divergent findings. Dynamic instructions have been shown to be more effective in teaching novel procedural skills. In contrast, the apparent benefit of dynamic over static instructions has been attributed in other studies to the cognitive…

Adolescents with mild to borderline intellectual disability (MBID) often complete schooling without mastering basic math skills, even though basic math is essential for math-related challenges in everyday life. Limited attention to cognitive skills and low executive functioning (EF) may cause this delay. We aimed to improve math skills in an…

The impact of touch-screen technology on spatial cognitive skills as related to molecular geometries was assessed through 102 one-on-one interviews with undergraduate students. Participants were provided with either printed 2D ball-and-stick images of molecules or manipulable projections of 3D molecular structures on an iPad. Following a brief…

This article shows the cognitive and motor-perceptive effects of the application of a cognitive stimulating program through motor function on 234 elderly people. The assessment was carried out prior to and after the program. Significant improvements in the experimental group were observed (p [less than or equal to] 0.05) in six of the eight…

Arithmetic and cognitive skills of children with mathematical difficulties (MD-only), with comorbid reading difficulties (MD-RD), with reading difficulties (RD-only), and normally achieving children were examined at 3 points from Grades 3-4 to Grades 5-6 (age range, 9-13 years). Both MD groups displayed severe weaknesses in 4 domain-specific…

In recent years, digital games have assumed an important place in the lives of children and adolescents. Effective content design is crucial to the success of digital game-based learning. Therefore, the tool for assessing the effectiveness of game design is accordingly very important for parents and teachers, so that they may encourage or…

Music improves spatial reasoning, which is vital to strengthening the mental circuits used for mathematics. Dance develops critical thinking skills along with persistence and perseverance. Drama becomes a partner in the development of abstract thought and speaking skills. And the larger process of creating musical theater encourages cooperation,…