Background: Spatial ability is significantly related to performance in engineering education, and problem-solving, an activity that is highly relevant to engineering education, has been linked to spatial ability. Purpose/Hypothesis: This study investigated the following question--To what extent is spatial ability related to problem-solving among…

Current reforms in geometry seek to challenge prevailing ideas about "what it means to do mathematics" (p. 139) by engaging learners in "the grasping of space" (p. 241). This study takes up this challenge by investigating problematizing activity as an embodied phenomenon among 21 eighth-grade learners who engaged with spatial…

Fostering students' spatial thinking skills holds great promise for improving Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. Recent efforts have focused on the development of classroom interventions to build students' spatial skills, yet these interventions will be implemented by teachers, and their beliefs and perceptions…

Spatial thinking permeates much of our lives and is an asset when solving problems involving well-structured visual information or imagining solutions in physical or digital space. However, an estimated three million US school children have spatial talents that go unrecognized because of the tools commonly used for identification of academic…

Spatial thinking permeates much of our lives and is an asset when solving problems involving well-structured visual information or imagining solutions in physical or digital space. However, an estimated three million US school children have spatial talents that go unrecognized because of the tools commonly used for identification of academic…

Background: The role of gender in both spatial and mathematics performance has been extensively studied separately, with a male advantage often found in spatial tasks and mathematics from adolescence. Spatial reasoning is consistently linked to mathematics proficiency, yet despite this, little research has investigated the role of spatial…

Myriad research in a variety of contexts shows spatial skills benefit students; however, they are not given enough attention in classroom instruction. In this review we systematically explore geoscience education literature focusing on spatial interventions to answer research questions on trends in spatial skills and other characteristics. We…

Introduction: This study examines the spatial abilities of middle school students with visual impairments (i.e., blindness and low vision) in the context of spatial visualization. The study also aims to examine the strategies used by such students in solving questions requiring spatial ability. Methods: Participants comprised eight students with…

A core aim of contemporary science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is the development of robust problem-solving skills. This can be achieved by fostering both discipline knowledge expertise and general cognitive abilities associated with problem solving. One of the most important cognitive abilities in STEM education is…

Spatial skill assessment and training are promising fields of application for tablets, as touch-based interaction can prime and support mental transformations of spatial knowledge. We report on a study with 49 secondary school students who used our iPad app to solve mental and physical rotation tasks. During physical rotation, students were able…

Spatial thinking is a crucial aspect of geography education with which all citizens should be equipped. This study employs eye-tracking technology to research strategies (their repertoire, distribution, effectiveness, and adaptiveness) used by upper-secondary students when analyzing spatial patterns with thematic maps. The results show that…

When young students engage with activities aimed at improving spatial reasoning, there is potential to also improve learning and performance in practical mathematics problem-solving tasks, scientific inquiries, and other STEM-based tasks. In this study, students worked in pairs to problem solve through 3D construction. The aim was to assess…

Spatial play in early childhood is associated with a variety of spatial and cognitive skills. However, these associations are often derived from studies in which different tasks are used across different age ranges, leaving open the question of how children's natural behaviors during spatial play develop from infancy into the early preschool…

This investigation examines the impact of two psychoeducational programs (i.e., computer-assisted versus pencil-and-paper) for the empowerment of visuospatial skills of 7-year-old pupils. At pretest, posttest and at a three-month follow-up, 58 children attending the second grade of Italian primary school completed a battery of tests assessing…

The main goal of the current study is to develop intervention of learning to promote students' understanding of percentage. The design of the interventions employed the spatial representation of percentage in the form of a bar model and was designed based on the pedagogical concepts of Realistic Mathematics Education (RME). The participants were…