In the summer of 2009, a professional development partnership was established between the Peoria Public School District (PPSD), a local education agency (LEA), and Illinois State University (ISU) to improve geometric and trigonometric knowledge and skill for high school mathematics teachers as part of the Illinois Mathematics and Science…

Plomin and Foch's conclusion that sex differences in cognition account for very little of the total variability in test scores is challenged by demonstrating that on a complex test of spatial visualization the difference between males and females accounts for a quite substantial portion of variability. (Author)

Debate over whether mental images are visual or spatial representations is seen as based on the false premise that they must be one or the other. Visual neurophysiological research and experiments with a brain-damaged patient (impaired visual representations) suggest that mental imagery has distinct visual and spatial representation components.…

Explores the development of elementary school students' (n=88) understanding of comparing two datasets through the responses of students in individual interview settings. Strategies observed within the developmental cycles were visual, numerical, or a combination of the two. Contains 26 references. (Author/ASK)

Explains Visual Information Retrieval Interfaces (VIRI) and examines the effectiveness of a two-dimensional display format compared to a more standard sorted result list. The Visual Information Browsing Environment (VIBE) was modified to investigate the interaction of the verbal and spatial abilities of users, as measured by cognitive factors…

This study compares the tendency for numerals to elicit spontaneous perceptions of colour or taste (synaesthesia) with the tendency to visualise numbers as occupying particular visuo-spatial configurations (number forms). The prevalence of number forms was found to be significantly higher in synaesthetes experiencing colour compared both to…

The authors conducted 2 experiments to study the metrics of spatial distance in a mental imagery task. In both experiments, participants first memorized the layout of a building containing 10 rooms with 24 objects. Participants then received mental imagery instructions and imagined how they walked through the building from one room to another. The…

This article describes how spatial instruction with preservice teachers can be implemented in a middle-grades mathematics methods class. A "Reflect and Discuss" section is included for professional development study. (Contains 4 figures.)

As well as being important for school mathematics, spatial thinking is a big component of advanced mathematical studies too. As Jones (2001:55) points out, "Much of the thinking that is required in higher mathematics is spatial in nature. Einstein's comments on thinking in images are well known. Numerous mathematicians report using spatial…

The predictability of individual differences in the ability to reason about dynamic displays from tests using static displays was studied in 170 adults given paper-and-pencil and computer controlled tests. Several multivariate analyses indicated that the ability to reason about dynamic motion was distinct from the ability to reason about static…

A spatial-arrangement or word-arrangement mnemonic experiment was conducted in which college students studied six lists of 12 words each under conditions of word pattern and/or mnemonic instruction. Both the link mnemonic and distinctive word arrangements enhanced recall during acquisition, but only word-arrangement had a significant effect on…

When adult versions of tests of spatial ability were modified and administered to 94 boys and 99 girls in Norway, results indicated that spatial ability is a more unified trait in boys than in girls, in whom spatial abilities are more heterogeneously organized. (SLD)

Research shows that young children are able to draw simple maps of their neighborhoods and to recognize features on aerial photographs. Among younger children there is little difference between the mapping ability of boys and girls, but as they grow older, boys consistently perform better in map drawing and map reading. (Author/SK)

Traces a student's use of different types of imagery over an extended period of time in order to determine why the student seldom used imagery to solve problems. Concludes that for most of her school life, the student had been able to rely on analytic processing to complete mathematical tasks and could do so quite successfully. (Contains 30…

Presents four activities in which students cut out and assemble pieces to create Celtic designs. (ASK)