The current study examined the neural correlates of spatial rotation in eight engineering undergraduates. Mastering engineering graphics requires students to mentally visualize in 3D and mentally rotate parts when developing 2D drawings. Students' spatial rotation skills play a significant role in learning and mastering engineering graphics.…

The paper explores one episode from a larger study, where a multilingual student (10-year-old) described her understanding of what makes a shape 2D or 3D. Bakhtin's dialogic theory and Garfinkel's ethnomethodology inform the theoretical framework. Transcribed data of the episode is presented, which is analysed at micro-level and macro-level. The…

The development of numerical and arithmetic abilities constitutes a crucial cornerstone in our modern and educated societies. Difficulties to acquire these central skills can lead to severe consequences for an individual's well-being and nation's economy. In the present review, we describe our current broad understanding of the functional and…

Contemporary research is considering new forms of literacy that extend beyond the skills required to process alphanumeric data. The skills involved in visualising, reasoning, and communicating about 2D and 3D spatial information are commonly referred to as 'Spatial Literacy'. Research has highlighted a positive relationship between Spatial…

Social abilities relate to performance on visual-spatial perspective-taking (VSPT) tasks for hearing nonsigners but may relate differently to VSPT abilities for deaf signers because of their distinct linguistic and social experiences. This research investigated whether deaf adults approach VSPT tasks nonsocially (as previously suggested for deaf…

It was shown previously that observers can learn to exploit an uneven spatial distribution of singleton distractors to better shield visual search from distractors in the frequent versus the rare region (i.e., distractor location probability cueing; Sauter, Liesefeld, Zehetleitner, & Müller, 2018). However, with distractors defined in the same…

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…

Past research has shown that children's mental rotation skills are malleable and can be improved through action experience--physically rotating objects--or gesture experience--showing how objects could rotate (e.g., Frick, Ferrara, & Newcombe, 2013; Goldin-Meadow et al., 2012; Levine, Goldin-Meadow, Carlson, & Hemani-Lopez, 2018). These…

Social and cultural practices in learning settings are sites for leveraging and/or remediating sustainable and just conceptions of nature-culture relations to meet changing environmental demands of twenty-first century. In this study, we examine epistemic navigation among Indigenous youth in an outdoor, land based, STEAM (science, education, arts,…

Students with poor spatial abilities experience a barrier to academic success early in the STEM curriculum. However, Sorby et al. report that even brief training can improve spatial reasoning in students who lack them. Further, the National Research Council recommends that spatial thinking skills be taught at all educational levels. Halpern…

Quantifying angularity is critical for the study of K-12 school mathematics and beyond; yet, quantifying angularity is challenging for individuals across these grade levels. Using data from a yearlong teaching experiment with ninth-grade students, I address the role of attentional motion in quantifying angularity and present four such motions…

School readiness is recognized as one of the key starting points for children's further success in their school work and in their subsequent career. However, many kindergarten teachers still miss and long for a comprehensive, reliable and standardized diagnostic tool which could help them recognize the level of children's school readiness. That is…

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) has long been thought to be determined by multiple components. Dyscalculia has high comorbidity with other learning and developmental disabilities, including reading and writing disorders, attention deficits, and problems in visual/spatial skills, short memory, and working memory. This study aims to assess prevalence…

The paper introduces and explores the "Plans to Pedagogy" research programme, a three-year project focused on teacher capacity-building within schools. "Plans to Pedagogy" engages practitioner-researchers in the development of their and their colleagues' spatial learning skills as they move into and attempt to take advantage of…

As spatial languages, sign languages rely on spatial cognitive processes that are not involved for spoken languages. Interlocutors have different visual perspectives of the signer's hands requiring a mental transformation for successful communication about spatial scenes. It is unknown whether visual-spatial perspective-taking (VSPT) or mental…