Discussion of the use of virtual reality (VR) to help students learn highlights the use of VR with elementary algebra. Learning theory is examined, including knowledge construction; knowledge representation is discussed, including the symbol systems of algebra; and spatial algebra is described and illustrated. (34 references) (LRW)

The development of aids for teaching a general physics course to blind students is discussed. Described are how the materials should be used considering the topic of equilibrium of a rigid body. Results and improvements obtained with this method of teaching are briefly discussed. (KR)

Tested children 18 months to 4 years for their ability to relocate a hidden object after self-produced movement around an array of 4 locations. Children encountered no specific difficulty in coordinating dimensions, or they solved the task without recourse to such a system. They also appeared to change strategy when the problem requires more…

This study, involving 20 children (ages 6-12) with legal blindness or partial sight, explored the relationships between ability to read and performance on tasks which require the manipulation of figure/ground relations. Significant differences were found between fluent readers and poor readers/nonreaders on four of the six tasks. No age…

Studied representation of text content and representation of the surface form of the text in two studies of native French speakers. Twenty-five subjects (aged 23-30) participated in Experiment 1, and 40 subjects (aged 23-30) participated in Experiment 2. Data confirm that readers retain the spatial location of words read. (Contains 18 references.)…

A questionnaire designed to assess experience with activities presumed to require spatial visualization abilities and psychometric tests of these abilities were given to 383 adults of 20 to 83 years of age. Findings suggested that at least some age-related differences in cognitive functioning are independent of the amount of experience with…

Examined the effects of type of distribution and type of response scale on observed integration patterns in five, six, and seven year olds. Findings showed that the effect of two factors, age and type of scale, were significant. (SH)

The development of children's causal knowledge is investigated by analyzing changes in the content and form of the explanations they generate across the age span of three to nine years. The balance of incremental versus fundamental change and the forms each takes in children coming to understand the working of gears are examined. Three phases of…

Studied the relationship of joint mother-child planning before and during tasks, and the ability of four and eight year olds to plan on their own. Found that older children planned more effectively, especially during tasks, and that mothers of younger children concerned themselves with task procedures rather than strategy. (MDM)

Children and adolescents (n=40) with congenital or adventitious blindness were exposed to two unfamiliar environments. Evaluation of subjects' spatial representations (through construction of models and estimates of distance) found that age appeared to be more important than learning in their development of spatial representation skills. (DB)

Comparison of 23 Turner syndrome (TUS) women with 23 women with constitutional short stature (CSS) found significant group differences for Performance and Full Scale IQ, largely due to TUS women's deficits in spatial and mathematical ability. TUS individuals had significantly lower educational and occupational attainment than CSS controls but did…

The results of a nonrandomized experiment indicated that the group of students who observed the static presentations of graphic images achieved slightly higher scores on the paper-and-pencil performance tests, whereas the group of students who viewed the dynamic presentations made greater gains on the mental rotation tests. (JJK)

This study, involving 59 disabled and nondisabled adolescent readers, tested A. Kennedy's "spatial map" hypothesis wherein spatial sequencing ability is important in lexical reaccess under high-demand text situations alone. Tests of the variance contributions of a spatial sequencing covariate to eye movement dependent measures of reading, across…

Assessed 32 kindergartners' prior knowledge of left and right, then exposed experimental group to software program "Jellybean Hunt" from Edmark Corporation's "Trudy's Time and Place House." Found that students exposed to the software significantly increased their scores on the posttest measure of their understanding of the…

Summarizes research into how children perceive three-dimensional objects. Focuses on the difficulty that students have in appreciating how the orientation of the semicircular canals affects balance and space perception. (DDR)