Increasing evidence suggests that success in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields is not only dependent upon one's actual STEM-relevant abilities but also upon one's STEM-relevant attitudes--in particular, math and spatial attitudes. Here, we examine whether simply mentioning the math or spatial relevance of a task affects…

Empirical evidence is insufficient on the specific roles GIS learning plays in developing students' understanding various spatial concepts. The present study aims to draw attention to common struggles of learning some spatial concepts in geography and offer directions for future research on GIS learning and the development of student spatial…

The standby wooden blocks that are prevalent in most high-quality early childhood classrooms are missing from most primary and elementary grades. The goal for block play in early childhood is to support learning in mathematics, science, art, literacy and language arts, physical development, social studies, and social and emotional growth. This…

Spatial skills are crucial to STEM disciplines and involve a variety of cognitive processes and skills related to visualising, reasoning and communicating about spatial relations. Particularly in the primary school years, attaining 'spatial literacy' gives children a valuable set of skills and knowledge that can aid them in successful…

This study continues an investigation of how spherical units, compared to cubical units, can facilitate students' units-locating and organizing units in composites. We analyze how Norwegian grade 3 students enumerate 3D arrays with cubical and spherical units. Our results show how spherical units can act as perceptual clues that facilitate…

In the 11th-grade Vietnamese Mathematics Curriculum, students learn about parallel relations between planes in space. This is cognitively challenging for many students. Studies have shown difficulties relating to limited spatial imagination and drawing representations. The teacher's approach also causes difficulties for some students; for example,…

Spatio-temporal processes are ubiquitous and prevalent across disciplines. Understanding the mechanisms underlying processes and integrating this information into models is of great interest, as it can improve forecasting accuracy and align with scientific motivation. Examples of such models include Partial Differential Equation (PDE) Models or…

Graphic novels have emerged as an effective pedagogical tool for teaching complex processes like global migration. Through their use of visual language, graphic novels can offer insights into the lived experiences of migrants and refugees, their challenges and triumphs, and the broader social and political contexts that shape migration. Graphic…

Improving achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is essential for elevating individual success and solving societal challenges. Yet national and international assessments paint a poor picture of students' STEM competencies (NAEP, 2019; OECD, 2018). An untapped avenue to improve STEM education lies in developing…

This study was grounded in the spatial computational thinking model developed by the "3D Weather" project funded by the NSF STEM+C program. The model reflects a discipline-based perspective towards computational thinking and captures the spatial nature of computational thinking in meteorology and the reliance of computational thinking on…

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Fifth Edition (WISC-V; Wechsler, 2014) provides a general intelligence score, representing "g," and five index scores, reflecting underlying broad factors. Within person differences between the overall performance across subtests and index scores, denoted as index difference scores, are often…

Understanding the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the human skull is imperative for medical courses. However, medical students are overwhelmed by the spatial complexity of the skull. Separated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) bone models have advantages as learning tools, but they are fragile and expensive. This study aimed to reconstruct 3D-printed…

Descriptive and functional anatomy is one of the most important sciences for kinesiology students. Anatomy learning requires spatial and motor imagery abilities. Learning anatomy is complex when teaching methods and instructional tools do not appropriately develop spatial and motor imagery abilities. Recent technological developments such as…

This study aims to help concrete thinkers learn science through the use of Piagets' cognitive processes (CPs) during scientific inquiry. A total of 203 fourth-grade students participated as volunteers in a pre-post control group study. The students were from urban, remote rural, and suburban regions of Indonesia. Data analysis demonstrated that…

Although the link between developmental dyslexia and visual-spatial deficit has been recurrently highlighted, the relationship between visual-spatial abilities and reading performance is still a controversial issue, considering the orthographic variability of the language being learned. This study aimed to examine whether visuo-spatial abilities…