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What do Spatial Skills have to do with STEM?
Linda Jacobs Swarlis, Ph.D.STEM for Girls Think Tank
Nashville, TNNovember 12, 2010
My Background and Interest Current Spatial Ability Research Impact on STEM Learning Strategies for Improvement of Spatial
Intelligence The Future-- Current Research and
Implementation Initiatives
Outline
Ph.D. scholarship Role of spatial experience and spatial
intelligence Research across the disciplines National attention, especially in psychology
and engineering
Perfect Storm
Gender research results can be used to examine characteristics of groups, not to predict success or failure of individuals. Ability levels can and do overlap between the sexes.
(Halpern, 2000)
Caution
Not one ability, consists of many abilities. It is the skill in visualizing, creating, manipulating, rotating, perceiving, and remembering information in nonverbal and symbolic forms.
Spatial ability requires representation, rotation, and inversion of objects in 3D when they are presented in 2D.
Spatial Ability/Spatial Intelligence
Sample Questions
Mathematicians visualize mathematical relationships
Database structure, Information visualization Physical scientists visualize models of the
physical world Diagrams and drawings Solving algebraic word problems Searching for numerical patterns Graphing Conceptualizing mathematical functions Mapping
Examples of the Importance and Uses of Spatial Ability
The diagrams were taken from Wai, J., Lubinski, & Benbow, C.P. (2009).
Spatial ability for STEM domains: Aligning over 50 years of cumulative psychological knowledge solidifies its importance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(4), 817-835.
It is worth reading the article in its entirety to understand the scope and importance of their findings.
The following two slides were added after the presentation
Wai, J., Lubinski, & Benbow, C.P. (2009). Spatial ability for STEM domains: Aligning over 50 years of cumulative psychological knowledge solidifies its importance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(4), 817-835.
Project Talent: 1960-1974
Wai, J., Lubinski, & Benbow, C.P. (2009). Spatial ability for STEM domains: Aligning over 50 years of cumulative psychological knowledge solidifies its importance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(4), 817-835.
Results from Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) ‘71- Pres
Results from Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) ‘71- Pres.
Results from Project Talent, ’60-’74
Preparing the Next Generation of STEM Innovators: Identifying and Developing Our Nation’s Human Capital
◦ Report published by the National Science Board, May 5, 2010
National Science Foundation
Long term prosperity of our Nation will increasingly rely on talented and motivated individuals who will comprise the vanguard of scientific and technological innovation.
Every student in the U.S. deserves the opportunity to achieve at his or her full potential.
Two Reasons for the Report
Current verbal and mathematical assessments would miss 70% of students scoring in the top 1% of spatial ability
90% STEM doctorate holders scored in the top quartile of spatial ability during adolescence
Statistics
Spatial Ability for STEM
IA. Renewed emphasis on differentiated instruction, enrichment
IE. Partnerships with higher education institutions, museums, industry, content developers, research laboratories and centers
IG. Expanded cyber learning opportunities IH. Creation of a national database of formal
and informal education opportunities for highly talented students, publicize and promote
Recommendations with Implications for Schools
IIB. “Expand existing talent assessment tests and identification strategies to the three primary abilities (qualitative/mathematical, verbal and spatial) so that spatial talent is not neglected.”
Identify and Nurture all Types of Talents
IID. “Encourage pre-service education and professional development for education professionals (including teachers, principals, and counselors) in the area of talent identification and development.
Pre-service and Professional Development
The Beginning….
Preferred approach to organizing and representing information by individuals
Field DependenceField Independence
Cognitive Styles
World War II pilots Textbook reading Cyberspace
Field dependencefield independence
Hidden Figures Test(Miyake, Witzki, Emerson, 2001)
Solution
Cognitive Styles and Hypermedia Navigation: Development of a Learning Model
Chen & Macredie (2000)
Prefer Sequential InstructionsNeed to Work Step-by-Step before Understanding
the “Big Picture”Prefer that the Instructor be PresentCan Get “Lost” in an Online Environment
Field dependent learners
Analytic Prefer free navigation Internally directed Prefer to Work Independently and Choose
Own Sequence Do Not Get Lost Online as Easily as Field
Dependent Individuals Prefer the “Big Picture” First
Field-Independent Learners in Hypermedia
Ford, Miller, & Moss. (2001) The role of individual differences in Internet searching: An empirical study. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology.
Internet Searching
69 Master’s degree students did research on an assigned topic using AltaVista
Topic: legal implications for an employer of an on-the-job work injury
Ford, Miller, & Moss (2001)
Cognitive styles Prior Internet experience Internet perceptions Study approaches Age Gender
(Ford, et al. , 2001)
Individual Differences Examined
The information retrieved was judged to be relevant if it was written for the employer.
If the information was about the injury from an employee perspective, it was judged to be not relevant.
Relevance
Male genderLow cognitive complexity Imager as opposed to verbalizer Older individuals
Retrieval effectiveness linked to
Verbalizer cognitive style High levels of cognitive complexity Fear of failure Poor time management
Ford, Miller, & Moss (2001)
Poor retrieval performance linked to
A number of variables for retrieval failure may be classified as examples of low self-efficacy
Self-efficacy
Significantly associated with females Feelings of not being in control Inability to avoid irrelevant material and
stay on target
Retrieval failure
All participants were highly successful academically and experienced in Information Technology (IT)
IT was a central component of the Master’s degree program that all participants were pursuing
Counterintuitive Results
“It may be that even high achieving females now studying IT may be encumbered by the effects of biased training and education in their primary and secondary education of some years ago.”
Ford, et al. (2001), p. 1061
Nature or Nurture?
Kozhevnikov, Hegarty, & Mayer. (2002) Revising the visualizer-verbalizer dimension: Evidence for two types of visualizers.
Revising the Visualizer-Verbalizer Dimension
Visual imagery – representation of a visual appearance of an object
Spatial imagery – representation of the spatial relationship between parts of an object, the location of an object in space, and their movements and not limited to the visual modality (could be auditory or tactile)
Visual vs. Spatial Imagery
Visualizers with high spatial ability (spatial type) – High spatial
Visualizers with low spatial ability (iconic type) – – High visual, low spatial
Verbalizers
Visualizer-Verbalizer
Visual memory
Visual artists have higher scores on visual memory tests than people with high spatial ability
May need help interpreting graphs because people with low spatial ability interpret graphs more literally
Visualizers with Low Spatial Ability
Connections between spatial ability and field-independence
Sternberg (2001)
)
Field-independence
Unlike most spatial ability tests, the MRT does not correlate well to any tests of verbal ability. It is a true spatial test.
Vandenberg & Kuse, 1978
Mental Rotations Test
Handout
Sample MRT Questions
Significant relationship between mental rotation skills and SAT Mathematics scores for females (between .35 and .38)
Nuttall, Casey, & Pezaris, 2005
Skill in mental rotation can significantly predict SAT-M performance
Casey, Nuttall, & Pezaris, 1997
Mental Rotation & SAT M
Egan, D.E. (1988)
“Differences among people usually account for much more variability in performance than differences in system designs or differences in training procedures.”
Individual Differences in Human-Computer Interaction
Text Editing – 2:1 Programming – 6:1, 5:1, 4:1, 3:1, 2:1 Information Search – 2:1, 3:1, 4:1
Comparing 1st Quartile to the 4th Quartile, the range difference is even greater, as much as 30:1 for programming
3rd Quartile to 1st Quartile Compared
Experience – Often the most powerful predictor of performance
Some differences may be a part of selection artifact, experts begin as good students and build on positive experiences
Predictors of Difference in Performance (Egan, 1988)
Michigan Technological University
Spatial Visualization Course after failure on PSVT:R = 77% retention female engineering students
Retention of female students who opted not to enroll in the course = 48%
AAUW, Sheryl Sorby
Drafting Courses Engineering Map-reading and Real World Navigation Computer Games -- Tetris
Spatial Training & Spatial Experience at the High School and College Level
Water Level Test
So What Can be Done in the Early Years?
Water Level Test
Interventions that make a difference◦ Mapping exercises and Self-Explanation, NSEW◦ Block building◦ Math Talk◦ Spatial Language◦ Measurement◦ Power of Gesture◦ Visual Representations – Graphs, Drafting◦ Perspective taking, Zooming in and Zooming Out◦ Aiming games◦ Mechanics
What can we do in Early Childhood?
NSEW Navigation Map Reading Map Creation Self Explanation Scales
Mapping
Encourage Higher Structure Examine for Stability Enclosures Arches Complexity
Blockbuilding
Counting Cardinality Equivalence Nonequivalence Number Symbols Conventional Nominitive Ordering Calculation Place holding
Klibanoff, et al, 2006
Math Talk
Examples
◦ Above, below, beside◦ Out, in, outside, inside, middle, between◦ Here, there, front, back, side, top, bottom◦ Up, down, under, over, around, tall, short, low◦ Line (it) up, row, next to, corner
Spatial Language
Need to Understand Measuring Units, not the Number on the Item Being Used to Measure
Rulers Tape Measures Yardsticks
Measurement
Sex Differences Spatial Understanding Increases when Using
Gestures
Gesture
Graphs Drafting Origami
Visual Representations
Zooming In Zooming Out Shifting perspectives Changes in scale
Perspectives
Physical Games Video Games JavaGami Tetris
Games
Tools How Things Work
Mechanics
Olsen, Eliot, & Hardy (1988)◦ jewelry making, photography, chess playing,
hurdles, skiing, soccer, knitting, carpentry Newcombe, Bandura, & Taylor (1983)
◦ embroidery, gymnastics, house plan sketching, soccer, compass use, figure skating, pottery with wheel
Spatial activities
Mary Beth Casey’s Background Curious George and PBS Boston College
Round the Rug
Cell phone and spatial ability
Misc….
Students who struggle with visuospatial skills may opt out of potentially lucrative and intellectually appropriate careers because they do not think that they will be successful.
Spatial Curriculum and STEM
What are the implications for learners, workers, library patrons, and Internet users with low spatial intelligence in an increasingly online world?
Spatial Curriculum and the Future
Penn State Main Campus – Mapping Penn State – Behrend Campus (Erie)-- VIZ Michigan Technological University --
Engineering Temple University (SILC, Spatial Intelligence
and Learning Center) University of Wisconsin – Gender and Math National Research Council –Thinking
Spatially
Research Initiatives
Questions?
Thanks for the Opportunity