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Quantifying Spatial Skills across STEM Disciplines: A Systematized Literature Review of Assessment Tools

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Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

June 26, 2024

Conference Session

Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Technical Session 8

Tagged Division

Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

12

DOI

10.18260/1-2--47910

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/47910

Download Count

75

Paper Authors

biography

Daniel Kane Utah State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-0220-9962

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Daniel Kane is a graduate student at Utah State University pursuing a PhD in Engineering Education with a concurrent master’s degree in Civil Engineering. His research interests focus around the study of spatial ability with an emphasis on identifying patterns of spatial strategies and measuring spatial ability in blind and low vision populations.

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biography

Wade H. Goodridge Utah State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-5811-7629

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Wade Goodridge is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Utah State University. His research lies in spatial thinking and ability, curriculum development, and professional development in K-16 engineering teaching.

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biography

Angela Minichiello Utah State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-4545-9355

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Angela (Angie) Minichiello is a military veteran, licensed mechanical engineer, and associate professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Utah State University. Her research examines issues of access, equity, and identity in the formation of engineers and a diverse, capable 21st century engineering workforce. Angie received an NSF CAREER award in 2021 for her work with student veterans and service members in engineering.

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Abstract

Spatial ability is generally defined as an ability to understand and mentally transform well-structured visual information. However, spatial ability can exist in a variety of constructs and is manifest in a variety of applications. Past work has found that spatial ability is a strong predictor of success for students in STEM education as well as for professionals in STEM fields. Furthermore, studies have shown that spatial ability can be learned and taught through targeted intervention, and that once learned, it can be maintained over time. Numerous interventions have been developed to teach spatial ability to various populations. In order to measure the influence of these interventions on each population’s spatial ability, proper instrumentation is required to asses gains in spatial ability. Throughout the last century, numerous spatial ability instruments have been developed that measure various constructs of spatial ability. Some of the assessments commonly used in engineering education include the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), the Mental Cutting Test (MCT), and the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test: Visualization of Rotations (PSVT:R). Due to the increased diversity and globalization of engineering education in recent years, multiple new spatial ability instruments have been created or adapted from existing assessments to better fit specific populations or disciplines. This systematized literature review synthesizes results from publications over the past decade on spatial ability instruments that have been validated and demonstrated reliability. Results of the review demonstrate the diversity of spatial ability applications across STEM education and reveal multiple perspectives on how specific constructs of spatial ability can be measured. The review also reveals potential areas of development related to certain constructs of spatial ability that are lacking proper assessments to quantify performance.

Kane, D., & Goodridge, W. H., & Minichiello, A. (2024, June), Quantifying Spatial Skills across STEM Disciplines: A Systematized Literature Review of Assessment Tools Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--47910

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