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Spatial thinking skills are associated with performance, persistence, and achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) school subjects. Because STEM knowledge and skills are integral to developing a well-trained workforce within and beyond STEM, spatial skills have become a major focus of cognitive, developmental, and educational research. However, these efforts are greatly hampered by the current lack of access to reliable, valid, and well-normed spatial tests. Although there are hundreds of spatial tests, they are often hard to access and use, and information about their psychometric properties is frequently lacking. Additional problems include (1) substantial disagreement about what different spatial tests measure—even two tests with similar names may measure very different constructs; (2) the inability to measure some STEM-relevant spatial skills by any existing tests; and (3) many tests only being available for specific age groups. The first part of this report delineates these problems, as documented in a series of structured and open-ended interviews and surveys with colleagues. The second part outlines a roadmap for addressing the problems. We present possibilities for developing shared testing systems that would allow researchers to test many participants through the internet. We discuss technological innovations, such as virtual reality, which could facilitate the testing of navigation and other spatial skills. Developing a bank of testing resources will empower researchers and educators to explore and support spatial thinking in their disciplines, as well as drive the development of a comprehensive and coherent theoretical understanding of spatial thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Four principles of cognitive science were used to make systematic revisions in middle school science instructional modules from two kinds of curriculum: one popular textbook series and one popular hands‐on series (two modules each). Schools were randomly assigned to 1 of the 3 arms (cognitive science modifications with professional development, active control with professional development, or business‐as‐usual). Two cohorts of students were followed in each arm for each setting. There were significant benefits of the cognitive science intervention, but the nature of effects varied for the two settings and curricula. For the text‐based curriculum, positive effects of cognitive science modifications were concentrated in classrooms with lower proportions of underrepresented minority students. For the hands‐on curriculum, there were positive effects that were not linked to school composition. Participation in the active control did not significantly improve student learning. Implications for policy and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We explored whether existing curricula can be adapted to increase students' skills at comprehending and learning from diagrams using an intervention delivered by regular middle-school teachers in intact classrooms. Ninety-two teachers in three states implemented our modified materials over six curricular units from two publishers: Holt (a reading-focused curriculum) and Full Option Science System ( FOSS) (an inquiry-focused curriculum). Results were compared between two interventions-one based on selected principles of cognitive science (cognitive-science-based) that included instruction in diagram comprehension and one providing professional development in science content only (content-only)-and a business-as-usual control. We analyze posttest items involving different degrees of reliance on diagrams to show how instruction in diagram comprehension can improve comprehension of diagrams during reasoning. At the classroom level, there were significant advantages of the cognitive-science-based intervention over both content-only and business-as-usual with large effect sizes in all FOSS units ( d = 0.41-0.52), but only one Holt unit ( d = 0.11). Analyses by type of diagram suggested these effects were largest for transfer to diagrams from an uninstructed domain. Further analyses of high-stakes state test scores available for the participants implementing the Holt units showed improved use of diagrams ( d = 0.45-0.66). Results suggest that making sense of visualizations (diagrams) is not effortless and self-evident, but that students who receive supports for comprehending can improve their comprehension, and the learning can transfer to new domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The relation of spatial skills to academic success in areas such as math and science has sparked discussion in early education around how spatial thinking skills might be included in early schooling. Planning and evaluating new curricula or interventions requires understanding these skills and having the means to assess them. Prior developmental research focused primarily on one aspect of dynamic spatial transformations (DST), namely mental rotation. This study broadens our knowledge by addressing another important DST, namely mental folding. We devised a new test suitable for young children. Performance of 180 children between 4 and 7 years suggests that mental folding appears at around 5.5 years of age, although there were also marked individual differences. These data on the emergence of DST suggest that educational programs targeting this skill could start in preschool or kindergarten and provide a means to assess the effectiveness of such efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although neglected in traditional education, spatial thinking plays a critical role in achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. We review this relationship and investigate the malleability of spatial thinking. Can spatial thinking be improved with training, life experience, or educational interventions? Can improving spatial thinking improve STEM achievement? Research indicates that the answer is “yes” to both questions. A recent quantitative synthesis of 206 spatial training studies found an average training improvement of 0.47 standard deviations. Training effects lasted for months in studies examining durability and transferred to tasks that differed at least moderately from training tasks. A few studies indicate that spatial training can improve STEM learning, although more research needs to be done on this issue. We argue that including spatial thinking in STEM curricula could substantially increase the number of Americans with the requisite cognitive skills to enter STEM careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]