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This interdisciplinary, conceptual analysis addresses the nature and benefits of artistic processes in learning and work. While recognizing various forms of artistry, the emphasis is on visual-spatial thinking. The benefits of this kind of thinking in academic and professional activities include the simplification of massively complex writing, improvement of psychological functioning, and the magnification of creative work in various professions, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Visual-spatial thinking also is a strength that often helps twice-exceptional individuals overcome their learning difficulties. Several thinking and learning strategies are explored, including visual data animation, concept cartooning, visual metaphor, and musical translation of written material. Some ways that visual-spatial thinking can help overcome the problems generated by dogmatic school reform also are scrutinized.

This study investigates the way a kindergarten teacher implemented a three-stage project to support children's map understanding. The project, the Map and Play, was designed to help children understand the relationship between reality and its abstract representation. The guided play was adopted as the pedagogical approach because it empowers children to make independent decisions, encourages critical thinking, and offers opportunities for exploration. At the same time, adults take part in purposeful activities alongside the children. The research employed an ethnographic methodology involving classroom observations, video recordings, and interviews. Content analysis was used to explore the data sources. The results illustrated the stages taken to introduce children to the idea of map considering scientific research about how to foster map understanding. The data displays occasional mistakes made by the teacher, offering valuable insights into the dynamics of classrooms where similar activities might be introduced. The MPP was a promising experience for kindergarten children in enhancing their map reasoning and use of spatial language. Still, there is a need for teacher training to guide this complex learning process effectively.

This research is part of the "Ancient Xuzhou Houses in China: Cultural Memory, Symbol and Process Reconstruction in the Context of Rural Revitalization" project. Traditional houses contain a large amount of cultural value, literacy role, and historical memory. In order to sort out the transfer process more clearly between memory and people, this study set three research objectives. First, spatial memory transmission and literacy role needs to be studied and analyzed. Then, on this basis, we will further study the method of spatial memory transmission and literacy role. Finally, the appropriate medium for spatial memory transmission is analyzed. This study used descriptive analysis to summarize and discuss the results. The results show that spatial memory transmission and literacy is a process of maintaining and transmitting social and cultural values through the use and evolution of architecture and spatial design over time. Symbols in the memory space of residential buildings are containers for storing memories, just like a mobile hard drive that records relevant memory information. Residential buildings and people are like two devices that convey information and communicate through symbols. After comparison, in the dimension of cultural memory, symbols are more social and cultural and are more suitable as a medium for transmitting spatial memory and literacy role under cultural identity. This article explains the relationship between symbols and spatial memory, through spatial memory transmission to describe how common memories are shared and reproduced among collective members through cultural memory, literacy role and symbolic translation. It can transmit cultural and historical memories between different generations and acquires the importance of spatial positioning and environmental interaction in transmitting cultural memory.

The paper describes the results of a study whose main aim was to find the interrelationship between pupils' school grades in Czech language (native), mathematics, and physics and pupils' cognitive predispositions to problem-solving in science and mathematics diagnosed by the Lawson Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning and the Culture of Problem Solving test. A total of 180 pupils from the Czech Republic aged 14-15 took part in this study. The results show that pupils with better grades in the monitored subjects achieve better results in both tests. It also turns out that there are generally statistically insignificant differences between the results of pupils assessed by grades 1 or 2 and between those assessed by grades 3 or 4. Pupils' performance in the two tests might help to strengthen the objectivization of grading at school. They might also help identify the indicators important for developing problem-solving skills. The research specifically points to the need to develop algebraic thinking, the conception of infinity, spatial imagination, geometric imagination in the plane, proportional reasoning, and the ability to control variables.

The purpose of this study is to determine the spatial thinking ability of high school students using indicators from Sharpe-Huynh model. These indicators include analysis, spatial interaction, scale, representation, comprehensiveness, and application. Furthermore, this study examined the effect of Earthcomm learning on student's spatial thinking ability. This study research employs a quantitative study, utilizing a quasi-experimental design with a non-equivalent control group. The study is conducted among school students in Padang City, West Sumatera Province, Indonesia. The research population consisted of 287 students, divided into eight research groups. Data on students' spatial thinking ability were collected through the Sharpe-Huynh model of spatial thinking ability test. Before further analysis, the data were assessed for normality and homogeneity. The experimental group utilized earth science in the community (Earthcomm) learning model, while the control group employed conventional learning. The research data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test. The findings revealed that the spatial thinking ability of high school students ranged from low to moderate. The Earthcomm learning model demonstrated a significant impact in improving spatial thinking skills. The impact of Earthcomm learning on enhancing spatial thinking abilities among high school students is elaborated in the following article.

This study explores how pre-service mathematics teachers' spatial visualisation skills evolved during a Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) based education. The study used the qualitative theory-testing case study method, which guided the identification of participants, the design of technology-supported education, and the data collection and analysis process. The four participants meeting specific criteria were selected as the study sample. A CLT-based education equipped with technology was provided to help participants overcome difficulties in spatial visualisation problems, improve their existing schemas, and build higher-order schemas. Various teaching approaches (e.g., worked examples) were applied to optimise participants' learning in CLT-based education. The study data (e.g., transcripts of interviews) were analysed using the pattern-matching technique, in which the observed patterns were compared with the derived hypotheses from the theoretic models regarding the problem-solving process and novice-expert schemas. The study achieved remarkable results: In CLT-based education, where teaching approaches have an important role, the improvement in their spatial visualisation skills happened as the participants overcame their challenges in problem-solving steps throughout their cyclic problem-solving processes and gained more knowledge and skills. The participants' acquisition of expertise in spatial visualisation skills went through various developmental stages. They strengthened their initial spatial problem-solving schemas by completing the deficiencies in their prior knowledge. They gained practicality in same category tasks and constructed higher-order problem-solving schemas when dealing with high-category tasks by activating their assimilation and adaptation processes.

Learning about the Earth through geoscience education is important in order to make informed decisions about the future of the Earth. The aim of this study is to examine students' conceptual development on geoscience subjects based on inquiry-based learning. 7th grade students participated in this study. The researcher prepared lesson plans and activities connected with the aforementioned subjects in accordance with the inquiry-based learning model. In this study, the "Geoscience Concept Achievement Test (GCAT)" was used in order to obtain quantitative data, and it was applied as a pre-post test and also a retention test. Qualitative data obtained from 8 students, selected from the working group using the maximum sampling method, Science Writing Heuristics (SWH), interviews with the students, worksheets and assessment tests were used as qualitative data collection tools. The geoscience education program was implemented for 8 weeks. The results from quantitative and qualitative data showed that geoscience education positively affected 7th grade students' conceptual understanding of geoscience subjects. The results of the students' GCAT pre-test, post-test, retention test, SWH data, weekly interviews with the students and final interviews, revealed that the learning and teaching process applied in geoscience education positively affected their conceptual development regarding the subject of geoscience.

Geometry and spatial reasoning form the foundations of learning in mathematics. However, geometry is a subject often ignored by curriculum writers and teachers until high school, leading to students lacking in critical skills in geometric reasoning. As the United States moves into a new curriculum epoch, heralding the commencement of the national common core standards (CCS), one could question if CCS in geometry align with the essential understandings children need to be successful geometric thinkers. This paper begins with an examination of the essential understandings of geometric reasoning leading to an interpretation and critique of the elementary geometry CCS. Finally, the instructional implications are discussed, considering the common core progression through what we know about how children learn geometry.

This study aims to compare the efficacy of simultaneous prompting presented via tablets and visual cards in the instruction of spatial concepts to students with intellectual disabilities. A mobile learning software was developed within portable devices by using simultaneous prompting method to teach spatial concepts. The adapted alternating treatments design which is one of the single-subject research methods was used in the study. The dependent variables of the research are left-right, near-far, up-down concepts and independent variables are simultaneous prompting presented with tablet and simultaneous prompting presented with visual cards. A total of 3 students, 1 girl and 2 boys, studying at a private special education school participated in this research. Teaching sessions were held in an individual teaching arrangement. Results were analyzed by graphical analysis. According to the results of the research, it was concluded that there are different levels of effectiveness between teaching with simultaneous prompting presented with tablets and visual cards. It has been found that simultaneous prompting presented with tablets is more efficient than teaching with simultaneous prompting presented with visual cards. Two of the participants were found to have retained the concepts after 1, 3, and 5 weeks.

Augmented Reality (AR) has emerged in our educational paradigm as a new tool to accelerate change in the teaching and learning process. This technology can improve students' visualisation skills, which helps them understand abstract concepts, especially in Chemistry. Furthermore, visualisation skills help improve students' critical thinking. This study was conducted with 16 secondary students. Before and after the intervention, students were required to complete a Purdue Spatial Visualisation Test to measure their visualisation skills. During four weeks of intervention, students explored the content using a mobile augmented reality application for learning chemical bonds (called CBOND) and completed critical thinking tasks each week. This study employed data mining using a decision tree to predict the path to improving students' visualisation and critical thinking skills in learning chemical bonds. The results revealed that CBOND had a significant effect on students' visualisation and critical thinking development. Therefore, this study proved that augmented reality technology could help students to visualise abstract concepts, especially in Chemistry, and in turn, foster their higher level of critical thinking.

A hyper-standardized and alarmist educational climate in the U.S. propagates deficit discourses about students and creates a roadblock for teachers seeking to center their students' lives through critical and multicultural pedagogies. Scholars have called for attention to mapping as a pedagogical tool to unearth and push back against sociospatial injustice. In line with this, I offer the tool of "critical geospatial mapping" and provide two examples of how its application allowed preservice and in-service teachers to see the previously unseen strengths and resiliencies of historically-marginalized and multicultural communities. This allowed them to critique and reframe deficit narratives.

The use of navigation applications changed the way people find their way in an unfamiliar environment. A combination of maps, images and textual route instructions shown (or with audio) on one screen guides the user to the destination but may sometimes be overwhelming. This article investigated the spatial knowledge participants acquired after being presented with different types of route instructions, human and computer-generated, in an online wayfinding task using Google Streetview (without the 2D map) of an unfamiliar environment. The results showed a significant difference in the wayfinding performance for deviations from computer-generated instructions, whilst there was no difference in the time spent and the scene recall. Sketch maps revealed both route-like and survey-like characteristics. But most sketch maps are characterised by high route-likeness. Furthermore, this study showed a significant effect of the environmental layout on the participant's performance based on deviations incurred during wayfinding. The results of this study have implications for improving navigation system instructions and design as well as for learning with geospatial technologies.

This study investigated the effects of 3D model building activities with block codes on students' spatial thinking and computational thinking skills. The study group consists of 5th grade students in a secondary school in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. For the study, a pretestposttest control group was utilized within the experimental design. A total of 66 students participated, 23 in the experimental group and 43 in the control group. While the activities prepared on the Tinkercad platform were applied in the experimental group, the courses were taught using the traditional teaching method in the control group. The study covers a period of three-weeks in the course information technologies and software. The study used the computational thinking levels scale and spatial thinking test scales as data collection instruments. The data was analyzed using both descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests. Based on the study findings, there were no significant differences observed in the levels of computational thinking skills levels and spatial thinking test scores between the experimental and control groups.

Background: Recent research suggested fluent processing as an explanation on why number sense contributes to simple arithmetic tasks--'Fluency hypothesis'. Aims: The current study investigates whether number sense contributes to such arithmetic tasks when other cognitive factors are controlled for (including those that mediate the link); and whether this contribution varies as a function of participants' individual maths fluency levels. Sample: Four hundred and thirty-seven Chinese schoolchildren (186 females; Mage = 83.49 months) completed a range of cognitive measures in Grade 1 (no previous classroom training) and in Grade 2 (a year later). Methods: Number sense, arithmetic (addition and subtraction), spatial ability, visuo-spatial working memory, perception, reaction time, character reading and general intelligence were measured. Results: Our data showed that the link between number sense and arithmetic was weaker in Grade 1 (Beta = 0.15 for addition and 0.06 (ns) for subtraction) compared to Grade 2 (0.23--0.28), but still persisted in children with no previous maths training. Further, math's performance in Grade 1 did not affect the link between number sense and maths performance in Grade 2. Conclusion: Our data extended previous findings by showing that number sense is linked with simple maths task performance even after controlling for multiple cognitive factors. Our results brought some evidence that number sense-arithmetic link is somewhat sensitive to previous formal maths education. Further research is needed, as the differences in effects between grades were quite small, and arithmetic in Grade 1 did not moderate the link at question in Grade 2.

Spatial skills can predict mathematics performance, with many researchers investigating how and why these skills are related. However, a literature review on spatial ability revealed a multiplicity of spatial taxonomies and analytical frameworks that lack convergence, presenting a confusing terrain for researchers to navigate. We expose two central challenges: (1) many of the ways spatial ability is defined and subdivided are often not based in well-evidenced theoretical and analytical frameworks, and (2) the sheer variety of spatial assessments. These challenges impede progress in designing spatial skills interventions for improving mathematics thinking based on causal principles, selecting appropriate metrics for documenting change, and analyzing and interpreting student outcome data. We offer solutions by providing a practical guide for navigating and selecting among the various major spatial taxonomies and instruments used in mathematics education research. We also identify current limitations of spatial ability research and suggest future research directions.

People with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) have difficulties mentally simulating events, perhaps due to a difficulty mentally generating and maintaining a coherent spatial scene -- that is, 'scene construction'. The current study compared scene construction ability between autistic adults (N = 55) and age-, gender- and Intelligence Quotient-matched neurotypical adults (N = 63), using a task in which participants were asked to vividly imagine and describe fictitious scenes. Results showed that scene construction was diminished in autistic compared to neurotypical participants and was negatively associated with autistic traits. ASC diagnosis did not influence the frequency of self-reference or sensory experiences, which followed the same pattern in both groups: sight was referenced more than sound, sound was referenced more than both touch and smell, which were both referenced more than taste. Exploratory analysis of some of the cognitive predictors revealed that scene construction ability was associated with individual differences in Theory of Mind and alexithymia.

Students' talent and potential cannot be served until they are recognized by schools or caregivers. While the field of gifted education has had success in identifying many students with talents in reading and mathematics, those with spatial talents are often overlooked. This article reviews how we might identify spatial talent using traditional tests as well as observations during planned activities. Identifying spatial talent is an area in need of further research and assessment development.

A robust finding in cognitive psychology is that training children's spatial abilities is an effective route to improving mathematics performance. Despite this finding, there is limited representation of spatial reasoning in school curricula. To bridge this gap between research and practice, we created the Spatial Reasoning Toolkit (SRT; Gifford et al., 2022). In Study 1, we provide quantitative data of practitioner knowledge of spatial reasoning (N = 94) and their intended use of the SRT (N = 74). One year after the toolkit was launched, we compare these samples to a sample of SRT users (N = 59). In Study 2, we present case studies from three different school settings of users of the SRT. Results demonstrate that practitioners judged the SRT to be very useful. As intended, practitioners used it mainly for professional learning and for planning, but confidence in their ability to define spatial reasoning was mixed. Three diverse case studies demonstrate flexibility in application of the SRT resources, exemplifying that every child is unique and might not conform to the 'typical' trajectory. Practitioner time was presented as a barrier; this limitation was somewhat overcome by presenting multiple resource types, but nevertheless highlighted the need to maximize accessibility when translating research to practice.

Spatial thinking permeates much of our lives and is an asset when solving problems involving well-structured visual information or imagining solutions in physical or digital space. However, an estimated three million US school children have spatial talents that go unrecognized because of the tools commonly used for identification of academic talent. For decades, educational and psychological research has explored the range of spatial thinking skills that are demanded by many career fields, including science, engineering, and mathematics. Spatial thinking has been found to be particularly important to early mathematical thinking. In this article, we explore what spatial thinking entails, where it is important in the curriculum, and how we can begin to develop spatial literacy and identify spatial talents in our K-12 classrooms.

Decades of research point to the value and importance of spatial skills and have demonstrated the malleability, durability, and teachability of spatial skills across the lifespan. Teachers and caregivers can apply this research in their classrooms or homes through a wide range of strategies. In this article, we offer specific, engaging activities that can be deployed across multiple curricular areas and at home to nurture a range of spatial skills, such as spatial transformations and spatial comparisons. Just as we incorporate reading into thousands of interactions with the children around us, from reading road signs to sharing our favorite books, so too do the children need spatial thinking infused into our daily interactions with them. While we offer ideas for use both in the classroom and at home, that border is permeable; many of the classroom activities can be done at home, and many of the home activities can be adapted for classroom use.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relations among children's symbolic functioning at 15 months, joint attention at 24 months, expressive communication at 24 and 36 months, and executive functioning at 36 months. With the sample from rural areas in the United States collected by the Family Life Project (N = 1,008), a longitudinal data analysis was conducted. The results of structural equation modeling suggested that children's symbolic functioning at 15 months and children's executive functioning at 36 months was directly related to each other. These two variables were also indirectly related to each other through joint attention at 24 months and expressive communication at 24 and 36 months. Psychological distancing and verbal and nonverbal communication were used to explain the role symbolic functioning plays in the development of executive functioning during the second and the third years of children's lives.

This theoretical article explores the affordances and challenges of Euler diagrams as tools for supporting undergraduate introduction-to-proof students to make sense of, and reason about, logical implications. To theoretically frame students' meaning making with Euler diagrams, we introduce the notion of logico-spatial linked structuring (or LSLS). We argue that students' use of Euler diagrams as representations of logical statements entails a conceptual linking between spatial and non-spatial representations, and the LSLS framework provides a tool for modeling this conceptual linking. Moreover, from our Piagetian epistemological perspective, reasoning with Euler diagrams entails engaging in spatial mental operations and making a logical conclusion from the result. We illustrate the utility of the LSLS framework through examples with two undergraduate students as they reasoned about the truth of the converse and contrapositive of a given logical implication, and we identify specific spatial operations that they used and coordinated in their problem solving.

Spatial memory is important for supporting the successful completion of everyday activities and is a particularly vulnerable domain in late life. Grouping items together in memory, or chunking, can improve spatial memory performance. In memory for desktop scale spaces and well-learned large-scale environments, error patterns suggest that information is chunked in memory. However, the chunking mechanisms involved in learning new large-scale, navigable environments are poorly understood. In five experiments, two of which included young and older adult samples, participants watched movies depicting routes through building-sized environments while attempting to remember the locations of cued objects. We tested memory for the cued objects with virtual pointing, distance estimation, and map drawing tasks after participants viewed each route. Patterns of error failed to show consistent evidence of chunking in spatial memory across all experiments. One possibility is that chunking in spatial memory relies on visual perceptual grouping mechanisms that are not in play during encoding of large-scale spaces encountered through extended route experiences that do not afford concurrent viewing of target locations.

Individual differences in spatial thinking are predictive of children's math and science achievement and later entry into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Little is known about whether parent characteristics predict individual differences in children's spatial thinking. This study aims to understand whether, and to what extent, mother's intrinsic (i.e., mental rotation) and extrinsic (i.e., spatial scaling) spatial ability directly and indirectly, via the variation in home spatial environment, predicts children's intrinsic and extrinsic spatial ability. A total of 165 mothers and their 4-6-year-old children were recruited to participate in a remote video session with an experimenter. Mothers were administered a forced-choice "Intrinsic Spatial Toy Preference Task" gauging their preference for highly spatial versus less spatial toys and asked questions with the "Home Intrinsic Spatial Environmental Questionnaire" about the frequency with which they engage their child in spatial activities at home. Mothers completed a "Mental Rotations Test" and a "Spatial Scaling Task" adapted for adults. Children were administered the "Picture Rotation Task," the "Spatial Scaling Task," and the "Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test." Structural equation modeling was used to examine direct and indirect, via home spatial environment and toy choices, influences of mother spatial ability on child spatial ability. Contrary to our predictions, we did not find direct, nor indirect, relations between mother and child spatial ability. These findings suggest that researchers should consider alternative conceptualizations of the early home spatial environment beyond the frequency of spatial play in the home.

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 spatial thinking for geospatial analysis. The research was conducted among nineteen teachers attending the summer workshop offered by the project in its third project year to prepare them for teaching spatial computational thinking with IDV ("Integrated Data Viewer," downloadable at https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/idv/) visualization of weather data. Quantitative survey data were collected measuring these teachers' meteorology content knowledge, spatial computational thinking, self-efficacy for teaching spatial computational thinking, and epistemic cognition of teaching meteorology. The data were analyzed to examine the effects of the workshop in terms of these variables and the correlations among them were also explored.

Embodied cognition posits that processing concepts requires sensorimotor activation. Previous research has shown that perceived power is spatially embodied along the vertical axis. However, it is unclear whether such mapping applies equally in the two languages of bilinguals. Using event-related potentials, we compared spatial embodiment correlates in participants reporting the source of auditory words as being presented from above or below their sitting position. English bilinguals responded faster for congruent presentations of high-power words (presented above) but not for congruent presentations of low-power words (presented below) in both languages. Low-power words together also failed to modulate N400 amplitude or interact with language. However, follow-up analyses on high-power words showed congruency effects on N400 amplitude in Chinese but not in English. Finally, English controls showed no effect. This suggests that spatial embodiment differs across languages in bilinguals, but the roles of culture and proficiency require further research.

In 1993, an increase was observed in the spatial IQ scores of the volunteers who listened to Mozart's sonata K448 for 10 min, and this phenomenon entered the literature as the "Mozart effect." Other studies have shown that this effect is particularly evident in spatial skill tests. A large body of research has provided evidence that spatial ability is associated with success in learning anatomy. In this study, Kastamonu University Faculty of Medicine students were divided into two groups during 16-h practical training spanning 30 days. While one of the groups listened to Mozart's K448 sonata as the background music in all lessons, the control group attended the lessons in their standard form. At the end of each lesson, all students solved a modified mental rotation test including questions involving anatomical structures. Before starting the study, after the first laboratory class, on the 15th and 30th day of the study, blood samples were taken from the participants, and plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels were determined. The effect of time on mental rotation score and plasma BDNF level was significant (p < 0.001 for both). The effect of group was also significant (p < 0.001 for both). Pairwise comparisons showed significance in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth mental rotation test (p < 0.001, p = 0.041, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, respectively) and in the third (Day 15) and fourth (Day 30) BDNF measurement (p < 0.001 for both). Our findings may indicate that specific background music may be useful for anatomy teaching.

Temporal seeing is a mode of visual perception that interrupts the spatial bias we bring to visual literacy practices. Although an image only captures one moment in time, there are multiple spatioanalytical tools we can use to consider any image. Spatial literacy, which is the practice of analyzing objects through their properties in space, tends to be the default analytical mode for making sense of imagery. For people to bring a commensurate temporal richness to their articulated visual readings, we first highlight the perspectival richness of time and temporality. We next present five precepts that can guide enriched temporal seeing: contextual histories; relational chronologies; internal rhymicity; desequenced and resequenced narrative; and critique and meaning-making. Finally, we suggest that temporal seeing holds a series of educative possibilities for expanding the interpretive frames and perceptual apparatuses of literacy researchers and practitioners.

In this paper, we investigated the contribution of both cognitive and affective factors to mathematical skills. In particular, we looked at the protective role of self-concept for mathematical learning and performance. In a field study, we tested the relation of math self-concept and short-term visuo-spatial working memory to the mathematical abilities of second- grade primary school children in Italy (N = 105). Measures included the "Test for the evaluation of calculating and problem-solving abilities" (AC-MT 6-11), the backward Corsi blocks test (Battery for Visuo-Spatial Memory), and the mathematics self-concept sub-scale of the Self-Description Questionnaire-I (SDQ-I, Italian version). As expected, correlation and moderated regression analyses showed that mathematics self-concept and working memory both positively predict mathematical operations and numeracy, but not accuracy. Simple slope analysis confirmed our moderation hypothesis, with working memory predicting mathematical abilities at low levels of math self-concept, but not at medium and high levels. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Virtual reality (VR) applications are developing rapidly, becoming more and more affordable, and offer various advantages for learning contexts. Dynamic visualizations are generally suitable for depicting continuous processes (e.g., different movement patterns), and particularly dynamic virtual 3D-objects can provide different perspectives on the movements. The present study investigated through a low immersive (desktop "VR", Study 1) and a high immersive virtual environment (immersive VR; Study 2) the effectiveness of different interaction formats to view 3D-objects from different perspectives. Participants controlled either the orientation of the 3D-objects (Study 1, mouse interaction; Study 2, hand interaction via VR controllers) or their viewpoint in relation to the 3D-objects (Study 1, camera position; Study 2, position of participants' own body). Additionally, the moderating influence of learners' visuospatial ability was addressed. Dependent variables were pictorial recognition (easy, medium, difficult), factual knowledge, presence, and motion sickness. Results showed that higher-visuospatial-ability learners outperformed lower-visuospatial-ability learners. In Study 1, higher-visuospatial-ability learners showed higher recognition performance (difficult items) by controlling the camera position, whereas lower-visuospatial-ability learners suffered from this interaction format. In Study 2, higher-visuospatial-ability learners achieved better recognition performance (easy items) by controlling the 3D-models, whereas lower-visuospatial-ability learners tended to profit from moving around the 3D-objects (medium items). The immersive VR yielded more presence and higher motion sickness. This study clearly shows that different interaction formats to view 3D-objects from multiple perspectives in Desktop-VR are not transferable on a one-to-one basis into immersive VR. The results and implications for the design of virtual learning environments are discussed.

Cultural heritage is no longer something that can only be experienced in a museum exhibition. Digital tools have facilitated the distribution of material relating to artefacts, both in its representation and in presenting its context. This paper describes how digital modelling techniques can be synthesised with 3D scanning to digitally restore artefacts and create authentic replicas of their original states. The digital artefacts can then be used to assist the process of interpreting these artefacts in diverse forms, both in the museum and outside the museum. The study looks at Pictish sculpture as a case-study, restoring 3D models of two stones, and creating varying opportunities for their interpretation. As part of this study, new interactive tools, a virtual reality environment, and a virtual tour are built to assist immersive interpretation of the Pictish sculpture. The application of these digitised objects serves as an opportunity for informal learning. These applications were evaluated during a drop-in session. Findings show that all participants enjoyed the immersive mode of learning with 89% also showing a willingness to learn more about the topic.

It has been discovered that incorporating technology into geometry instruction improves students' abilities and attitudes. GeoGebra Software is effective at motivating teachers to use technology as a supplement to enhance students' mathematical learning potential. The current study sought to ascertain the effects of GeoGebra software on secondary school students' performance as well as teachers' and students' attitudes toward 3-dimensional geometry. A sample of 84 Senior Five students in upper secondary school from Kicukiro and Musanze District was chosen purposively. The selected sample was divided into two groups for the quasi-experimental design, with the control group having 44 students and the experimental group having 40 students. Additionally, two teachers were chosen to involve in the study. Students in the experimental group used GeoGebra software to study 3D geometry, whereas students in the control group received traditional geometry instruction. The data was collected quantitatively, with both groups taking pre-and post-tests. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS v.25. The results revealed a statistically significant difference in students' performance between the groups in favour of the experimental group. Furthermore, both teachers' and students' attitudes were improved. These findings support GeoGebra's efficacy in increasing student achievement as well as teachers' and students' attitudes toward 3-D geometry. However, there was no statistically significant difference in attitudes between male and female students, according to the study. Therefore, we advise adding GeoGebra to mathematics curricula across all grade levels in Rwanda, with a focus on geometry.

Increasing evidence has shown that implicit learning shapes visuospatial attention, yet how such learning interacts with top-down, goal-driven attention remains unclear. This study investigated the relationship between task goals and selection history using a location probability learning (LPL) paradigm. We tested whether a top-down spatial cue facilitates or interferes with the acquisition of implicit LPL. In a visual search task, participants were asked to give precedence to one of four, spatially cued, quadrants of the screen. Unbeknownst to them, there was an underlying uneven spatial probability in which the target appeared disproportionately often in the cued quadrant (37.5%) and a second, uncued quadrant (37.5%). To assess what participants had learned, neutral, uncued testing trials with an equal target location probability (25%) were used. Results revealed faster search times in the cued and the uncued high-probability quadrants compared to the two low-probability quadrants and these fast search times remained prevalent in the neutral testing blocks. Importantly, LPL was comparable between the cued and uncued locations in the testing blocks, suggesting that the spatial cue neither facilitated nor interfered with LPL. These results support the dual-system view of attention, revealing parallel systems supporting both goal-driven and experience-guided attention.

Developmental science has experienced a vivid debate on whether young children prioritize goals over means in their prediction of others' actions. Influential developmental theories highlight the role of goal objects for action understanding. Yet, recent infant studies report evidence for the opposite. The empirical evidence is therefore inconclusive. The current study advanced this debate by assessing preschool children's verbal predictions of others' actions. In five experiments (N = 302), we investigated whether preschool children and adults predict agents to move towards their previous goal (that is, show goal-related predictions) or predict agents to move along the same movement path that they pursued before. While Experiments 1a, 1b and 1c presented young children and adults with animated agents, Experiments 2a and 2b presented participants with human grasping action. An integrative analysis across experiments revealed that children were more likely to predict the agent to move along the same movement path, Z = -4.574, p [less than or equal to] 0.0001 (r = 0.304). That is, preschool children were more likely to predict that agents would move along the same trajectory even though this action would lead to a new goal object. Thus, our findings suggest that young children's action prediction relies on the detection of spatial and movement information. Overall, we discuss our findings in terms of theoretical frameworks that conceive of action understanding as an umbrella term that comprises different forms and facets in which humans understand others' actions.

In the search for mechanisms that contribute to dyslexia, the term "attention" has been invoked to explain performance in a variety of tasks, creating confusion since all tasks do, indeed, demand "attention." Many studies lack an experimental manipulation of attention that would be necessary to determine its influence on task performance. Nonetheless, an emerging view is that children with dyslexia have an impairment in the exogenous (automatic/reflexive) orienting of spatial attention. Here we investigated the link between exogenous attention and reading ability by presenting exogenous spatial cues in the multi-letter processing task--a task relevant for reading. The task was gamified and administered online to a large sample of children (N = 187) between 6 and 17 years. Children with dyslexia performed worse overall at rapidly recognizing and reporting strings of letters. However, we found no evidence for a difference in the utilization of exogenous spatial cues, resolving two decades of ambiguity in the field. Previous studies that claimed otherwise may have failed to distinguish attention effects from overall task performance or found spurious group differences in small samples.

One of the most well-known instructional methods used to enhance Chinese character reading (CCR) is Chinese stem-deriving instruction (CSDI). In this method, CCR is taught via a group of characters (e.g., [foreign character omitted], [foreign character omitted], and [foreign character omitted]) that share the same stem (e.g., [foreign character omitted]). However, the effectiveness of CSDI on the CCR of Chinese children with dyslexia remains inconsistent, and the reason may be the diverse designs of this method across studies. Thus, this study aimed to use a quasiexperiment-design study to compare the effects of various forms of CSDI based on the (in)consistency of the extending characters' sounds, their appearances, and their amount (i.e., how many of them). In total, 122 Chinese third to sixth graders with dyslexia were recruited from primary schools, and they were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (a) visuospatially controlled CSDI (n = 37; all taught characters shared the same pronunciation), (b) verbally controlled CSDI (n = 45; all taught characters shared the same structure), and (c) noncontrolled CSDI (n = 40; all taught characters selected only on the basis of their frequencies). They were tested by CCR and dictation before and after the instruction. We found that CCR was significantly improved in all three CSDI groups, whereas only the verbally controlled CSDI group showed significant improvements in dictation. Furthermore, verbally and visuospatially controlled CSDI earned the greatest benefits in decreasing the visual errors and phonetic errors in CCR and decreasing the radical errors and homophone errors in dictation. Our findings shed light on the effectiveness of CSDI in terms of diverse designs, and frontline practitioners should take our findings into consideration when using CSDI.

Previous studies have identified patterns of coordinated control when adults combine gait and grasping. What remains unclear is whether the coordination of these two tasks differs between adolescent and adult groups. Groups of adults and adolescents were asked to walk across an instrumented gait mat in three conditions: walk forward, walk and grasp a small target, and walk and grasp a large target. Spatiotemporal measures of gait/gait variability and grasp/grasp variability were quantified. Both adolescents and young adults exhibited decreased velocity, decreased step-extremity ratio, and increased percent of gait cycle spent in double support when grasping compared to walking alone. The major influence of grasping was seen during the final step before grasp in both groups. Change scores between walk forward and walk and grasp conditions were larger for adolescents. Furthermore, spatiotemporal measures of gait and grasping were more variable in adolescents. These results suggest that superimposing grasp onto gait is more challenging for adolescents than young adults. The challenges associated with combining these two tasks is particularly evident in the last step prior to object contact and suggests that the increased planning and execution demands required to perform these coordinated skills affects adolescents to a greater extent than young adults.

The purpose of the study was to determine the association between van Hiele geometric thinking levels and circular achievement exam results for middle school students in 7th grade. The design of the study was a survey method. 157 middle school students were participated into study from three different schools in Kayseri in the spring semester of the 2017-2018 academic year. Van Hiele geometry thinking test which was developed by Usiskin and adapted into Turkish by Duatepe (2000) and a circle achievement test that was developed by the researcher were used to collect the data. Pearson The circle achievement test and van Hiele geometry thinking levels were correlated to find their link. Assumptions were met, hence independent groups t-test and ANOVA were performed. The results revealed that Grade 7. Students van Hiele geometric thinking levels were lower than expected levels. A moderate correlation was found between the circle achievement test and the van Hiele geometric thinking test. The results obtained from the van Hiele geometry thinking test showed statistically significant mean difference across schools 1 and 2. Moreover, there is no statistically significant mean difference across schools at the circle achievement test. Boy and girl middle school students' geometry thinking levels and circle achievement test scores were not statistically significantly different from each other.

Courses at the postsecondary level continue to rely heavily on visual material that is accessible only to fully or partially sighted students. Tactile graphics work for many pedagogical purposes, but in some cases are insufficient; other information and concepts may be better conveyed through haptic exploration of 3D printed objects. However, there is a dearth of 3D-printable open educational resources for college-level content. To address this need while simultaneously teaching students about accessibility and universal design, we designed and taught an experimental course in which students (a) learned about disability in general and blindness in particular (including history and advocacy); (b) explored technology used by people with visual impairment; (c) heard from many blind voices, including guest experts and community members; (d) studied universal design; and (e) designed 3D-printable educational tactile models in collaboration with blind community members. By the end, students demonstrated significantly less bias and more positive attitudes about blindness and people with visual impairment, and were more confident with accessibility, universal design, and assistive technology. We believe this course can serve as a model for similar courses elsewhere as a strategy to teach students from any major about disability, accessibility, and universal design.

The goal of this paper is to present several methods of visualizing student activity and collaboration in problem-based learning (PBL) in ways that can augment understanding of the complexity within PBL classrooms as well as to provide insights into the use of specific visual representations to address research questions in PBL. Grounded in sociocultural theory, we consider these representations to be an aid to mediate researchers' interpretation of the multiple data streams generated in PBL. For quantitative analysis, we introduce social network system (SNA), structural equation model (SEM) and path modeling. In terms of qualitative analysis, we exhibit chronologically-ordered representation of discourse and tool-related activity (CORDTRA), event maps, and spatial representations of physical activity. By reviewing articles that utilized these representations in PBL, we present several examples of how these visualizations were helpful in interpreting complex data and illuminating how students learn in PBL and other forms of collaborative inquiry. Although such visual representation methods enable us to visualize and trace complex dynamics and communicate findings with readers, they are not self-explanatory. We further discuss potential pitfalls of using visualizations and how to fully take advantage of those tools in PBL research studies.

The aim of this research is to determine whether the use of augmented reality applications in the teaching of the subject of ''Geometric objects'' in the sixth grade mathematics class has an effect on the development of students' geometric thinking levels and spatial ability. The research was conducted using a pre experimental design, one of the quantitative research methods. The research was carried out with 15 sixth grade students studying in a state secondary school in Aziziye district of Erzurum province in the spring semester of the 2021/2022 academic year, for 15 class hours which each of the lessons consist of 40 minutes. While collecting data in the research, van Hiele Geometric Thinking Test, Middle Grades Mathematics Projects (MGMP) Spatial Ability Test and the Geometric Objects Achievement Test were used. Statistical package program was used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the analysis of the data obtained from the van Hiele Geometric Thinking Test, the MGMP Spatial Ability Test and the Geometric Objects Achievement Test, it was determined that there was a statistically significant difference between the pretest and the posttest in favor of the posttest. It concluded that teaching geometry with augmented reality applications had a positive effect on the development of students' geometric thinking levels and spatial ability, and in addition, it had a statistically positive contribution to their academic achievement. Therefore, in line with these results, it can be said that augmented reality-based teaching applications offer new opportunities for learning- teaching processes.

The coordinate system is a fundamental tool for many daily activities, yet it is usually taught to children in middle school. Research suggests that children should be exposed to the coordinate system at a younger age, using methods appropriate to their developmental level. This paper presents a set of instructional activities designed to teach kindergarten children the basic concepts and principles of the coordinate system. The activities were implemented in two early childhood institutions in Istanbul, Türkiye. Arranged in a developmental progression from simple to complex and from concrete to abstract, they align with the children's developmental levels. We discussed what we learned from our implementations of the activities. Detailed suggestions are presented for teachers introducing young children to the coordinate system.

The aim of this study is to examine whether the structural model that Sahin and Ates (2020) put forward about the relationship among students' scientific literacy levels, logical thinking ability, cognitive styles, mental capacity, and mental rotation ability differ in terms of gender. A causal-comparative model approach was used in this study. The sample of the research was 823 seventh-grade students in the central districts of Ankara. This sample was created using the random stratified sampling method. In the study, it is seen that 64% of the variance in the scientific literacy scores of the females and 48% of the variance in the scientific literacy scores of the males are explained by the cognitively based variables. Comparing male and female students in the data analyses, the predictive effect of the mental rotation ability of female students on the logical thinking ability was not significant. In male students, when only the direct effects were examined, the effect of cognitive styles on scientific literacy was not significant. Based on the results of the study, it is thought that examining the interactions among the activities related to learning, teaching, and assessment process used in science classes, and cognitive styles will play an important role in the process of removing inequalities of opportunity arising from possible gender-cognitive style interaction in the process of raising scientifically literate individuals.

Development dyslexia (DD) is a common language disorder, that significantly affects children. Despite having ordinary intelligence, dyslexic people struggle with reading, writing, and comprehension in their native tongue. It is still unclear whether dyslexic kids have difficulties with visuo-spatial working memory. Using meta-analysis, this gap was filled. Applying a Boolean search on Web of Science was necessary to find the pertinent papers. Thirteen studies were analyzed. The average, standard deviation, and sample size for each task were extracted. There were large effect sizes between children with DD and their age-matched peers in terms of their visuo-spatial working memory. The findings imply that visuo-spatial working memory deficiencies in dyslexic children indicate that dyslexia might exhibit domain-general characteristics. We discovered during our research that the type of language used and the testing procedure could have an impact on the test outcomes. Therefore, future research should focus on the type of tasks or language.

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of 360-degree panorama-based Virtual Reality (360VR) as a tool to simulate real-world site visit experiences in interior design education. In the first stage of evaluation, the online survey was implemented to ask students about their learning experience of using 360VR. The second stage of 360 VR effectiveness evaluation focused on the objective comparison of students learning outcomes between the 360VR method and the traditional approach. The students' experience survey results indicated that 360VR and virtual walkthrough experiences benefited students' understanding of the site during the design process. Students reflected positive 360 VR experiences on their engagement in learning, special layout, visualization, and educational effectiveness. The result of the student learning outcome evaluation showed no significant difference between 360 VR compared to no site visit. However, there was a significant improvement in students' spatial planning, finish selection, and total scores when using the 360 VR method compared to an on-site visit.

The aim of the study is to determine the movement skills, geometry and spatial perceptions of five-year-old children. The study group consisted of 222 children, 110 girls and 112 boys, who received preschool education in the spring semester of the 2021-2022 academic year in Istanbul, Türkiye. The correlational survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the study. The CHAMPS Motor Skills Protocol and the Test for Geometry and Spatial Perceptions were used as data collection instruments. In the data analysis, KolmogorovSmirnov, t-test, Mann Whitney U test and Spearman Brown test was used. It was seen that the average scores of manipulative skills of the children in the scope of fine motor development were higher than the average scores of locomotor skills in the scope of gross motor development. It was determined that the children got the highest score in the field of "recognition of shapes" for their geometry and spatial perceptions. In addition, it was revealed that girls scored higher than boys in recognizing shape, symmetry, mental appearance of shapes and discovering the properties of shapes, and the areas in which children were most successful in recognizing/distinguishing geometric shapes, without gender differences, while the dimension in which they got the lowest score was symmetry. A low negative correlation was determined between movement skills and geometry and spatial perception. It may be conducting longitudinal studies in which the effect of the relationship between movement skills, geometry and spatial perception on individuals' academic achievement or career choices.

This study aimed to develop a useful test to measure university students' spatial abilities validly and reliably. Following a sequential explanatory mixed methods research design, first, qualitative methods were used to develop the trial items for the test; next, the psychometric properties of the test were analyzed through quantitative methods using data obtained from 456 university students. As a result, a multiple-choice spatial ability test with 27 items and five options was created, divided into three subtests: spatial relations, spatial visualization, and spatial orientation. The results suggested that scores obtained from the spatial ability test and its subtests are valid and reliable.