Spatial Thinking Assessment
An Invitation to Participate
SEAGA 2012
Robert Bednarz
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas, USA
Jongwon Lee
Ewha Womans University
Seoul, South Korea
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Outline
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What is spatial thinking?
Importance of Spatial Thinking
Spatial Thinking vs Spatial Ability
Assessing Spatial Thinking (STAT)
Use STAT and Contribute to the Data
Base
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Spatial Thinking Defined
National Research
Council’s Learning
to Think Spatially
offers a new
conceptualization
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Spatial Thinking
• Knowledge, skills, and habits of mind
To use
Concepts of space
Tools of representation
Processes of reasoning
To structure problems, find
answers, and express solutions to
these problems.
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Outline
•
•
•
•
•
What is spatial thinking?
Importance of Spatial Thinking
Spatial Thinking vs Spatial Ability
Assessing Spatial Thinking (STAT)
Use STAT and Contribute to the Data
Base
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Importance of Spatial Thinking
• Geography
– One of two perspectives mentioned by
both the National Geography Standards:
Geography for life
– One of two enduring themes of academic
geography identified by Turner in
“Contested identities: human-environment
geography and disciplinary implications in
a restructuring academy
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Importance of Spatial Thinking
• Geo-spatial technology (GST)
– Importance of “representations” noted in
Learning to Think Spatially
– Recognition of the role GIS can play as a
support system for spatial thinking
– Necessity for spatial thinking to exploit the
advantages of GST
– Growing opportunities in the workforce
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Importance of Spatial Thinking
• Science and other disciplines
– Crick and Watson’s model of the structure
of DNA as a double-helix
– Inferring subsurface structures from
surficial features and interpreting seismic
diagrams by geoscientists
– Using graphical analysis to handle the evergrowing volume of data
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Outline
•
•
•
•
•
What is spatial thinking?
Importance of Spatial Thinking
Spatial Thinking vs Spatial Ability
Assessing Spatial Thinking (STAT)
Use STAT and Contribute to the Data
Base
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Spatial Thinking vs Spatial Ability
• Ability
– Visualization
• Rotation
– Perspective
• Table-top scale
• Timed tests
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Spatial Ability
• Little correlation between visualization and
rotation and geography-relevant tasks
– Navigation, performance in geography, GIS or
cartography
• Researchers began to argue for a
broadening of spatial abilities
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Ability Augmented
• Spatial relations proposed
– Patterns, correlation, way finding,
overlaying, distributions, sketch mapping
• Definition remains controversial
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Spatial Thinking
• An amalgam
– Concepts (knowledge)
– Tools (spatial representations)
– Reasoning (ways of thinking)
• More inclusive (identifying spatial patterns,
distributions, and correlation; way finding;
and sketch mapping)
• Scale
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Outline
•
•
•
•
•
What is spatial thinking?
Importance of Spatial Thinking
Spatial Thinking vs Spatial Ability
Assessing Spatial Thinking (STAT)
Use STAT and Contribute to the Data
Base
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Spatial Thinking Assessment
• Measuring skills beyond visualization and
perspective
• Spatial Thinking Ability Test (STAT)
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
STAT
• Two equivalent forms
• Sixteen multiple-choice questions
• Both hard-copy and digital versions
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Impact of Teacher Training
• Impact of Teachers’ Guide to Modern
Geography
• Introduction of spatial thinking skills into
classrooms
• Teachers showed significant improvement
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Impact of GIS Learning
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Components of Spatial Thinking
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Components of Spatial Thinking
• Students at all levels found the same
questions easy or challenging
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Components of Spatial Thinking
• Factor Analysis
– Six factors were identified
• Little support for the hypothesized components
• Three of four questions grouping on the first factor are
related to map visualization and overlay
• Four on the second concern point, line, and area
symbols
• Discerning patterns and performing boolean operations
characterize the third
• The final two are determined by single questions
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Outline
•
•
•
•
•
What is spatial thinking?
Importance of Spatial Thinking
Spatial Thinking vs Spatial Ability
Assessing Spatial Thinking (STAT)
Use STAT and Contribute to the Data
Base
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Contribute to the Data Base
• Free access
– Paper or digital
• Internationally administered
– Great Britain, South Africa, South Korea,
Turkey, Germany
• Share your results
– Gender
– Culture
– Education
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University
Geography Education Research Cluster—Texas A&M University