Spatial Navigation Test with Virtual Starmaze: the Role of Spatial Strategy in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education

ABSTRACT Background In learning astronomy, students need to shift between 3D and 2D representations involving complex interactions between the body and material environment. Little attention has been paid to the iconic nature of this astronomical diagramming. Purpose This research explored the value for students of diagramming to reveal the structural relationships of astronomical phenomena. The study aimed to 1) operationalise Charles Peirce’s pragmatist semiotics to analyse students’ bodily and material reasoning 2) identify the iconic nature of students’ diagramming through Stjernfelt’s activating of Peirce’s iconicity. Sample Two students (a pair) from a class of 30 Year 7 students (12 years old) and their teacher (1) from a government secondary school in Melbourne, Australia. Design and Methods A micro-ethnographic approach to the analysis of video/audio records and student artefacts was utilised in the context of three moments from a 1 hr lesson on astronomy. This data was analysed using Peirce’s sign types of icon, index and symbol to construct a triadic account of the bodily and material nature of students’ reasoning as diagramming. Results The two students determined, by revealing structural relationships with their bodies as well as a mini-whiteboard and a torch and globe, that the Sun is higher in the sky in Summer than Winter due to the Earth’s rotational axis with a tilt (of 23.5 degrees) and its elliptical orbit around the Sun. Conclusion For students to transduct between 3D and 2D astronomical representations, they need to coordinate space-based and Earth-based perspectives through bodily and material diagramming that makes apparent key structural relationships (i.e. iconicity).

A pragmatist semiotic analysis of secondary students’ embodied and material reasoning in astronomy

Scientific modeling (SM) is a core practice of science and an important component of scientific literacy. Supporting students in developing the competence to construct, use, evaluate, and revise models is hence of particular relevance. While research has shown that spatial visualization (SV), a core component of spatial ability, is correlated with student s’ SM performance, it is unclear which role SV plays in students performing the four elements of SM: the construction, the use, the evaluation, and the revision of models. This study analyzes the role of SV in the performance of a series of SM tasks by 279 students in Grades 4 and 7. The findings indicate that SV affects student s’ performance in SM but that the effect is more significant in Grade 4 than in Grade 7. More specifically, SV is significantly predictive for model revision in Grade 4, but significant for model evaluation in Grade 7. However, there was no gender difference in the effect of SV on SM. The implications are that science teaching and learning must better attend to supporting younger students through visual aids when engaging them in SM. The study also suggests that further studies are needed to understand the different cognitive processes involved in student s’ SM and their complex interplay.

Exploring the Relationship of Spatial Visualization and Scientific Modeling in Grades 4 and 7 Students Based on Cognitive Assessment Data

Scientific modeling (SM) is a core scientific practice and critical for students’ scientific literacy. Previous research has not used interactive computer assessment to investigate students’ SM ability. This study aimed to explore an effective way in human-computer interaction to reveal the challenges faced by students in the four-element process of constructing, using, evaluating, and revising models. Contextualized in the solar system, eleven interactive tasks assessed 419 students in grades 4, 7, and 10. Results indicated that “model evaluation” and “model revision” were more difficult for students than “model construction” and “model use.” Grade significantly predicted students’ SM ability (p<.001). The interaction with re-answer according to feedback promoted students’ in-depth reflection and performance in SM. Findings of the study may provide a basis for improving students’ SM ability.

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Interactive computer assessment and analysis of students’ ability in scientific modeling

Recent research has shown that the use of Virtual Reality (VR) can induce many cognitive capacities in science learners. This research explored the effects of virtual reality on mental rotation abilities, which are recognized as one of the significant sub-factors of spatial abilities. This study aimed to explore the effects of virtual reality on the mental rotation abilities of learners at the elementary level. The research was carried out employing experimental methodology, in which a pre-test post-test control group design was used. The hypotheses of the study were to compare the mental rotation abilities of the science students in the experimental group while learning through VR and the control group while learning as usual. The population consisted of 7th grade students from the Islamabad Model School for Girls. Sample of study was conveniently selected i.e. 62 students through random selection. The standardized measure was used for a mental rotation test consisting of 24 multiple choice questions. Over the course of three weeks, virtual reality was used for the intervention purpose of learning various science topics that required mental rotation abilities for full comprehension. The results showed that VR had significant positive effect on mental rotation abilities of the science learners at elementary level. It is recommended to use virtual reality to enhance the learners’ spatial abilities such as mental rotation abilities. 
Keywords: Virtual Reality, Spatial Abilities, Mental Rotation Abilities, Spatial Orientation, Spatial Visualization, Sciences.

Effects of Virtual Reality on Mental Rotation Ability of Science Students at Elementary Level

Strong spatial skills are foundational in predicting students' performance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. Decades of research have considered the relationship between thinking spatially and how scientists reason and solve problems. However, few studies have examined the factors that influence improvement in students' spatial thinking during their school science curricula. The present study investigates the ThinkSpace curricula—two middle school astronomy units designed to support students' ability to apply the spatial skill of perspective-taking (PT) while learning to explain lunar phases (3 days) and the seasons (8 days). U.S. students in 6th and 8th grades (N = 877) across four districts participated in the study, completing assessments before and after the ThinkSpace curricula, along with an additional group of students in 6th and 7th grades (N = 172) who participated as a spatial control group. Data collection included multiple-choice content assessments, PT skill assessments, and interviews (from a sub-sample of 96 students), before and after instruction. After participating in ThinkSpace curricula, students demonstrated improved spatial thinking within the domain of astronomy, as measured by improved written content assessments, increased application of PT during conceptual interviews, and a general measurement of PT skill. Higher initial PT skill and higher gain in PT skill predicted greater improvement in students' astronomy understanding, even when accounting for their initial content knowledge. Although ThinkSpace students in all demographic groups improved PT skill post-instruction, 8th graders (who were in districts with lower SES), and females were predicted to have smaller gains in their PT skill than the 6th graders (who were in districts with higher SES) and male students. These findings suggest that middle school students' spatial thinking in science can be improved during their middle school science curricula, but questions remain concerning how to reduce spatial-learning gaps that are associated with gender and possibly SES. 

Learning to think spatially through curricula that embed spatial training

---------- ------------------------------------------ NAME Alyssa A. Goodman OFFICE Astronomy Department, Harvard University Cambridge, MA 02138, 617-495-9278 HOME 485 Concord Avenue, Lexington, MA 02421 WEB SITE scholar.harvard.edu/agoodman ORIGIN July 1, 1962, New York, New York ---------- ------------------------------------------ 

/pdf/curriculum-vitae-alyssa-a-goodman-1g3e498x.pdf

Curriculum Vitae: Alyssa A. Goodman

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Learning to think spatially through curricula that embed spatial training

Curriculum Vitae: Alyssa A. Goodman