Investigating the Relationship Between Spatial Skills and Computer Science

The relationship between spatial skills training and computer science learning is unclear. Reported experiments provide tantalising, though not convincing, evidence that training a programming student's spatial skills may accelerate the development of their programming skills. Given the well-documented challenge of learning to program, such acceleration would be welcomed. Despite the experimental results, no attempt has been made to develop a model of how a linkage between spatial skills and computer science ability might operate, hampering the development of a sound research programme to investigate the issue further. This paper surveys the literature on spatial skills and investigates the various underlying cognitive skills involved. It poses a theoretical model for the relationship between computer science ability and spatial skills, exploring ways in which the cognitive processes involved in each overlap, and hence may influence one another. An experiment shows that spatial skills typically increase as the level of academic achievement in computer science increases. Overall, this work provides a substantial foundation for, and encouragement to develop, a major research programme investigating precisely how spatial skills training influences computer science learning, and hence whether computer science education could be significantly improved

Evolution of Test Items: From Open-ended to Multiple-Choice

Grading is often a faculty member’s least favorite chore, especially in engineering where open-ended problems prevail. For this reason, multiple-choice test items could be a popular alternative for assessing learning and understanding. In addition, most Learning Management Systems allow the instructor to cre¬ate multiple-choice questions to be scored automatically by the system. The use of multiple-choice items in engineering graphics education could increase efficiency, allowing instructors to focus on other aspects of their teaching rather than spending significant time grading open-ended problems. The authors of this paper have been involved in a project to develop a Concept Inventory for Engineering Graphics over the past several years. Since Concept Inventories typically consist of multiple-choice items, development of this instrument was reliant on the creation of numerous valid and reliable items. This paper will focus on the process employed in multiple-choice item creation with application to engineering graphics. The process will be illustrated through demonstration of item evolution through several iterations

An Investigation of the Role of Spatial Ability in Representing and Solving Word Problems Among Engineering Students

Background Spatial ability is significantly related to performance in engineering education. Problem solving, an activity that is highly relevant to engineering education, has been linked to spatial ability. Purpose/Hypothesis To what extent is spatial ability related to problem solving among engineering students and how do approaches to problem representation and solution vary with spatial ability level? Design/Method Three instruments – a spatial ability test, word math problems and accompanying core math competency questions – were administered to two samples of first year engineering students in two different countries. Data were analyzed at the test level to evaluate the relationship of spatial ability to problem representation and solution. A detailed item level analysis was conducted to compare approach to problem solving with spatial ability level. Results Spatial ability was found to be significantly related to problem solving but not to the core competency questions indicating the relationship was limited to the problem representation phase and not the solution phase. Key aspects of representation were identified for each problem to reveal a more pronounced relationship between representation and spatial ability than between problem solving (representation and solution) and spatial ability. Conclusions Problem solving can be considered to consist of two cognitively distinct phases: spatial ability is significantly related to problem representation but not to problem solution. Hence, this study shows that spatial ability plays a key role in engineering education that is not limited to visualization of imagery but extends to thinking during problem solving, a non-routine activity that requires mental representation

A history of engineering education research in Portugal and Ireland

Comunicação apresentada em 121st Annual Conference & Exposition - "360º of Engineering Education", Indianapolis, IN - USA, June 15-18, 2014The American Society for Engineering Education is the oldest professional society in the world that is solely dedicated to the betterment of engineering education. In its early days, ASEE was a gathering of faculty who wanted to improve the practice of engineering education through experimentation with new curricula, new teaching styles, or new gadgets. Presentations often consisted of “this is what I did” and “this is how the students reacted.” Beginning in the 1990s, through the influx of federal dollars in the Coalitions, a new discipline began to emerge—Engineering Education—and along with this discipline a research area was born. At this point in time, the concept of rigorous Engineering Education Research (EER) is fairly well-established in the US, with dedicated programs for EER at the National Science Foundation, PhD degree programs in EER, and the reinvention of the Journal of Engineering Education to support this endeavour. Departments dedicated at least in part to Engineering Education Research are emerging on campuses across the country. There has also been an emergence of Engineering Education Research across the globe; however, efforts in other countries have often been slower due to many factors. This paper describes the emergence of Engineering Education Research in two countries in the European Union—Portugal and Ireland. The evolution of EER in these two countries is set in a larger global context

Predicting Academic Performance: A Systematic Literature Review

The ability to predict student performance in a course or program creates opportunities to improve educational outcomes. With effective performance prediction approaches, instructors can allocate resources and instruction more accurately. Research in this area seeks to identify features that can be used to make predictions, to identify algorithms that can improve predictions, and to quantify aspects of student performance. Moreover, research in predicting student performance seeks to determine interrelated features and to identify the underlying reasons why certain features work better than others. This working group report presents a systematic literature review of work in the area of predicting student performance. Our analysis shows a clearly increasing amount of research in this area, as well as an increasing variety of techniques used. At the same time, the review uncovered a number of issues with research quality that drives a need for the community to provide more detailed reporting of methods and results and to increase efforts to validate and replicate work.Peer reviewe

Educational research in developing 3-D spatial skills for engineering students

The ability to visualize in three dimensions is a cognitive skill that has been shown to be important for success in engineering and other technological fields. For engineering, the ability to mentally rotate 3-D objects is especially important. Unfortunately, of all the cognitive skills, 3-D rotation abilities exhibit robust gender differences, favoring males. The assessment of 3-D spatial skills and associated gender differences has been a topic of educational research for nearly a century; however, a great deal of the previous work has been aimed at merely identifying differences. The author has been conducting applied research in the area of spatial skills development for more than a decade aimed at identifying practical methods for improving 3-D spatial skills, especially for women engineering students. This paper details the significant findings obtained over the past several years through this research and identifies strategies that appear to be effective in developing 3-D spatial skills and in contributing to student success

Workshop - Writing noyce proposals to meet NSF expectations

The Robert E. Noyce program was established by Congress to enhance pre-college mathematics and science teaching and learning. During 2009, the program funding was significantly increased to broaden its impact on a national scale. The purpose of this workshop is to introduce engineering faculty to the Noyce program and to inform faculty about desirable aspects of a Noyce proposal. © 2010 IEEE

Exploring Spatial Skills and Computing in Primary and Secondary Education

This workshop aims to break down the connection between spatial skills and STEM - particularly computing - and highlight existing research of value, presenting an argument for spatial skills instruction in schools. We will discuss known challenges and obstacles to delivery, and aim to collect further challenges from participants. We will then consider effective means of developing spatial skills, and measuring potential outcomes (particularly in computing science), that could be generally applied across multiple schools concurrently with limited training and resource costs. The resulting pack should be a theoretical solution which could potentially be practically implemented across multiple schools