Increasing Spatial Learning in Formal and Informal Settings Nora S. Newcombe Temple University and Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center 1

Overview Spatial intelligence and learning are important in scientific thought and communication Spatial intelligence and learning can be improved Specific educational techniques to foster spatial intelligence are within our grasp Parents and teachers of young children should engage them in spatial play and talk Teachers in middle and high school should teach diagram reading skills 2 http://www.spatialintelligence.org

Importance in Scientific Thought and Communication 3 http://www.spatialintelligence.org

Predicting Occupations from High School Spatial Ability Wai, Lubinski & Benbow (2009) Standardized Score

New Meta-Analysis Supports Malleability Large training effects, as well as durability and transfer Uttal, Meadow, Hand, Lewis, Warren, & Newcombe, under review 5 http://www.spatialintelligence.org

Putting These Two Analyses Together 6 http://www.spatialintelligence.org

Focus on Early Education Teachers and parents need to know what spatial thinking is, and that it’s important Teachers and parents need to avoid spatial anxiety How should we best enhance spatial learning in children? Importance of gesture Usefulness of analogy Importance of spatial language Play Puzzle play Paper folding Block play 7 http://www.spatialintelligence.org

Spatial Books and Poems OUT, ABOUT, AND ALL AROUND (A VERY SPATIAL DAY) Julie Dillemuth My day begins getting UP out of bed Daddy puts ON my clothes, OVER my head. Then DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN all of the stairs TO the kitchen for breakfast - bananas and pears! ZOOM Szechter & Liben (2004) 8 http://www.spatialintelligence.org

Language in Block Play Contexts Ferrara, Golinkoff, Hirsh-Pasek, Lam & Newcombe (2011), Mind, Brain and Education Pre-assembled Play Free Play Guided Play 9 http://www.spatialintelligence.org

Parental Spatial Language in Four Contexts Ferrara, Golinkoff, Hirsh-Pasek, Lam & Newcombe (2011), Mind, Brain and Education 10 http://www.spatialintelligence.org

Teaching Geometric Shapes Fisher, Hirsh-Pasek, Newcombe & Golinkoff (under review) Children often see only typical shapes Showing a range of shapes helps, especially in a guided play context

Preschoolers Benefit from Visualization Joh, Jaswal & Keen, 2011 Preschoolers asked to visualize how a ball goes through a tube avoid the “straight down” or gravity error

Learning from Visualizations Two strategies Modify the learner Modify the learning materials Supported by meta-analysis (Hoffler, 2010, Ed. Psych. Review) spatial ability plays an important role in learning from visualizations (mean effect size r  = 0.34), but is moderated by—at least—two compensating factors; learners with low spatial ability can be significantly supported by a dynamic visualization as well as a 3d-visualization.

Visual Representations in Science Textbooks Diagrams Photographs Photomicrographs Flow charts Tables Graphs Would the beam still follow the same path when the plates are charged? What happens to the beam when the plates are charged?

Prior Research People have difficulty comprehending diagrams accurately Seductive details (Canham & Hegarty, in press) Misinterpret features (Faraday & Sutcliffe, 1996) Diagram comprehension is affected by Spatial ability (Florax & Ploetzner, in press) Working memory (Sanchez & Wiley, 2006) Topic knowledge (Schwonke et al., in press) Level of self-explanation (Kastens & Liben, 2007)

Can We Teach HS Biology Students to Reason Better with Diagrams? Developing curriculum for teaching diagrammatic reasoning based on four different interventions Conventions of diagrams (COD) Coordinating text and diagrams (CTD) Self-explanation (SE) Student-constructed diagrams (SCD)

COD: Posttest Diagrammatic Reasoning Beginning of year achievement as covariate Significant time * treatment interaction d =.8 treatment, .2 control

Changes in Eye Tracking Workbook students significantly increase time spent on the diagram, significantly more so than Demonstration students Workbook students maintain time spent on naming and explanatory labels, whereas Demonstration students show significant decrease

How Do We Further Improve Student Comprehension of Diagrams How Do We Further Improve Student Comprehension of Diagrams? Cromley, Bergey, Fitzhugh, Newcombe, Wills, Shipley, and Tanaka (under review) We compared Self-Explanation with Student-Completed Figures—Visual and Student-Completed Figures—Verbal Assessed effects (pre- to posttest) on Biology knowledge Biology diagram comprehension—literal Biology diagram comprehension—inferential Geoscience diagram comprehension Teacher-delivered in 9th grade biology classes

Self-Explanation Eu-Squeak-a! If there are four off- spring, there will be one of each combination. But what will the fifth one be like?

Student Completed Figures-Verbal

Student Completed Figures-Visual

Results: Biology Diagrams d = 0.30* d = 0.32* d = 0.22*

Results: Biology Knowledge d = 0.63* d = 0.04 d = 0.68*

Results: Geoscience Diagrams d = 0.37* d ~ 0 d = 0.28*

Questions? 26 http://www.spatialintelligence.org

Most Spatial Tests Emphasize Intrinsic Spatial Relations 27 http://www.spatialintelligence.org