Increasing Spatial Learning in Formal and Informal Settings

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

2. 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 http://www.spatialintelligence.org

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

4. Predicting Occupations from High School Spatial AbilityWai, Lubinski & Benbow (2009) Standardized Score

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

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

7. 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 http://www.spatialintelligence.org

8. 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 DOWNDOWNDOWN all of the stairs TO the kitchen for breakfast - bananas and pears! ZOOM Szechter & Liben (2004) http://www.spatialintelligence.org

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

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

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

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

13. 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.

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

15. 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)

16. 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)

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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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?

21. Student Completed Figures-Verbal

22. Student Completed Figures-Visual

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

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

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

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

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