• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.34-44
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• 2015

Mathematical, spatial, and verbal abilities are important for future engineers to succeed in the STEM disciplines. The purpose of the study is to assess engineering students' spatial abilities and analyse the relationship with mathematical achievement, verbal achievement, and gender. On the mental rotation tests, 65% of male students demonstrated a substantial level of spatial abilities. But only 30% of female students exhibited spatial skills at the same level as their male colleagues. The correlations between mathematical - spatial - verbal abilities are found to be negligible. When spatial visualization ability was plotted according to the mathematical achievement level, there was no difference in the mean spatial abilities score. But when mathematical achievement score was plotted according to the spatial abilities, there was a noticeable difference. Regression analysis confirmed that female students' mathematical achievement increased as spatial abilities improved. This phenomenon was not observed for male students. It's because male students' spatial ability already contributed to their mathematics achievement. So spatial ability can be regarded as one factor for the gender differences in mathematics achievement. The gender gap on spatial abilities and math achievement is large among high achieving students. For example, there was a 4.3 to 1 male - female ratio and 3.4 to 1 male - female ratio among students scoring 99th percentile in spatial visualization test and scholastic aptitude test-math.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.490-500
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• 2012

This study was to examine elementary male and female students' spatial abilities, science process skills, and graph construction and interpretation abilities in order to understand the effect that their spatial abilities and science process skills would have on their graph abilities. To conduct this study, total 12 classes of 435 pupils, 6 classes each from grades 5 and 6 in elementary schools were selected for subjects. The number of male student was 207 and that of female one was 228 of them. And previous test papers of spatial abilities, of science process abilities, and of graph abilities were retouched and updated for reuse in new tests. The results of this study are briefed as follows: Firstly, when spatial abilities for male and female group were compared, female group showed a little higher rate of correct answering than male, but not providing statistically significant gap. Secondly, the science process skill tests revealed basic process skills of both groups were more excellent than their integrated process skills, while female group was found to have more correct answers than male, all of which were proving statistical distinction. Thirdly, of graphing skills for two groups, the graph interpretation skills turned out to be better than the graph construction skills, with female group scoring higher than male and with meaningful difference. Fourthly, both between spatial abilities and graph abilities, and between science process skills and graph abilities, static correlations existed with statistical meaning. In other words, those with higher spatial abilities or science process skills were to do better in constructing and interpreting graphs.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.1-13
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• 2004

The purposes of this study were to investigate whether there were differences in the young children's abilities to use spatial coordinates and to represent spatial locations by children's age and sex, and to examine the relationship between these two abilities. It also explored whether the young children could use coordinates as the frames of reference for representing spatial locations. Seventy 5- and 6-year-old children from two kindergartens in Seoul and in Bucheon participated in this study. Results indicated that there were statistically significant differences between age groups on the children's ability to use spatial coordinates and to represent spatial locations. However, there were no significant differences between boys and girls on these two abilities. A positive correlation was found between theses two abilities of using spatial coordinates and representing spatial locations. Most of the young children used landmarks as the frames of reference to represent spatial locations while some of the children were partially able to use spatial coordinates. Twenty percent of 6-year-old children were fully able to use spatial coordinates as the frames of reference to represent spatial locations.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 1988

This study was designed to investigate the relation between perspective-taking skills and communication abilities of young children. The major purposes of this study were to study the relation between perspective-taking skills and communication abilities, to investigate the relation perspective-taking skills and communication abilities with differing listeners, to investigate sex differences in communication abilities within the higher group the perspective-taking skills with differing listeners, and to determine differences between the sexes in communication abilities within the higher group of perspective-taking skills in different situational conditions. Sixty kindergarteners (30 boys and 30 girls) were tested on their perspective taking abilities and divided into two groups, the higher and the lower groups. Five instruments were used in this study: spatial, affective and cognitive perspective-taking tests, expression-ability test, and a communication ability test. The collected data were statistically analyzed by using Pearson's r, point biserial coefficient correlations (rpb), t-test, and three-way analyses of variance with one factor repeated measurement. There were significant relations between spatial, cognitive perspective-taking skills and kindergartener's communication abilities. There were no significant differences in communication abilities in differing listeners and situational conditions. In the group whose level of perspective taking-skills was high, differences between the sexes were found in spatial, and affective perspective-taking skills, only in case of differing listeners.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.21-38
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• 2008

This study is for elementary school student's spatial ability improvement. We have to know their correct spatial ability for teaching it more effectively. And then we can organize about spatial ability one of schoolbook systematically and step by step. Therefore this study did survey elementary school student's spatial ability by grades and school score using newly developed spatial ability survey test. According to result, First, elementary school students spatial ability be developed gradually more 5th, 6th grades than 3th, 4th grades. Second, it was researched that high score student's spatial ability is better than score student lower student's. But the result was influenced by school's curriculum. The score of contents in school's curriculum higher than it's not. Synthetically, the suggestion is what the curriculum is changed. It need to input the contents of spatial abilities and more detailed study.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.820-844
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• 2010

This study investigates the effect of GIS-integrated lessons on spatial thinking abilities and geographical skills using discourse analysis along with a comparative three-case case study method. A series of curricula were designed and implemented in an 8th grade classroom for a semester. The data collected consist of the dialogue transcripts of six consecutive GIS-integrated lessons. The transcripts were analyzed to identify the moves (speech acts) used by each student and to classify discourse content of spatial thinking and geographical skills. Based on three individual case studies, a cross-case study was performed to uncover any relationship between the phenomenon and the contexts. The empirical evidence from discourse analysis demonstrated that students were able to generate appropriate terms representative of spatial thinking and geographical skills although students appeared to possess primarily lower-order spatial abilities, followed by a moderate-level of spatial abilities. Considering that the unit was implemented in a biology class rather than a geography class the result reflected the fact that the student's spatial thinking and geographical skills were attributable to the GIS-integrated lessons. Thus, the results have a great implication for GIS-integrated lessons and geography education as an innovative tool for improving student's spatial thinking and geographical skills.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.20-30
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to find how elementary students who have different spatial ability affects their understandings on the concept of the rotation of the earth. In order to perform this study, four 5th grade students were picked out of 85 students in Seoul. They had the same conceptual achievement on the movement of celestial bodies but had different spatial abilities. The results of this study were as follows : Regardless of their spatial ability, they understand how day and night are performed, and understand the fact that diurnal motions of moon are related to the rotation of the earth. Also, the students who had higher spatial abilities showed better understanding on the concept of the rotation of the earth and understood the reconstructed concepts in stereoscopic space. But the students who had lower spatial abilities did not fully understand the concept of the rotation of the earth and just memorized them as fragmentary concepts. As for the gender differences, the boy students who had higher spatial ability explained the concept clearly and the others who had lower spatial ability had difficulty in understanding the rotation direction of the earth related with the diurnal movement of celestial bodies. In the same manner, the girl students who had higher spatial ability explained the concepts concretely and the others who had lower spatial ability had difficulty in explaining the concepts by operating them stereoscopically. Therefore, developing teaching methods and studying data and so on, for the girl students, they should be trained to operate the stereoscopic space directly, and for the boy students, they should learn to think over objects with multi-viewpoints. And then the spatial ability on the movement of celestial bodies would be expected to be improved.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.179-187
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• 1999

Math teachers are very short of computer tools and manipulatives to use in geometry classes of middle schools for the development of spatial abilities. At most they can ask student to make regular polyhedrons for helping the students to understand by concrete experience, but this experience is not enough to develop spatial abilities in spatial figures including the regular polyhedrons. This article is to introduce instructional materials for development of spatical ability in the regular polyhedrons using computer software, Geometer's Sketchpad. In this article, students can imagine the whole figure through the parts of a plane figure and think of the parts from the solid figure by free movement from 2 dimensions to 3 dimensions, or from 3 dimensions to 2 dimensions. Also, the instructional materials devised in this article will be good to enhance spatial abilities because the relation of 1-1 correspondence in the movement of the parts can be conserved and observed precisely, which is very hard to demonstrate and visualize by paper-and-pencil. It is recommended that this kind of materials should be developed in various ways for teachers to use them directly in their geometry classes.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.105-120
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• 1997

The purpose of this study was to investigate children's abilities of self-control and visual information processing based on their experience with video games. Participants, divided by prior exposure to video games, were 44 seven-year-old and 48 eleven-year-old boys. The impulsive tendency of children was measured through the MFFT and The delayed satisfaction test. Visual information processing ability was assessed through perceptual speed, mental rotation, and spatial visualization tasks. No differences were found between more-and less-video-game-experienced boys. Significant differences, however, were found in visual information processing abilities. More experienced boys performed better in mental rotation and spatial visualization tasks than less experienced boys.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.40-48
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• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of Gonjadaesungchimjoongbang on spatial learning abilities and memories in ischemic brain injury. Methods: Rats were separated into three groups; (1) Normal, (2) Saline medication after ischemic brain injuries (control), (3) Gonjadaesungchimjoongbang medication after ischemic brain injuries (experiment). Ischemic brain injuries was induced by MCA occlusion and reperfusion. Morris water maze test was conducted for spatial learning and memory tests. Then, the change of BDNF in the hippocampus($7^{th}$, $14^{th}$ day) was examined by immunohistoche- mistry. Results: In Morris water maze test, spatial learning abilities and memory functioning were considerably increased in the experiment group as oppose to control group on $7^{th}$ and $14^{th}$ day(p<0.01). Moreover, immunohistochemistric response of BDNF in the hippocampus indicated that the more increased immune reaction was found in the experiment group as oppose to the control group on $7^{th}$ and $14^{th}$ day. Conclusions: Gonjadaesungchimjoongbang can improve the learning abilities and memories in ischemic brain injury.