Understanding and Teaching Spatial Competence

空间能力是智力的一个基本方面，对成功运作很重要。 高水平的空间技能对于在世纪造就一支技术先进的劳动力队伍至关重要。 空间智能在数学、科学和工程的有效教育中发挥着重要作用。 我们将开展的跨学科研究侧重于理解空间智能，并建立最大限度地发展空间技能的方法。 我们将在不同的分析层次上研究空间能力。 在生物学层面，我们将研究空间生长的神经学基础。 我们将研究大脑区域中神经连接的生长和组织，这些区域是空间信息处理的基础。在行为层面，我们将研究涉及世界空间方面的心理表征的机制。 我们还将研究儿童如何理解地图和模型等空间符号。我们将研究这些符号系统的获得如何影响空间智能的发展。这项工作将包括空间智能的计算建模。最后，在教育应用层面，我们将调查负责的空间技能水平的儿童在学校实现的差异收益的教育投入。 我们计划确定与学生成绩高收益相关的具体教师实践。 我们的研究团队拥有各种相关领域的专业知识，包括神经科学，认知心理学，发展心理学，计算机科学，教育和统计学。 这个研究小组在过去的三年里一直在共同研究，确定了空间功能的核心要素。 我们现在的目标是进一步了解如何促进空间能力的发展。M

Spatial competence is a fundamental aspect of intelligence, important to successful functioning. A high level of spatial skill is critical to the achievement of a technologically sophisticated work force for the twenty-first century. Spatial intelligence plays a major role in effective education in mathematics, science and engineering. The interdisciplinary research we will carry out focuses on understanding of spatial intelligence and establishing methods for maximizing the development of spatial skills. We will study spatial competence at different levels of analysis. At the biological level, we will will investigate the neurological foundations for spatial growth. We will examine the growth and organization of neural connections in areas of the brain that underlie the processing of spatial information. At the behavioral level, we will investigate the mechanisms that are involved in the mental representation of the spatial aspects of the world. We also will study the ways in which children come to understand spatial symbols such as maps and models. We will study how acquisition of these symbol systems affects the development of spatial intelligence. This work will include computational modelling of spatial intelligence. Finally, at the level of educational application, we will investigate the educational input responsible for the differential gains in spatial skill levels children achieve in school. We plan to identify specific teacher practices that are associated with high gains in student achievement. Our research team has expertise in a variety of relevant fields, including neural science, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology,computer science, education, and statistics. This research team has worked together for the past three years on research that has identified core elements of spatial functioning. Our goal now is to further our understanding of how the development of spatial competence can be enhanced .M