Exploring Links between STEM Success and Spatial Skills: Undergraduate GIS Courses and a Spatial Turn of Mind

空间技能强的人更有可能对科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)表现出兴趣和成功。幸运的是，空间技能是可塑的，其改进是持久的和可推广的。在教育培训期间提高空间技能可能是增加STEM劳动力的一条途径。然而，目前的知识存在两个缺口。首先，现有的研究几乎完全集中在小范围的空间技能上，比如心理上旋转物体。导航等大尺度空间技能与STEM之间的关系尚未得到研究。科学学科，特别是“地球”学科，以及任何使用地图状分布的学科，都可能受益于大规模空间技能培训。这个项目验证了这一假设。第二，需要一个长期的空间培训计划，可以融入到K-12和大学课堂中。一种这样的策略可能是教授地理信息系统(GIS)技能。例如，地理信息系统技能有助于更快地访问数据、数据建模和数据可视化。地理信息系统工具被许多STEM领域的专业人员使用，包括医疗保健、地理和城市规划、环境研究和金融。对地理信息系统的有效利用取决于对该技术的理解、它的优点和缺点，以及它与特定空间技能的关系。该项目将对地理信息系统培训的效果进行评估，并确定其有效成分。研究结果可用于指导地理信息系统的使用和定制地理信息系统界面。该项目由EHR核心研究(ECR)计划资助，该计划为基础研究提供资金，这些基础研究试图理解、建立理论以解释并提出干预措施(和创新)，以解决STEM兴趣、教育、学习和参与方面的持续挑战。该项目评估大规模空间技能在地理学、地球科学和其他回答信息空间分布(如流行病学)的科学学科中的重要性。与导航相关的空间技能可能是这些学科成功的预测因素，反过来，参加这些学科可能会使大规模空间技能受益。该项目将地理信息系统作为坦普尔大学和怀俄明大学基础和高级地理信息系统课程招生和成功的预测指标。同时，它还考察了地理信息系统技术作为一种潜在的干预手段，以提高大规模空间技能，并创造所谓的空间思维转向。地理信息系统的有效使用取决于我们对人类空间表现形式及其局限性的理解。参加基础和高级地理信息系统课程的学生将与非地理信息系统低空间课程的学生进行比较。根据他们的导航熟练程度和相关的认知机制(例如，观点采择)，以及他们在学期中的成长情况，对小组进行比较。将使用虚拟环境导航范式来客观评估大规模导航技能。在地理信息系统课程中的成功学习将通过多种方式进行评估，包括动手操作地理信息系统实验室练习、小测验、考试和个人/小组项目。地理信息系统提供了在正规教育早期整合空间培训的机会，从而通过创造性和动手活动提高低空间和高空间学生对空间概念的兴趣。研究结果可以为旨在激励更多学生在涉及空间分布的STEM领域追求职业生涯的空间干预措施提供参考。研究结果还可以用来引导人们注意地理可视化工具中依赖空间技能的可用性特征，以及定制对学习者能力水平的重要性。

People with strong spatial skills are more likely to show interest and success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Fortunately, spatial skills are malleable, and improvements in them are durable and generalizable. Increasing spatial skills during educational training may be one route towards increasing the STEM workforce. However, there are two gaps in current knowledge. First, existing research concentrates almost exclusively on small-scale spatial skills such as mentally rotating objects. The relation between large-scale spatial skills such as navigation and STEM has not been investigated. Scientific disciplines, especially the "geo" disciplines, and any disciplines using map-like distributions, may benefit from training in large-scale spatial skills. This project tests this hypothesis. Second, there is a need for a long-term spatial training plan that can be integrated into K-12 and university classrooms. One such strategy may be teaching Geographic Information Systems (GIS) skills. For example, GIS skills facilitate faster access to data, data modeling, and data visualization. GIS tools are used by professionals in many STEM fields including healthcare, geography and urban planning, environmental studies, and finance. Effective use of GIS depends on understanding the technology, its benefits and shortcomings, and its relation to specific spatial skills. This project will evaluate the efficacy of GIS training and identify its active components. Findings can be used to inform GIS instruction and GIS interface customization. The project is funded by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program which funds basic research that seeks to understand, build theory to explain, and suggest interventions (and innovations) to address persistent challenges in STEM interest, education, learning, and participation.This project evaluates the importance of large-scale spatial skills in the geography, geoscience, and other scientific disciplines that reply on spatial distributions of information (e.g., epidemiology). Spatial skills relevant to navigation may be predictors of success in these disciplines, and conversely, participation in these disciplines may benefit large-scale spatial skills. This project concentrates on GIS as a predictor of enrollment and success in fundamental and advanced GIS courses at Temple University and University of Wyoming. Simultaneously, it examines GIS technologies as a potential intervention to improve large-scale spatial skills and to create what has been called 'as a spatial turn of mind.'The effective use of GIS depends on our understanding of human spatial representations and its limits. Students enrolled in fundamental and advanced GIS courses will be compared to students enrolled in non-GIS low-spatial courses. Groups are compared in terms of their navigation proficiency and associated cognitive mechanisms (e.g., perspective-taking) at baseline and in terms of their growth over the semester. A virtual environment navigation paradigm will be used to objectively assess large-scale navigation skills. Successful learning in GIS courses will be assessed in multiple ways including hands-on GIS lab exercises, quizzes, exams and individual/group projects. GIS presents an opportunity to integrate spatial training early in formal education and thus increase low- and high- spatial students' interest in spatial concepts through creative and hands-on activities. Findings can inform spatial interventions designed to motivate more students to pursue careers in STEM fields involving spatial distributions. Findings can also be used to direct attention to spatial skill-dependent usability features in geovisualization tools and the importance of customization to learners' level of competence.