Exploiting the Connection between Spatial Skills and Computer Science

这项研究是在空间技能发展及其与STEM(科学、技术、工程、数学)学科，特别是计算科学(CS)的关系的背景下进行的。空间技能包括个人能力的集合，如心理旋转和变换，以及在平坦和模糊的领域中识别形状和图案。在20世纪50年代，STEM受试者的空间技能和能力之间存在着很强的相关性。空间技能可以通过相当直截了当的练习来训练。在一系列单独的STEM科目中，特别是在工程学科目中，空间技能培训与这些科目的改进之间已建立起因果联系。此外，空间技能训练和学科训练的效果似乎是双向的：虽然空间技能训练提高了学科能力，但学科训练也提高了空间技能(只是程度较小)。这项研究的目的是探索空间技能与CS的关系。已有大量证据表明空间技能与CS能力相关，但空间技能训练与CS能力提高之间尚未建立明确的因果关系。在之前的工作中，导师和学生已经证明了因果联系很可能存在，但需要更强有力的实验。因此，一项初步的研究正在进行中，以更明确地确定是否存在因果联系。在之前的工作中，导师和学生提出了一个模型来解释个人空间技能的范围如何与CS中的个人技能相关。这项研究的一个主要目标是验证该模型，将设计一些单独的研究来做到这一点。这项工作的一个结果可能是开发出直接作用于CS技能和上文概述的第三种“隐藏”能力的CS教育方法，而不是使用空间技能作为渠道。这项工作的价值在于发展CS所需的计算思维技能的重要性，以及更广泛地应用于现代社会。这门学科从小就成为学校的必修课，现在显然被认为具有重要的社会意义。然而，在过去，大学和中学的CS课程的成功率并不高。这位主管过去的工作表明，那些在CS课程中取得成功的人和那些不成功的人之间的区别在于非学校活动--而所确定的特定活动与空间技能有关。此外，有充分证据表明，低空间技能在低社会经济背景的儿童中更为普遍。通过进一步探索空间技能培训和计算机辅助教学之间的联系，并根据我们的模式设计改进的计算机辅助教学活动，我们的最终目标是从早期开始改进计算机辅助教学，使所有学习者都能发展与计算机相关的良好技能。

The research is set within the context of spatial skills development and their relationship to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) subjects generally and Computing Science (CS) in particular. Spatial skills consist of a collection of individual abilities such as mental rotations and transformations and the identification of shapes and patterns in plain and obscured fields. In the 1950s, a strong correlation was identified between spatial skills and ability in STEM subjects. Spatial skills can be trained, using fairly straight-forward exercises. In a range of individual STEM subjects, most particularly in Engineering, a causal link has been established between spatial skills training and an improvement in those subjects. Moreover, the effects of spatial skills training and subject training appear to operate in both directions: while spatial skills training improves subject ability, so does subject training improve spatial skills (only to a lesser extent). There appears to be a third, "hidden", ability on which both have an influence.The aim of this research is to explore spatial skills in relation to CS. There is plenty of evidence that spatial skills are correlated with CS ability, but no definitive causal link has yet been established between spatial skills training and improvements in CS ability. The supervisor and student have, in prior work, shown that a causal link is likely to exist, but a stronger experiment is required. Hence an initial study is underway to determine more definitely whether a causal link exists.In prior work again, the supervisor and student have proposed a model to explain how the range of individual spatial skills could be related to individual skills within CS. A major objective of the research is to validate the model, and a number of separate studies will be designed to do this. An outcome of this work could be to develop approaches to CS education that directly act on CS skills and the third "hidden" ability outlined above, rather than using spatial skills as the conduit.The value of this work lies in the importance of developing computational thinking skills necessary in CS and more broadly across modern societies. The subject has become mandatory in schools from an early age and is now clearly deemed to be societally important. Yet in the past, the success rates in CS courses in universities and secondary schools has not been high. The supervisor's past work suggests that the difference between those who succeed in CS courses and those who don't lies in non-school activities - and the particular activities identified have a relationship with spatial skills. Furthermore, it is well-documented that low spatial skills are more prevalent in children from low socio-economic backgrounds. By further exploring the link between spatial skills training and CS, and by devising improved CS educational activities based on our model, we aim ultimately to improve CS education from the early school years, enabling all learners to develop sound computing-related skills.