Title: Longitudinal study of the impact of requiring training for students with initially weak spatial skills.
Authors: Veurink, Norma L.; Sorby, Sheryl A.
Abstract: Three-dimensional spatial skills are a cognitive ability that have been shown to predict success in engineering. Michigan Tech has been offering a course to help students improve their 3-D spatial skills for more than two decades. In previous studies, students who failed a rotations test and enrolled in the course performed better on a number of measures when compared to those who failed the rotations test and did not enrol in the course. A valid criticism of these studies was that the two groups were self-selected. Beginning in 2009, the spatial skills course became a requirement for students who initially failed the rotations test. This paper reports on the results from a longitudinal study conducted to determine the impact of the spatial skills course when no self-selection is involved.
Subjects: ENGINEERING students; HIGHER education; ACADEMIC achievement; STEM education; SPATIAL ability
Publication: European Journal of Engineering Education, 2019, Vol 44, Issue 1/2, p153
ISSN: 0304-3797
Publication type: Academic Journal
DOI: 10.1080/03043797.2017.1390547

Longitudinal study of the impact of requiring training for students with initially weak spatial skills.

Veurink, Norma L.; Sorby, Sheryl A.