This study compared the mental rotation test performance and STEM/arts self-efficacy between people with and without aphantasia. Aphantasia has been defined as the inability to create mental imagery, or a "blind mind's eye." Despite reporting little to no vividness of spatial imagery and performing significantly slower, people with aphantasia showed no difference in performance on a mental rotation test than a control group. Findings also revealed less difference in mental rotation test performance between males and females with aphantasia. People with aphantasia rated themselves slightly higher in STEM self-efficacy and significantly lower in arts self-efficacy. These results lead to questions about mental imagery in spatial visualization and cognitive strategies used by people with aphantasia when learning mathematics.
Motivation and psychological characteristics play important roles in college student success. Upon matriculation, pre-health students must strive for academic success to present competitive profiles for health professions schools. In this qualitative study, 17 high-achieving, upper level pre-health students at a large, mid-Atlantic university participated in focus groups and wrote letters of advice to incoming freshmen, which provided insight into their definitions of academic success and the psychological and contextual factors they perceive as promoters of success. They struggled to reconcile their mastery goals for academic success with perceived expectations to perform and compete for admissions to health professions schools. Students with grit maintained passion for long-term goals and actively sought resources to support individual needs.
Critter Code is an innovative informal arts-integrated computer science experience created to provide a unique opportunity to reach students from underserved urban populations. Designed to make the connections between physical making and coding, learning to program becomes the bridge between a crafted “Critter” and its digital version starring in a student-created video game. This chapter offers a rich analysis of the impact of Critter Code on participants, families, and instructors through the framework of the self-determination theory of motivation. The chapter then describes Critter Code's application of collaborative problem-solving and student agency to create personal connections to the content to positively affect students' computer science self-identity and interest. Finally, potential classroom applications and future research directions are explored.
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