Practice report

Abstract

We have been training spatial skills for Computing Science students over several years with positive results, both in terms of the students' spatial skills and their CS outcomes. The delivery and structure of the training has been modified over time and carried out at several institutions, resulting in variations across each intervention. This article describes six distinct case studies of training deliveries, highlighting the main challenges faced and some important takeaways. Our goal is to provide useful guidance based on our varied experience for any practitioner considering the adoption of spatial skills training for their students.

Exploring Models and Theories of Spatial Skills in CS through a Multi-National Study

“…However, there is still much more work to do. Most deliveries of Sorby's spatial skills intervention [36,39], when run in the context of an introductory CS module, raise PSVT:R scores by about 6 points [27]; the highest observed gain in this study was only 4 points, and only at one institution. We don't yet know what it is about CS instruction which can improve spatial ability, and until we do we cannot simply assume that any CS delivery will make sure that students have opportunities to develop these skills.…”

“…However, these findings do not constitute permission to dismiss spatial skills as skills that will naturally develop in our students and are not worth further attention: not all computing instruction appears to develop spatial skills at the same rate, so not all computing students will naturally pick them up in class. Also, even the highest gains we have observed are not as effective as dedicated interventions: evidence shows that spatial skills can be improved by up to 6 points on the PSVT:R over a short and lightweight spatial skills intervention taken alongside CS learning [27]. The next steps -to understand how students use these skills and in what ways we can effectively and naturally develop them in our programmes -are important.…”

“…This, along with all the other correlations observed in prior work, indicates that the relationship is not a fluke: t here i s a r elationship b etween s patial s kills and multiple measures of CS success which appear in many different deliveries of introductory computing content. Since spatial skills are easy to train (with gains being observed in multiple different kinds of spatial intervention deliveries in CS [27] and beyond [43]) we can help students with initially low skills to succeed in their programmes.…”

“…To determine whether this applied in computing instruction, gains were calculated for the first semester for all students with enough data by subtracting their PSVT:R 1 score from their PSVT:R 2 score. Based on the PSVT:R 1, students from all institutions were grouped Sorby's three categories: Low (scoring 0-18 in the PSVT:R), Mid (19)(20)(21) and High (22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). A Kruskal-Wallis test was then conducted with the students' gain data grouped by their categories.…”