Stills, not full motion, for interactive spatial training: American, Turkish and Taiwanese female pre-service teachers learn spatial visualization

Smith G. G., Gerretson H., Olkun S., Yuan Y., Dogbey J., Erdem A.

COMPUTERS & EDUCATION, no.1, pp.201-209, 2009 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Publication Date: 2009
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.compedu.2008.07.011
  • Journal Name: COMPUTERS & EDUCATION
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.201-209
  • Keywords: Applications in subject areas, Improving classroom teaching, Interactive learning environments, Pedagogical issues, Teaching/learning strategies
  • Ankara University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This study investigated how female elementary education pre-service teachers in the United States, Turkey and Taiwan learned spatial skills from structured activities involving discrete, as opposed to continuous, transformations in interactive computer programs, and how these activities transferred to non-related standardized tests of spatial visualization and mental rotation. The study used a pretest, intervention, posttest research design with experimental and comparison groups. The experimental group participated in transformational geometry visualization exercises, once a week for six weeks, for approximately 20 minutes each session. Instruments were standardized measures of spatial visualization and mental rotation; intervention activity worksheets directed the participants through 2D and 3D transformational geometry tasks in computer environments. For Turkish and Taiwanese participants, the experimental group improved significantly more than the control group in spatial visualization, while the American participants showed no such significant improvement. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.