Current Studies
Spatial Reasoning
Spatial reasoning is how we think about things like location, shapes, size, distance, and our relative position within each of these. This is important in every day life, but is also an important skill for children's success in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning. Research suggests that children's spatial thinking develops from play with materials that involve spatial relations, such as building with blocks or putting together puzzles. In our work, we study the specific ways in which these activities can improve spatial thinking, with hopes that this knowledge can be used for practical purposes, like designing toys and instruction. Spatial Intervention. In a current study, we designed a hide-and-seek game for children to play using maps. This helps children think about relative locations and spatial representations, both dkills that are involved in a type of spatial thinking called spatial scaling. Children can do very simple spatial scaling tasks from quite young ages, but even adults can have trouble with spatial scaling on more difficult tasks. We are working on making our game as effective as possible in improving children's spatial scaling and use of spatial representations, while also exploring the specific ways that children can benefit from the game we use. Spatial ability stereotype and bias. Psychology research finds that belonging to a group for which negative stereotypes exist can have negative impacts on children. For example, girls perform equally well on math tests as boys, except if they are reminded of their gender before taking the test (even if they aren't reminded of the stereotype that boys are better than girls at math!). Many people hold the stereotype belief that boys are more spatially inclined than girls, though we don't know when children start to hold this belief themselves. In this project, we explore the age at which children do start to have these stereotypes, and whether or not this belief relates to their actual spatial ability. |