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Spatial Skills Training in Introductory Computing

Published: 09 August 2015 Publication History

Abstract

This paper explores the question as to whether there is a relationship between a student's spatial abilities and her achievement in learning to program. After noting that there does seem to be a correlation, the paper explores the impact of trying to improve a student's spatial abilities. The paper reports on a preliminary study involving high school students. The study results suggest a correlation exists between receiving training in spatial skills and improved student performance in introductory computing. While the sample size in the study is small, this improvement appears to occur for students of different races/ethnicities and across different socio-economic statuses.

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cover image ACM Conferences
ICER '15: Proceedings of the eleventh annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research
July 2015
300 pages
ISBN:9781450336307
DOI:10.1145/2787622
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Publication History

Published: 09 August 2015

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Author Tags

  1. introductory computer science
  2. spatial skills
  3. training

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ICER '15 Paper Acceptance Rate 25 of 96 submissions, 26%;
Overall Acceptance Rate 189 of 803 submissions, 24%

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  • (2024)The Effect (or Lack Thereof) of Spatial Skills Training in a Mid-Major Computing CourseProceedings of the 24th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research10.1145/3699538.3699566(1-11)Online publication date: 12-Nov-2024
  • (2024)Improving CS Performance by Developing Spatial SkillsCommunications of the ACM10.1145/368040968:1(68-75)Online publication date: 11-Dec-2024
  • (2024)Associations between Secondary School Students' Spatial Skills and Teacher Perceptions of CS Engagement and AptitudeProceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 210.1145/3632621.3671426(537-538)Online publication date: 12-Aug-2024
  • (2024)Applying CS0/CS1 Student Success Factors and Outcomes to Biggs' 3P Educational ModelProceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3626252.3630781(1168-1174)Online publication date: 7-Mar-2024
  • (2024)Causal Relationships and Programming Outcomes: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ExperimentProceedings of the IEEE/ACM 46th International Conference on Software Engineering10.1145/3597503.3639096(1-13)Online publication date: 20-May-2024
  • (2023)Improving Computational Thinking with Spatial Skills Development in Primary SchoolProceedings of the 18th WiPSCE Conference on Primary and Secondary Computing Education Research10.1145/3605468.3609780(1-2)Online publication date: 27-Sep-2023
  • (2023)Understanding Spatial Skills and Encoding Strategies in Student Problem Solving ActivitiesProceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 110.1145/3568813.3600134(134-147)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2023
  • (2023)Exploring Models and Theories of Spatial Skills in CS through a Multi-National StudyProceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 110.1145/3568813.3600129(122-133)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2023
  • (2023)Establishing an Empirical Foundation for a Theory of Student Learning and Success in CS1Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 210.1145/3568812.3603444(52-54)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2023
  • (2020)Case Study: Students’ Code-Tracing Skills and Calibration of Questions for Computer Adaptive TestsApplied Sciences10.3390/app1020704410:20(7044)Online publication date: 11-Oct-2020
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