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Category: Project

Description: Research examining the STEM-spatial skill relation, has focused on small-scale spatial skills, even though some STEM disciplines – particularly the geography and geoscience fields (GEO) – involve large-scale spatial thinking at the core of their professional training. In Study 1, we compared large-scale navigation skills of experienced geologists with that of experienced psychologists. We found that geologists demonstrated higher navigational competence than psychologists. In Study 2, we conducted a longitudinal study with novice undergraduates learning Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to investigate self-selection and improvement in spatial thinking over an academic semester. Novice GIS students showed superior baseline navigational competence compared to non-STEM students, as well as better working memory and small-scale mental rotation skills, indicating self-selection. In addition, GIS students’ spatial skills improved more over the course of a semester than those of non-STEM students. Our findings demonstrate the importance of large-scale spatial thinking for enrollment and success in the GEO fields.