Spatial Thinking
Spatial thinking is fundamental in the geosciences. From visualizing atmospheric, ocean, or mantle circulation patterns to navigating unfamiliar landscapes to constructing a cross-section through deformed rocks, ...

Spatial Thinking Workbook
This project is developing and testing teaching materials to improve the spatial thinking skills of geoscience undergraduates, using strategies supported by cognitive science and geoscience education research.

Software for Assisting High School Students in the Spatial Perception of Geological Structures
Yael Kali, N. Orion
This paper investigates students' spatial perception of three-dimensional geological structures. Software was developed to assist students in developing the spatial skills needed for such perception. ...

An Interactive Multimedia Tool for Helping Students to Translate from Maps to Reality and Vice Versa
Kim Kastens, D. VanEsselstyn, R. McClintock
This article outlines the rationale and implementation of the early phases of the Where are We? map utilization program. This program uses multimedia technology to help students understand how 2-D ...

Scale and Detail in the Cognition of Geographic Information
D. R. Montello, R. G. Golledge

Cognitive Models of Dynamic Geographic Phenomena and their Representations
S. Hirtle, A. MacEachren

Multiple Modalities and Multiple Frames of Reference for Spatial Knowledge
S. M. Freundschuh, H. A. Taylor

Spatial Schemas in Depictions
Barbara Tversky
Depictions, such as maps, that portray visible things are ancient whereas graphics, such as charts and diagrams, that portray things that are inherently not visible, are relatively modern inventions. ...

The Cambridge Handbook of Visuospatial Thinking
P. Shah, A. Miyake
This book presents a broad overview of research on visuospatial thinking that can be used by researchers and students in both basic research and applied/naturalistic contexts.

Enhancing the Visuo-Spatial Aptitude of Students
T. Lord

Spatial Ability, Navigation Strategy and Geographic Knowledge Among Men and Women
J. Dabbs Jr., E. L. Chang, R. Strong, R. Milun
This study tested the differences in navigation strategy and geographic knowledge between men and women. Men proved to be better than women in mental rotation skill, but men and women were equal in ...

A Course on Spatial Visualization and its Impact on the Retention of Female Engineering Students
S. Sorby

Questions and Conjectures Concerning Models, Misconceptions and Spatial Ability
S. Dyche, P. McClurg, J. Stepans, M. L. Veath

Sex-related Differences in Spatial Ability: What Every Geography Educator Should Know
C. Self, R. Golledge

Research Methodologies in Science Education: Visualization and the Geosciences
Julie Libarkin, Christine Brick
This article in the Journal of Geoscience Education provides information about what methods are most useful in teaching students visualization skills, as well as what types of future research can ...

The Microcosmos Curriculum Guide to Exploring Microbial Space
Douglas Zook
This book, a product of a science education program supported by the National Science Foundation, integrates biology and life sciences through hands-on activities. These activities present microbes ...

Spatial Ability and Earth Science Conceptual Understanding
Alice A. (Jill) Black
Relatively little research has considered the relationship of spatial abilities with common misconceptions and broader conceptual difficulties in the Earth sciences. This article from the Journal of ...

Water Towers, Pump Houses, and Mountain Streams: Students' Ideas about Watersheds
Daniel P. Shepardson, Jon Harbor, Bryan Wee
The watershed concept is important in many areas of geology and environmental science, and the purpose of this study was to investigate students' ideas about watersheds and how these ideas change ...

Earth and Mind: How Geologists Think and Learn about the Earth
C.A. Manduca, D.W. Mogk
What does it mean to be a geoscientist? What characterizes the expertise that geoscientists bring to understanding the Earth? How do students develop this expertise? This volume brings together ...

Spatial Thinking in the Geosciences and Cognitive Sciences: A cross-disciplinary look at the intersection of the two fields
K.A. Kastens, T. Ishikawa
This paper discusses major tasks that professional geoscientists and geoscience learners tackle, with a focus on the spatial nature of the tasks and underlying cognitive processes. Specific tasks ...