Spatial Thinking Journal Club

January - May, 2012

Three-dimensional view of the global wind circulation patterns due to unequal heating at the equator and the poles.
Show credits

January 26, February 23, March 22, April 19, & May 17
10-11 Pacific, 11-12 Mountain, 12-1 Central, 1-2 Eastern

The application deadline for the Journal Club was November 21, 2011.

Geoscientists use a wide range of spatial thinking skills, including mental rotation, perspective-taking, navigation, visual penetrative thinking, and visualization of 3D surfaces or objects and their evolution through time. These skills, while essential to success in geoscience, are typically not taught explicitly in K-12 or post-secondary educational settings.

The Spatial Thinking Journal Club had monthly virtual meetings from January to May, 2012, to discuss readings from the geoscience and cognitive science literature, with an emphasis on exploring the cognitive aspects of spatial thinking and their implications for geoscience education. To facilitate a deep exploration of this topic, we ran the meetings as a series, with participants committing to all five meetings. See the overview page for more information, including journal club goals, readings and discussion topics.

Conveners:

Mary Hegarty, Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Carol Ormand, Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College
Eric Riggs, College of Geosciences, Texas A&M University
Tim Shipley, Department of Psychology, Temple University

This journal club is part of the On the Cutting Edge professional development program for geoscience faculty, sponsored by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers with funding provided by a grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education.