Editorial: Spatial ability in STEM learning

Gavin Duffy ^1* Jeffrey Buckley ² Sheryl Sorby ³

• ¹ Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
• ² Technological University of the Shannon, Athlone, Ireland
• ³ University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

The European Union, under Horizon 2020, recently funded a Doctoral Training Network to focus on the role of spatial ability in and for STEM learning. SellSTEM (Spatially Enhanced Learning Linked to STEM) included 15 PhD students who focused on three themes: (i) developing a better understanding of the cognitive relation between spatial ability and STEM learning, (ii) exploring ways to promote spatial ability development both integrated with and separate to STEM learning and (iii) professional development for educators in formal and informal education settings to promote greater awareness of and attention to spatial ability development in the classroom. This Research Topic was motivated by the SellSTEM research agenda and includes contributions from this network and beyond. Spatial ability plays an important role in many aspects of STEM learning. Solving word problems in mathematics (Duffy et al., 2020), developing conceptual understanding in physics (Kozhevnikov et al., 2007), and comprehending molecular structure in chemistry (Bodner, 2015) are just some areas where spatial ability has been shown to be associated with success in STEM tasks. Those who migrate towards STEM tend to have relatively high levels of spatial ability. A gender gap in favour of males in some spatial factors may partially account for gender differences in education and career choice. More generally, raising levels of spatial ability in children should help to prepare them for the cognitive demands that STEM learning can require. What are these cognitive demands and in which subjects and topics are they to be found? Can spatial ability development transfer to performance improvements in STEM tasks, or be integrated with STEM tasks so both concurrently improve? How can teachers be prepared to overcome barriers to promoting spatial ability development in the classroom? What should researchers focus on in future work to address these issues? These questions are addressed by the eight contributions to this Research Topic.The role of spatial ability in STEM learning is addressed by two papers, both related to mathematics but exploring concepts related more broadly to STEM. Duffy et al., illustrate that the process of problem-solving has two cognitively distinct phases with the representation phase being significantly related to spatial ability while the solution phase is not. Mental representation was found to mediate the relationship between spatial ability and problem-solving among engineering students. The importance of maths self-concept in shaping STEM preferences was investigated by Lennon-Maslin et al., who found this to be particularly noticeable among girls and tweens. Their study shows that maths self-concept serves as a mitigating factor for spatial anxiety and perceived difficulty in spatial tasks and suggests that spatial anxiety may contribute to gender disparities in mathematics and STEM-related domains.Several papers relate to strategies for promoting spatial ability development. Working with kindergarten-grade 1 children, Sonneveld et al. explore how story-based design tasks, which combine pretend and construction play, can promote spatial ability development. Rather than give children spatial toys to play with, teachers can integrate spatial ability development into design activities which are more open-ended and develop a wider range of skills. Their findings suggest that design activities may lead to the development of different spatial skills than more traditional analytical puzzles. Falomir et al. created a videogame to develop spatial reasoning skills through gamebased learning, a potentially motivational approach usable in informal settings. Called the Paper Folding Game, it was administered to adults who improved their paper-folding skills and developed strategic knowledge about paper-folding. Spatial reasoning through data physicalization is an innovative idea for integrating spatial ability development with data science. This case study by Zhu et al. offers insights into children's use of spatial reasoning in data physicalization creation and practical implications for situating data physicalization activities in formal and informal learning environments.One study in this Research Topic directly addressed professional development for educators to teach spatial thinking. Bufasi et al. developed a framework that examines the interrelationships, barriers, and enablers among various educational components, including schools, teachers, students, classrooms, and training programs, that are encountered when teaching for spatial ability development. Several recommendations are provided with respect to curriculum, professional development, assessment and the use of manipulatives in the classroom.Finally, two review articles suggest ideas for future research. Thom et al. argue for the use of projective geometry for spatial ability development. With emphasis on the relationship between 2D and 3D objects, projective geometry offers meaningful context in which to develop spatial reasoning. They present activities for the classroom, demonstrating how this mathematics topic opens new possibilities to promote spatial reasoning for STEM learning in the elementary grades. Harris finishes the Research Topic with some challenging suggestions for future research: the need for a broader view of research problems and methodologies in spatial reasoning studies and the importance of application of research to meaningful contexts in pedagogy and learning.