Geo-Owl Academy
Spatial thinking is related to success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. However, existing research has largely focused on small-scale spatial skills, such as mentally rotating objects. We know little about the relation of large-scale spatial skills, i.e., navigation and mapping with STEM success, especially in the formative period of late childhood and early adolescence. This current project develops, implements, and evaluates a set of new tools and gathers new knowledge regarding reasoning about spatial relations and distributions in early STEM instruction. This involves evaluating several virtual navigation measures to understand how they relate to real-life navigation for children, as well as developing and validating an assessment instrument that measures geographic and spatial thinking in middle schoolers. The project consists of weeklong workshops on STEM topics and examines how comprehension and learning are related to the spatial skills, and how these skills improve with instruction. Findings from this project will inform and enhance instruction in science and social studies and STEM education programs at this age. This effort is funded by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program. If you are interested in joining our summer camp dates, see the flyer for more information!
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