Learning to Think Spatially (2006) / Chapter Skim
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4 Teaching and Learning About Spatial Thinking
4 Teaching and Learning About Spatial Thinking
Pages 94-109
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From page 94... ...
In giving directions, strategies vary: directions can be given as turns, as landmarks, or as a sketch map. Some people are good at spatial thinking only in a limited domain of knowledge and literally cannot find their way out of the proverbial paper bag, whereas others seem able to tackle a wide range of spatial problems (see, for example, discussions of spatial agnosia and spatial amnesia; Amorim, 1999)
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From page 95... ...
Given the domain specificity of expertise, what does it mean to achieve expertise in spatial thinking? Section 4.2 describes the processes involved in generating spatial representations and explains ways in which those processes can facilitate and limit thinking.
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From page 96... ...
Highly skilled players excel at thinking through moves, reflecting their deep and easily accessed knowledge of the spatial patterns of games. Differences between players reflect depth of knowledge of spatial patterns in the domain of chess.
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From page 97... ...
Ray and Rieser (2003) showed that children 34 years of age can listen to short stories and generate spatial representations of the story in order to judge the relative locations of objects described in the story.
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From page 98... ...
Thus, for example, in the case of readers elaborating on their understanding of verbal information, spatial representations can be more helpful than additional verbal information because they result in less mutual interference. 4.2.4 The Processing of Spatial Information Kosslyn (1978)
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From page 99... ...
Practice clearly helped, however; after more than 1,000 trials, every subject's speed increased, and the average speed of the whole group improved by two standard deviations. However, people find it more difficult to generate spatial representations and to mentally rotate representations of novel and complex objects than of familiar and simple objects.
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From page 100... ...
. Based on laboratory studies, pattern learning and spatial transformations such as mental rotation are relatively domain specific.
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From page 101... ...
Through practice and experience, experts build the domain knowledge base and skills that allow them to think fluently and deeply. Central to expertise is pattern learning; skill in creating representations, especially spatial representations; and the ability to transform information.
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From page 102... ...
For understanding bicycle pumps and car brakes, diagrams were sufficient for undergraduates with high mechanical ability but not for those of low ability; for those of low mechanical ability, language compensated (Heiser and Tversky, 2002)
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From page 103... ...
skills in generating and interpreting spatial representations of information, and (3) opportunities to practice spatial thinking skills in challenging but well-supported projects.
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From page 104... ...
. 4.3.3 Developing Expertise Through Challenging Projects Interpretations of the superficial features of spatial information can persuade students that scientific phenomena follow different principles from those endorsed by experts.
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From page 105... ...
Box 4.1, based on De Corte's work, contrasts a traditional view of transfer with a modern reconceptualization. Before we discuss the roles that spatial imagery and spatial representations may play in fostering transfer of spatial thinking, we must distinguish between the ideas of "near" and "far" transfer.
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From page 106... ...
Hatano and Greeno rightly claimed that in everyday learning environments, people rarely need to use previously acquired knowledge and skills without also having access to external support (De Corte, 2003)
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From page 107... ...
, students could construct an understanding of the general properties of folded or faulted mountains and the underlying deformation processes. To the extent that generating schematic-spatial representations of information requires learners to generate their own ideas about general principles and about relationships that cut across different specific problems, instruction emphasizing the role of spatial representations should foster transfer to new problems.
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From page 108... ...
Thus, practicing spatial skills is most effective if it is contextualized within a domain of knowledge. Structured, systematic practice greatly improves the speed and accuracy with which people can generate spatial representations and transform spatial information.
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From page 109... ...
These two principles lead in turn to ideals for the design of a K12 curriculum that would promote and support spatial thinking. Chapter 5 explores the extent to which such curricula ideals are met by current standards-based curricula in sciences and mathematics.
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