The Malleability of Mental Rotation Skills in Primary School Children – A Study on the Effects of Manual Rotation Training

 

Chemie  |  Biochemie  |  Medizin

 

Annik Düring, 2005 | Mörschwil, SG

 

Spatial abilities are an effective predictor of potential success in STEM subjects.
Furthermore, spatial abilities, such as mental rotation skills, have been found to be
malleable by training. This malleability suggests that providing spatial training to primary
school children could enhance their spatial
abilities, potentially improving their STEM achievements later in
their education. This study examined the effects of administering a three-day manual
rotation training on the children’s mental rotation performances. Additionally, the study examined age and sex differences in the mental rotation abilities of 6- to 9-year-olds, as well as whether the training effects varied based on these factors. The pre-test results suggested higher mental rotation abilities in older children but smaller age differences in older age groups. Girls and boys
did not perform significantly different in the test. The
administered training was found to be the most effective for the 8-year-old girls who benefitted significantly from the training.

Introduction

This study assessed mental rotation abilities as well as their malleability in
6- to 9-year-olds. The impact of age and sex on mental rotation abilities in general, as well
as their effect on the malleability of mental rotation abilities was assessed.

Methods

The test participants were the first, second
and third graders of a local school, which resulted in six classes (two per grade)
and a number of 99 children. On day one, every class took a paper-pencil mental rotation test. From the second to the fourth day one
class per grade took part in a manual rotation training whilst the other classes
were the passive control groups. During the training units the children performed manual rotations. On the fifth day all the children
performed a parallel version of the pre-test. ANOVA tests and Repeated
Measures ANOVA tests were used to assess the gained data in Jamovi.

Results

The 8- to 9-year-olds (age groups 2 and 3) significantly
outperformed the 6- to 7-year-olds (age group 1) in the pre-test (age
group 1 v. age group 2, t(93) = -2.60, p = 0.029, 95% CI [-11.02, -1.50] / age group 1 v. age
group 3, t(93) = -4.06, p < .001, 95% CI [-13.21, -4.57]). Age groups 2 and 3 however did not perform significantly different from one another (age group 2 v. age group 3, t(93) = - 1.18, p = 0.465). No significant sex differences were detected in the pre-test performance over all age groups (F(1, 93)=2.462, p=0.120). The three age groups were assessed separately in their responsiveness to training. In age group 1 (F(1,27)=0.0143, p=0.906) and 3 (F(1, 37)=0.0914, p=0.764) the training had no significant effect. In age group 2 the comparison of the control and the training group showed a statistical trend (F(1, 23)=3.577, p=0.071). The girls of age group 2, who took part in the training, even improved significantly more than their control group (F(1,11)=5.65, p=0.037).

Discussion

The results indicate that children’s mental rotation abilities differ between age groups,
with older children performing better than younger ones. The older children’s
higher performances were expected due to previous research. The decrease in age differences in older age groups might be essential to further assess
the development of mental rotation abilities in 6- to 9-year-olds. The insignificant sex
differences in this study contrast with the sex differences observed in adults.
Previous studies have detected a large developmental imagery shift around the age of 8
years which is approximately the age of the children in age group 2. Training
could therefore be especially effective at this specific age.
Especially the girls of age group 2 benefitted significantly from the training. Transferring skills from the manual training to the test task might have been too difficult for age group 1. The children of age group 3 were already older and might therefore be demonstrating a kind of mental
rigidity. The duration and the used type of
training were certainly limitations of the present study.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that differences in spatial abilities
observed in adults emerge during puberty and might originate from stereotypes and
insufficient training. Therefore, children and
especially girls should be encouraged to actively use their spatial abilities more and
spatial training could be included in the normal school curriculum. It would be interesting
to conduct a longitudinal study during which primary school children perform more spatial
tasks and to assess the effects of this training on their math and science performances in
high school.

 

 

Würdigung durch die Expertin

Dr. Vera Schumacher

Die Arbeit untersucht Alters- und Geschlechtsunterschiede in der mentalen Rotation bei Kindern von sechs bis neun Jahren und analysiert, inwiefern Training diese Fähigkeit fördert. Besonders in MINT-Fächern ist diese Fähigkeit für das räumliche Vorstellungsvermögen bedeutsam. Das durchgeführte manuelle Rotationstraining erwies sich insbesondere für achtjährige Mädchen als wirksam. Die Arbeit zeichnet sich durch eine präzise Methodik, eine fundierte Datenauswertung und eine reflektierte Diskussion der Ergebnisse aus. Sie bewegt sich sprachlich sowie inhaltlich auf hohem wissenschaftlichem Niveau.

Prädikat:

hervorragend

Sonderpreis «London International Youth Science Forum (LIYSF)» gestiftet von der Metrohm Stiftung

 

 

 

Kantonsschule am Burggraben , St. Gallen
Lehrer: Samuel Jung