Previous research has shown a correlation between spatial skills, including spatial visualization, and success in multiple areas of computing, and experiments where students are given spatial skills training have shown that it positively impacts the results in introductory programming courses.
There are programmes around the world in computing and other STEM subjects that now routinely test and train the spatial skills of incoming students. The purpose of this project is to determine whether similar testing and training should take place in IFI, UiO and elsewhere in Norway.
It is important to replicate and extend the current studies in different countries, as different school curricula may influence first-year university students´ level of spatial skills. Also, the effect of explicit spatial skills training may vary depending on the expected learning outcomes, content and existing teaching and learning activities in different programming courses.
The aim of this project would be to:
- Search for existing literature on spatial skills in a Norwegian context, and compare it to the results from international research.
- Test year groups at IFI, from first year, up through Masters and PhD years and the staff, to see if that replicates a previous study in Glasgow where the further one was in one’s CS academic career, the higher the spatial skills score.
- Test whether there is a correlation between students' spatial skills scores and grades on programming exams.
- Carry out and test the effect of spatial skills training for students in different introductory programming courses at UiO.
As one of the supervisors is primarily based in Scotland, much of the supervision will be via Zoom and the main language of communication will be English. However, the master student must also be able to communicate with students in Norwegian.
Literature to start with: Jack Parkinson et al, Practice Report: Six Studies of Spatial Skills Training in Introductory Computer Science, ACM Inroads, Volume 12, Issue 4, pp. 18-29.