A two-hour workshop on spatial reasoning with accompanying visualization software completely eliminated significant gender differences in spatial reasoning abilities among a group of University of California at Berkeley engineering students.
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Copyright © 1995 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Reprinted from, Agogino, A.M. and S. Hsi, "Learning Style Based Innovations to Improve Retention of Female Engineering Students in the Synthesis Coalition," (Engineering Education for the 21st Century: Proceedings of Frontiers in Education, FIE'95, ASEE/IEEE, pp. 4a2.). This material is posted here with permission of the IEEE. Such permission of the IEEE does not in any way imply IEEE endorsement of any of the products or services of the Institute for Women in Trades, Technology & Science (IWITTS). Internal or personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution must be obtained from the IEEE by writing to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. By choosing to view this document, you agree to all provisions of the copyright laws protecting it. |
The mostly female student body at Bronx Community College is very low income; the majority of students qualify for financial aid. Short, intensive courses in basic skills combined with student support significantly improved their grades and retention.
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Finkelstein, Jason A., "Maximizing Retention for At-Risk Freshmen: The Bronx Community College Model," 2002. |
This study found that playing an action video game virtually eliminated the gender difference in spatial attention and simultaneously decreased the gender disparity in mental rotation ability.
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Jing Feng, Ian Spence, and Jay Pratt, "Playing an Action Video Game Reduces Gender Differences in Spatial Cognition," Psychological Science v. 18 no. 10 (24 Sept. 2007) p. 850-855 |
Citing the importance of spatial thinking from building furniture to discovering the structure of DNA the author calls for more education in spatial literacy, in particular for women.
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Newcombe, Nora S., "A Plea for Spatial Literacy," Chronicle of Higher Education, 00095982, March 3, 2006, Vol. 52, Issue 26. |
After a one-semester introductory geoscience course, gender differences in spatial relations skills had disappeared for a group of college science majors.
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Baldwin, Tammy, Michelle Hall Wallace, "Spatial Ability Development in the Geosciences," poster, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 8-12, 2003 |
