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		Spatial Reasoning Enhancing spatial reasoning increases retention of women (and men) in the technology classroom.

Spatial Skills Course Can Be Critical in Retaining Women in Engineering Download PPT Now

More than three-quarters of women who took an introductory spatial skills course were retained, compared to 48 percent of the women who didn't take the course. This presentation shows what worked at one College of Engineering.

Sorby, Sheryl, "Gender Differences in Spatial Reasoning Skills and their Effects on Success," The Michigan Tech Project: Phase 1--Initial Development, Michigan Technological University.

Two-hour Workshop on Spatial Relations Bolsters Skills and Confidence in Female Engineering Students Download PDF Now

A two-hour workshop on spatial reasoning with accompanying visualization software completely eliminated significant gender differences in spatial reasoning abilities among a group of UC Berkeley engineering students.

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.).

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Research Gender Differences in 3-D Visualization Skills Download PDF Now

Many female engineering students lag behind their male counterparts in 3-D visualization, which is critical to engineering. The authors explain why and recommend solutions.

Medina, Afonso and Helena Gerson and Sheryl Sorby, "Identifying Gender Differences in the 3-D Visualization Skills of Engineering Students in Brazil and in the United States," International Conference on Engineering Education, 1998.

Tetris Game Can Take College Students' Visualization Skills to the Next Level Download PDF Now

For more than 50 college students, playing Tetris for a total of 6 hours improved mental rotation time and spatial visualization skills in women and men.

Reprinted from Okagaki, Lynn; Peter A. Frensch, "Effects of video game playing on measures of spatial performance: Gender effects in late adolescence," Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Volume 15, Issue 1, Pages 33-58, Copyright (1994) with permission from Elsevier.

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology Homepage

Female Science Majors' Spatial Skills Get a Big Boost after One Introductory Course Download PDF Now

After a one-semester introductory geoscience course, gender differences in spatial relations skills had disappeared for a group of college science majors.

Baldwin, Tammy, Michelle Hall Wallace, "Spatial Ability Development in the Geosciences," poster, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 8-12, 2003

Simple Lab Enhances Students' Spatial Reasoning Skills

Check out this exercise developed by a biology professor to enhance students' spatial reasoning. By taking slices of clay letters, students enhance their skills without using challenging jargon or digital imaging.

LeClair, Elizabeth, "Alphatome--Enhancing Spatial Reasoning," Journal of College Science Teaching v. 33 no. 1 (September/October 2003) p. 26-31.

Spatial Thinking Vital Across Disciplines Download PDF Now

This article cites 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.

Newcombe, Nora S., "A Plea for Spatial Literacy," Chronicle of Higher Education, 00095982, March 3, 2006, Vol. 52, Issue 26.

	The CalWomenTech Project is Funded by The Program for Research on Gender in Science and Engineering from The National Science Foundation - Grant no. 0533564

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