Wednesday, 21 August 2024, 09:45, N101, CSIT Building
Abstract
Spatial skills are cognitive skills associated with understanding space and spatial concepts, usually explored through practical tasks like mental rotation or transformation or objects. Research has consistently shown that there are relationships between spatial skills and success in many STEM subjects: people with better spatial skills are more likely to succeed in STEM study and work.
Computing science is no exception. Students with better spatial skills tend to do better in computing study then their peers with low spatial skills in several dimensions, from exam grades and GPAs to expression evaluation and programming problem solving activities. Fortunately, spatial skills are moderately malleable, and some institutions have successfully delivered spatial training interventions which have led to improvements in computing outcomes.
In this talk, I will go over the (relatively short) history of research on spatial skills in computing, discuss reasons for why the observed relationships exist, and present some perspectives on what work still needs to be conducted in this space.
Biography
Dr. Jack Parkinson has been teaching in the University of Glasgow School of Computer Science in various roles since 2016, mostly in Level 1 courses and introductory programming modules. He completed his MSci in Computing Science at the University of Glasgow in 2018 before working as a Research Assistant with the Centre for Computing Science Education (CCSE) on the development and delivery of the University’s first Graduate Apprenticeship Degree, in Software Engineering. Jack’s PhD explored the relationship between spatial skills and computing science.
Jack is currently a post-doctoral researcher attached to the STEM SPACE Project aiming at improving STEM outcomes for primary school pupils through a spatialised maths curriculum.