DOES VISUAL-SPATIAL COGNITION AFFECT CHILDREN’S ASTRONOMICAL EXPERIENCES?

Felicita Gali, Sudhakar Venukapalli

Abstract


Understanding of astronomical phenomena requires spatial reasoning skills. The current study examines the influence of spatial ability on conceptual understanding of secondary school students in elementary astronomy. The sample consisted of 38 ninth-grade students from a high school in Hyderabad. To evaluate participants’ spatial ability, spatial reasoning test, Purdue Spatial Visualization Test: Visualization of Rotations and mental rotation tests were used. Mental Rotation, Spatial Perception, and Spatial Visualization are the types of spatial ability tested in this study. To understand learners conceptual understanding in astronomy, 30 probes on astronomical topics were administered. The research study was quantitative in nature. Correlational analysis showed that all three spatial sub-skills namely Spatial Orientation, Mental rotation and Spatial Visualization is associated with astronomy conceptual understanding. The correlation coefficient of overall spatial ability and conceptual understanding was 0.693 (p < 0.05). The result of an independent t-test suggested that there is no major impact of gender on spatial ability and conceptual understanding in astronomy. The researchers suggest that teachers should develop spatially enriched lessons that help students improve their spatial thinking skills and a deeper conceptual understanding of basic astronomical concepts.

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spatial ability, conceptual understanding, astronomy, spatial orientation, and spatial visualization

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v8i1.3522

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