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Spatial Skills and Demographic Factors in CS1

Published: 18 November 2021 Publication History

Abstract

Motivation Prior studies have established that training spatial skills may improve outcomes in computing courses. Very few of these studies have, however, explored the impact of spatial skills training on women or examined its relationship with other factors commonly explored in the context of academic performance, such as socioeconomic background and self-efficacy. Objectives In this study, we report on a spatial skills intervention deployed in a computer programming course (CS1) in the first year of a post-secondary program. We explore the relationship between various demographic factors, course performance, and spatial skills ability at both the beginning and end of the term. Methods Data was collected using a combination of demographic surveys, existing self-efficacy and CS1 content instruments, and the Revised PVST:R spatial skills assessment. Spatial skills were evaluated both at the beginning of the term and at the end, after spatial skills training was provided. Results While little evidence was found to link spatial skills to socioeconomic status or self-efficacy, both gender identity and previous experience in computing were found to be correlated to spatial skills ability at the start of the course. Women initially recorded lower spatial skills ability, but after training, the distribution of spatial skills scores for women approached that of men. Discussion These findings suggest that, if offered early enough, spatial skills training may be able to remedy some differences in background that impact performance in computing courses.

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  • (2024)A Global Overview of SVA—Spatial–Visual AbilityApplied System Innovation10.3390/asi70300487:3(48)Online publication date: 3-Jun-2024
  • (2024)The Effect (or Lack Thereof) of Spatial Skills Training in a Mid-Major Computing CourseProceedings of the 24th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research10.1145/3699538.3699566(1-11)Online publication date: 12-Nov-2024
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Koli Calling '21: Proceedings of the 21st Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research
November 2021
287 pages
ISBN:9781450384889
DOI:10.1145/3488042
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

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Published: 18 November 2021

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Author Tags

  1. CS1
  2. gender
  3. retention
  4. socioeconomic status
  5. spatial skills

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Cited By

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  • (2024)A Global Overview of SVA—Spatial–Visual AbilityApplied System Innovation10.3390/asi70300487:3(48)Online publication date: 3-Jun-2024
  • (2024)The Effect (or Lack Thereof) of Spatial Skills Training in a Mid-Major Computing CourseProceedings of the 24th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research10.1145/3699538.3699566(1-11)Online publication date: 12-Nov-2024
  • (2024)Improving CS Performance by Developing Spatial SkillsCommunications of the ACM10.1145/368040968:1(68-75)Online publication date: 11-Dec-2024
  • (2024)Predicting Higher Education Student's Aptitude to Learn to Program: A Systematic Literature ReviewProceedings of the International Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies 202410.1145/3674912.3674949(242-248)Online publication date: 14-Jun-2024
  • (2024)From Visual Arts to Programming: Exploring the Impact on Achievement in Constructionist College CS1 ClassesProceedings of the 2024 on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3649217.3653597(604-610)Online publication date: 3-Jul-2024
  • (2024)Associations between Secondary School Students' Spatial Skills and Teacher Perceptions of CS Engagement and AptitudeProceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 210.1145/3632621.3671426(537-538)Online publication date: 12-Aug-2024
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  • (2023)Establishing an Empirical Foundation for a Theory of Student Learning and Success in CS1Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 210.1145/3568812.3603444(52-54)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2023
  • (2023)The Politics of the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test of Rotations (PSVT:R) and its Use in Engineering EducationEngineering Studies10.1080/19378629.2023.229795816:1(56-77)Online publication date: 26-Dec-2023
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