Implementation and first-year results of an engineering spatial skills enhancement program

Abstract

Spatial visualization skills are correlated with higher-level problem solving ability and associated with increased performance and retention in STEM fields. These skills are malleable but not typically taught in schools. To identify and assist first-year engineering students with low spatial ability, all first year engineering students in the Stevens Institute of Technology class of 2021 (N=459) took the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test: Rotations (PSVT:R). Students who scored below 70% were encouraged to participate in a 4-week spatial skills training workshop. Of the 134 female and 325 male first-year students, 37% of women and 19% of men did not initially pass the PSVT:R. Eighty-three percent (83%) of these women and 67% of these men elected to participate in the workshop. After completion of the workshop, the overall pass rate increased from 63% to 81% for women, and from 80% to 91% for men. The success of this workshop was notable based on participation, as well as post-workshop improvements in test scores, particularly for women.