For which study programs is spatial ability most important?

What is it about?

We know that spatial ability is generally helpful for learning in different fields. But this study is the first to actually compare the effect of spatial ability on learning between different fields to find out where it is most important. We found out that spatial ability has the strongest effect on learning in higher education in civil engineering and chemistry study programs, compared to biology and (trailing behind) social science. Interestingly, these differences of the effect of spatial ability on learning mostly came from the higher knowledge the students learned in school: For students who had the same prior knowledge when entering university, spatial ability affected their learning at university the same regardless of study program. But most students with higher spatial ability had also learned more about their respective subject in school: This helped civil engineering and chemistry students more for their university studies than it did for biology or social science students.

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Photo by Vasily Koloda on Unsplash

Photo by Vasily Koloda on Unsplash

Why is it important?

We go beyond the previous state of knowledge that "spatial ability is helpful in all of these subjects" by using directly comparable measures. Our results can on the one hand inform selection processes for study programs - both on universities' side by identifying promising students and on students' side by informing them about another aspect of their potential in regard to the program's demands. On the other hand, the knowledge gained by this study highlights the (varying) potential of spatial ability trainings for education in a broad array of subjects. This could be implemented in special courses in school or university or integrated into existing courses, for example by placing more emphasis on spatial aspects of learning.

Perspectives