2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Spatial ability is generally defined as an ability to understand and mentally transform well-structured visual information. However, spatial ability can exist in a variety of constructs and is manifest in a variety of applications. Past work has found that spatial ability is a strong predictor of success for students in STEM education as well as for professionals in STEM fields. Furthermore, studies have shown that spatial ability can be learned and taught through targeted intervention, and that once learned, it can be maintained over time.
Numerous interventions have been developed to teach spatial ability to various populations. In order to measure the influence of these interventions on each population’s spatial ability, proper instrumentation is required to asses gains in spatial ability. Throughout the last century, numerous spatial ability instruments have been developed that measure various constructs of spatial ability. Some of the assessments commonly used in engineering education include the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), the Mental Cutting Test (MCT), and the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test: Visualization of Rotations (PSVT:R).
Due to the increased diversity and globalization of engineering education in recent years, multiple new spatial ability instruments have been created or adapted from existing assessments to better fit specific populations or disciplines. This systematized literature review synthesizes results from publications over the past decade on spatial ability instruments that have been validated and demonstrated reliability. Results of the review demonstrate the diversity of spatial ability applications across STEM education and reveal multiple perspectives on how specific constructs of spatial ability can be measured. The review also reveals potential areas of development related to certain constructs of spatial ability that are lacking proper assessments to quantify performance.