2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Spatial ability has been identified as a significant predictor of success for students and professionals in STEM disciplines. Past research in the area of spatial thinking has indicated that spatial skills are malleable, meaning that students are able to learn and enhance their spatial ability through participation in targeted interventions, including participation in rigorous STEM courses. It is therefore important to understand what strategies are most effective in solving spatial tasks in order to develop effective spatial interventions. Previous work by the authors has explored spatial strategies employed by blind and low vision individuals as they solve tasks on the Tactile Mental Cutting Test (TMCT). However, the benefits of developing non-visual aspects of spatial ability are not limited to only blind and low vision individuals. This work seeks to identify spatial strategies employed by sighted sophomore engineering students in an engineering statics course as they solve tactile spatial tasks from the TMCT while blindfolded.
This work in progress paper follows a qualitative case study methodology to identify preliminary insights on sighted students’ strategies and builds upon previously identified strategies used by blind and low vision individuals. Data were collected using think-aloud protocols and semi-structured interviews as they solved TMCT items. Transcripts of the interviews were analyzed using descriptive coding methods.
Three categories of spatial strategies were identified including analytical, holistic, and mixed strategies. Participants who achieved the highest scores on the TMCT tended to be those who employed a number of additional strategies to verify their initial answer choice. Results from this study can be used to influence the development of spatial ability interventions that are focused on non-visual techniques which will ultimately strengthen multiple aspects of sighted students’ spatial ability.