Abstract
Research indicates that women and under-represented minorities (URM) display lower levels of competence in the ability to visualize spatially, a malleable cognitive skill that is connected with success in engineering. To identify and assist first-year engineering students with low spatial ability, we launched a spatial skills enhancement program as part of the Engineering Graphics course. All first-year engineering students (N=465) were required to take the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test: Rotations (PSVT:R) to assess spatial ability. Students who scored below 70% were encouraged to participate in a 4-week spatial skills training workshop. The success of the workshop is notable based on (voluntary) participation level, as well as differences in pre- A nd post-workshop test scores for all students, but particularly women and URM students. After completion of the workshop, the overall pass rate for firstyear students increased from 53% to 89% for women, and from 83% to 91% for men. The overall pass rate for URM increased from 55% to 82%, and from 77% to 92% for non-URM students.
Original language | English |
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State | Published - 14 Apr 2019 |
Event | 2019 Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity, CoNECD 2019 - Crystal City, United States Duration: 14 Apr 2019 → 22 Apr 2019 |
Conference
Conference | 2019 Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity, CoNECD 2019 |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Crystal City |
Period | 14/04/19 → 22/04/19 |