Spatial Abilities And Their Relationship To Computer Aided Design Instruction
Sheryl Sorby
Abstract
Improving spatial visualization skills is often cited as an educational goal of engineering design graphics instruction.Many engineering design graphics faculty contend that working with 3dimensional solid modeling software enhances the spatial abilities of their students.However, recent studies conducted at Michigan Technological University (MTU) indicate that merely working with 3-D software does not improve the spatial abilities of students by a significant amount when compared to the gains achieved by activities associated with traditional graphics instruction (i.e., sketching, orthographic projection, isometric drawing, etc.).In the fall of 1998 a study was conducted at MTU to ascertain whether a student's level of spatial ability is related to their ability to learn and use 3-D solid modeling software and/or 2-dimensional drafting software.In this study, students were administered three different tests designed to assess their level of spatial ability at the beginning of a computer aided drafting and design course.A questionnaire was developed to assess their level of ability in utilizing both the 3-D solid modeling software as well as a 2-D drafting package.Students turned in a copy of the completed questionnaire along with each homework assignment for the course.Correlation analyses were performed to determine if a person's spatial skill level was an indicator of his/her ability to effectively use either of the software packages utilized in the course.The findings from this study are presented in this paper.