6533b870fe1ef96bd12d06c1

RESEARCH PRODUCT

The effects of mental rotation on computational thinking

Daniela ContiGiuseppe CittàManuel GentileMario AllegraMarinella SciortinoSimona OttavianoFrancesco RealeMarco Arrigo

subject

Settore ING-INF/05 - Sistemi Di Elaborazione Delle InformazioniUnplugged codingGeneral Computer ScienceSettore INF/01 - InformaticaResearch areasComputational thinking05 social sciencesPerspective (graphical)050301 educationSpatial intelligenceMental rotationSTEMPositive correlation050105 experimental psychologyMental rotationEducationAction (philosophy)Embodied cognitionVisuospatial skillsComputational thinking Mental rotation STEM Unplugged coding Visuospatial skills0501 psychology and cognitive sciencesComputational thinkingPsychology0503 educationCognitive psychology

description

Abstract Although several investigations of spatial reasoning and mental rotation skills have been conducted in research areas linked to STEM education, to the best of our knowledge, few of these studies have examined the relationship between spatial reasoning and computational thinking. Given this gap in the literature, the present study investigates the role and action of spatial reasoning, and specifically the effects of mental rotation on computational thinking within an embodied and enacted perspective. To achieve this, we carried out a study involving 92 students in five primary-school classes (1st grade - 5th grade). The findings reveal a positive correlation between computational thinking skill and mental rotation ability.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2019-11-01
10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103613http://www.scopus.com/record/display.url?eid=2-s2.0-85068185598&origin=inward