The "Technology Outlook Australian Tertiary Education 2013-2018: An NMC Horizon Project Regional Analysis" reflects a collaborative research effort between the New Media Consortium (NMC) and Open Universities Australia to help inform Australian educational leaders about significant developments in technologies supporting teaching,…

Investigated visuo-spatial ability of a control group and an experimental group (receiving 30 minutes of interaction each week) in undergraduate college biology. Results for the subjects (N=84) indicate that visuo-spatial aptitude can be enhanced through teaching. (Descriptions of interaction sessions and explanations of tasks are included.) (DH)

A within-subjects, three condition design was employed to examine the effects of three relaxation techniques on blood pressures, pulse rates, and self-report measures of relaxation for 12 college students. Respiratory Manipulation Training incorporated instructions to exhale and not to inhale for as long as possible. When breathing could no longer…

This study examined the effects and interaction of multiple and linear visual presentation modes and cognitive style on performance in a visual location task. Subjects were 132 undergraduate college students (40 males, 92 females) in professional education courses. The Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT, Wilkin et al., 1971) was used to identify…

This study examines the Wheatley Cube as a measure of spatial/visualization ability. The Wheatley Cube is a computer managed task which requires the subject to visualize a three-dimensional workspace and to find an invisible dot located within this space. Thirty-three undergraduate students were administered four tests of spatial/imaginal ability…

Two studies were conducted to train students to use imagery in their learning and to investigate whether such training would transfer to solving visual puzzles and verbal problems. In the first study, with 78 graduate students, 29 experimental-group subjects were given a lecture and slide presentation designed to teach about imagery. Both the…

Although the distinction between verbal ability and spatial ability is fundamental in all models of human abilities, differences in the relative strengths of verbal and spatial abilities have failed to show consistent interactions with instructional treatments. This study investigated the hypothesis that spatial tests measure different abilities…

An overview that gives an introduction to the theories, terms, concepts, and prior research conducted on visualization is presented. This information is to be used as a basis for developing spatial research studies that lend support to the theory that the engineering and technical design graphics curriculum is important in the development of…

Level of state test anxiety and depression were related to encoding strategy (imagery versus sematic instructions) in a study of sentence memory. Subjects were 80 female undergraduate students. Negative effects for test anxiety were found in both strategy conditions. Negative effects were found for depression when the semantic encoding strategy…

A systematic research program will study the cumulative effects of selected instructional variables on learning a spatial visualization task. The goal of the research is to identify instructional variables that will improve the performance of female students on the Aircraft Instrument Comprehension (AIC) test. The AIC program is intended to teach…

The effects of encoding specificity were evaluated for learners: (1) in a typical classroom group learning environment, (2) receiving an audiovisual presentation on an academic subject, and (3) in a group testing environment. Encoding specificity involves the interaction between the encoding phase of memory or the learning context, the stored…

Investigates the relationship between the strategies used by preservice elementary teachers in geometric problem solving and two primary mental abilities--spatial visualization and formal reasoning. Reports that the two abilities were related to problem-solving performance, and the strategies used were related to achievement in the geometry…

Discussed are the principles of Gestalt psychology and the history and future of the movement. A comparison of Gestalt, Behaviorist, and Structuralist ideas is included. The study of perception, learning, memory, and thinking from the Gestaltist point of view is described. (KR)

This study examined the level of realism inherent in videotape and computer graphics display systems by comparing the ability of third graders, middle schoolers, and university students to estimate end states of visual transformations of spatial tasks. Their preferences for working with videotaped or computer-generated materials are also…

A study of undergraduate students investigated whether different rehearsal strategies are more effective in facilitating achievement, whether certain rehearsal strategies require learners to spend more time interacting with instructional content, and whether verbal or visual testing requires students to spend more time processing and responding to…