EDC will investigate whether learning in the visual arts, a discipline in which students continually practice visualization, leads to improvements in geometric reasoning. This study will compare high school students with and without extensive exposure to the visual arts. Geometric reasoning will be assessed at baseline and after one and two years of study, as will visualization skills in art, general spatial visualization, and control tasks not related to visualization. If the study supports the hypothesis that students in the arts group will show greater improvement in their geometric reasoning, future research will examine transfer between visual arts training and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas that depend on visualization such as physics, chemistry, biology, and additional areas in mathematics.
Director: Lynn T. Goldsmith
Duration: 2008–2011
Funder: National Science Foundation