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. Assessments will be given at the start of the study (as a baseline) and then after the first and second years of the study.
Assessments will evaluate the following:
- Geometric reasoning
- Visualization skills in art
- General spatial visualization
- 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: 2008–2013
Funder: National Science Foundation