- Annex Detail -

MENTAL ROTATION


This supplement illustrates mental rotation for a 2018 research proposal drafted by my partner, Diane Wilcox, PhD. The presentation audience were members of a faculty innovation grant initiative at James Madison University. While our aim was basic research, the committee chairperson dismissed our proposal, claiming a popular computer game was adequate for kids. Mental rotation ability is a strong predictor of STEM education outcomes, yet students are expected to develop it on their own. For more about mental rotation and spatial ability, see my "BOXXER" concept visualization and "ChemSim-VR Prototype".

Imagine this sinuous, compoundly curved object represented by two dimensional icons. How many icons would you need to get an idea how it looks in three dimensions? The object's ground shadow tells us something about its overall form, but it's challenging imagining it from different angles. Mental rotation of complex objects is a critical aspect of STEM education.

Everyone has some difficulty mentally rotating complex three dimensional objects based on two dimensional representations. In STEM education, students are expected to develop mental rotation capability on their own while learning two dimensional schema representing complex, three dimensional objects and structures. Mental rotation is more difficult for some people than others. A difference in ability between men and women is well documented. There are indications that traditional STEM visualization schema requiring difficult mental rotation are biased toward men.