NSF Award
1633750
This doctoral dissertation research project will investigate multi-sensory visual and tactile interfaces for understanding complex spatial data. The project will contribute new insights to an emerging interdisciplinary research thrust involving geography and other spatial sciences, geoscience education, cartographic visualization, and cognitive psychology that examines how the dimensionality of a topographic map affects map users' ability to understand and apply spatial information. By comparing cognitive load and learning effects on the basis of dimensionality, the project will help identify the role spatial ability plays in supporting comprehension of map data and what instructional strategies may be appropriate for varied levels of dimensionality. The project will help improve spatial thinking abilities through the development of engaging instructional strategies and hands-on use of the innovative technologies in order to better prepare students for success in science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM) careers. The project's research on multi-sensor interfaces will support further inquiry into the role of dimensionality as a factor in spatial thinking to advance STEM education that potentially can benefit a broad range of users but will have special value for kinesthetic learners and visually impaired individuals because of greater emphasis on interactive, tactile features of multi-sensory instruction. The source code and resources for teaching spatial skills from a subsequent map-reading instructional module will be made readily accessible to assist others in improving STEM educational capabilities. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.<br/><br/>Recent innovations in three-dimensional (3-D) geovisual and tactile interactive displays can facilitate multi-sensory learning. While the presentation of mapped landscapes using two-dimensional (2-D) topographic contour lines for a map user requires transfer of abstract 2-D spatial data to visual the 3-D world, the augmented-reality sandbox, a 3-D tangible user-interface, enables users to touch and manipulate 3-D map surfaces in real-time. Learning is multi-sensory, because interactive tactile feedback complements visual feedback, but previous studies disagree about the learning effect of varying the dimension in which spatial information is presented. During the conduct of this study, the doctoral student will use an experimental design to assess the effect of map dimensionality on learning performance scores and on mental effort while controlling for differences in spatial thinking ability and gender. He will measure prior spatial thinking ability of research subjects using two widely used spatial ability tests, the mental rotations test and the paper-folding test. Geoscience undergraduate students will be placed into different groups based on their gender and will be randomly assigned to receive instruction conveyed through one of the three topographic map interfaces: the 3-D augmented-reality sandbox; a 2.5-D geovisual computer interface through which a 3-D image is superimposed on a 2-D computer screen; or a 2-D printed map. This research design will focus on ascertaining whether and how map dimensionality influences participants' abilities to use spatial information from topographic maps with the least amount of mental effort. Learning performance will be assessed as each group completes a common post-test on map-reading skills. Mental effort will be measured through the use of eye tracking analysis of pupil size and movement as correlated to participant self-ratings using the mental-effort measurement scale. Comparing interactions between mental effort and performance scores on the basis of dimensionality will identify how spatial thinking supports comprehension of topographic map profiles and what instructional and learning strategies may be appropriate for varied levels of dimensionality.
