Work in progress — Identifying undergraduate courses which develop and enhance spatial abilities

One skill set important to student success in engineering studies is spatial abilities; consequently, research in the assessment of skill levels and methods of improving weaknesses is robust. As part of our preliminary investigation into research questions regarding the impact of various teaching/learning methods on the development and enhancement of spatial abilities for different student demographics, we administered a survey of undergraduates at two institutions in an effort to identify courses they believe are effective in achieving those objectives. The survey results affirm the efficacy of both CAD instruction and technical drawing in developing and enhancing spatial abilities as reported in earlier studies. The latter finding is especially robust among one institution's female students. This result motivates further research into the specific contributions of technical drawing activities to the development and enhancement of spatial abilities in general in females. The re-investigation of “old school” interventions may be of particular interest to P-12 engineering educators working with constrained resources.