The purpose of this study was to observe the differences in high school PreAP Geometry students in regards to spatial ability. The hypothesis states that students who are enrolled in both high school PreAP Geometry and Introduction to Engineering Design have better spatial ability skills than those students who are solely enrolled in PreAP Geometry. Of the 207 students enrolled in geometry at the test school, there was a smaller population (n = 57) simultaneously enrolled in an engineering graphics course at the high school. No direct or special intervention was given to either group of students. Near the end of the academic year, all students were administered the Purdue Visualization of Rotations Test (ROT). Results showed that students enrolled in the engineering design class performed better than those students not enrolled in the course. Furthermore, the males outperformed the females when all students were considered. However, there was not a significant difference among the males, nor was there a difference between males and females enrolled in engineering. Further research is needed to understand these differences and how geometry education plays a role in the development of spatial ability skills. / text

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The value of measuring Vygotsky's 'zone of proximal development' (ZPD) is the main concern of this thesis. The theory and research described in the thesis examines the psychological and educational purpose of measuring the ZPD within the context of children's representational skills. The first chapter discusses the development of children's ability to understand and use spatial representations. Recent research in developmental psychology is criticised for measuring the ZPD and claiming that the ZPD corresponds to children's individual developmental level. The experiments in Chapter 2 show that previous research has overestimated the representational ability of young children and that a children's potential development is different from their actual development, as assessed by the ZPD. Chapter 3 examines the origins of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and the ZPD within Soviet psychology and Hegelian philosophy. The next chapter presents contemporary interpretations of the ZPD which have to varying degrees attempted to extend this concept. The idea of dynamic assessment is introduced in this chapter and experiments using this notion are described in detail. Preliminary studies are described in Chapter 5, which examine the possible need for measurement of the ZPD and they also choose appropriate samples, methods and apparatus for future experiments which aim to measure the ZPD within a spatial task. The sixth chapter consists of three experimental studies, which all attempted to measure the ZPD using dynamic assessment techniques. These studies showed that measurement of the ZPD could provide important diagnostic information about children's spatial ability beyond that given by individual tests of intelligence. This was especially true in the case of children with learning difficulties. The results of all the experiments in the thesis are discussed in relation to measurement of the ZPD and its value within developmental psychology and educational psychology.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 1999. / Adviser: Holly A. Taylor. Submitted to the Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-61). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth Jakubowski, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Middle and Secondary Education. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 15, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 144 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Oregon, 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-91). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2008. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 85 p. : ill. (some col.), col. map. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 76-81).