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Spatial Navigation Test with Virtual Starmaze: the Role of Spatial Strategy in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education

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Abstract

Spatial ability is an influential factor for academic performance in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. However, the roles of spatial strategies are unclear. Therefore, coupling with virtual Starmaze developed by fields of cognitive neuroscience, this study aimed to explore spatial strategy among STEM students and its role in academic performance. A virtual Starmaze was constructed to test how students complete a navigation test. A total of 172 college students majoring in STEM participated in this study. Modeling analysis showed students tend to use allocentric strategy when the difficulty of spatial tasks increased. Results further showed students with high STEM academic performance tended to use allocentric strategy while ones with low STEM academic performance tended to use egocentric strategy. Specifically, academic performances in science and mathematics learning were associated with the allocentric strategy, while academic performances in technology and engineering learning were associated with proficiency and hands-on ability.

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The data and material used in the paper is available from the authors upon request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the Department of Education of Hubei province for their support of this work. Meanwhile, authors would like to gratefully acknowledge Laure Rondi-Reig, Liang Wang, and Dong Chen for their help in implementing the Starmaze paradigm.

Funding

This paper was supported by the National Education Science Planning Fund of China [grant No.DAA220430], the College Teaching Research Project of Hubei Province in China [grant No. 2020420], and the Startup Fund of China Three Gorges University, and the Startup Fund of Yangtze University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education and Sports Science, Yangtze University, Nanhuan Road 1#, Jingzhou, 434023, Hubei, China

    Wenjing Wang

  2. Tian Jiabing College of Education, China Three Gorges University, Daxue Road 8#, Yichang, 443002, Hubei, China

    Xiaoshan Li

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  1. Wenjing Wang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Wenjing Wang. The first draft of the manuscript was revised by Xiaoshan Li. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Wenjing Wang. And, all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiaoshan Li.

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The work presented in this paper received approval by the appropriate ethics committee for research involving humans and informed consent for human participants was followed. This study has gained the approval from the ethical committee of the Faculty of Education at Beijing Normal University.

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Wang, W., Li, X. Spatial Navigation Test with Virtual Starmaze: the Role of Spatial Strategy in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education. J Sci Educ Technol 32, 951–961 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-023-10038-z

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