Spatial Sense

Recall:
Number sense is an intuition about numbers and their relationships.
Thus:
Spatial sense is an intuition about shapes and the relationships among shapes.
(Van de Wall, 2004, 347)
NCTM (2000) Geometry standard: Use visualization, spatial reasoning, and geometric modeling to
solve problems
According to VDW, spatial sense includes the ability to mentally visualize objects and spatial
relationships.
NCTM (2000) describes spatial visualization as building and manipulating mental representations of
two- and three-dimensional objects and perceiving an object from different perspectives (p. 41).
Wheatley and Abshire (2002) seem to encompass number sense and spatial sense into what they refer to
this as mathematical imagery. They suggest that imagery plays a significant role in mathematical
reasoning. They give both number and shape examples. Wheatley and Abshire point out that
mathematical imagery depends on a persons prior experiences and mental schemes, but also on the
situation under which an image is constructed.
According to Owens (1990) spatial sense involves both visualization and orientation.
Visualization ability to mentally picture how an object appears under some rigid
motion or other transformation
Orientation ability to note positions of objects and to maintain an accurate
perception of the objects under different orientations
Spatial intelligence is one amongst eight kinds of intelligence. The most common description of spatial
intelligence is the ability to be able to recreate one's visual experience and reasoning about shape,
measurement, depiction and navigation.
Research:

Spatial gender differences can be found as early as preschool and kindergarten.

Researchers have provided evidence of early gender differences in mental rotation ability as
well as in other types of mental transformations (Cronin, 1967; Rosser, Ensing, Gilder & Lane,
1984; McGuinness & Morley, 1991).

Levine and colleagues (1999) found evidence of gender differences favoring males on partwhole relations tasks requiring mental transformations (slides) and two-dimensional mental
rotations (turns) in children as young as four-and-a-half.

Research has indicated that the possession of strong spatial visualization skills appears to
enhance a students learning of certain subjects, particularly mathematics and the sciences (e.g.,
Battista & Clements, 1996; Ben-Chaim, Lappan, and Huoang, 1989; Bishop, 1978; Burnett &
Lane, 1980; Clements & Battista, 1992; Presmeg, 1986).

Studies have indicated that spatial visualization ability is a good predictor of school
mathematics problem solving ability (Moses, 1978).