Fostering spatial visualization ability through web-based virtual-reality program and paper-based program

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the gender-related effects of two instructional programs on the spatial visualization skills of ninth grade students. Two instructional programs were developed for this study: a web-based virtual reality (VR) graphics program and a paper-based program. 119 ninth graders from two middle schools in Seoul participated in this study. The data analysis indicated that both the web-based and paper-based programs were effective in improving the spatial visualization skills of experimental groups. When deleting the effect of covariance of the pretest, there were no statistically significant differences in the post-test results. This paper demonstrates the promise of virtual reality on the Internet in the context of spatial visualization. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003.