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Visuospatial Processing for Education in Health and Natural Sciences

  • Book
  • © 2019

Overview

Editors:
  1. Juan C. Castro-Alonso

    1. Center for Advanced Research in Education, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

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  • First volume to link the two research traditions of spatial ability and working memory through visuospatial processing

  • With contributions by leading, international academics in the fields of educational psychology, visuospatial processing, science learning, and similar areas

  • Focusses on diverse science fields, including the ones that normally fall out of scope

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Overview of Visuospatial Processing for Education in Health and Natural Sciences

    • Juan C. Castro-Alonso
    Pages 1-21

  3. Different Abilities Controlled by Visuospatial Processing

    • Juan C. Castro-Alonso, Kinnari Atit
    Pages 23-51

  4. Science Education and Visuospatial Processing

    • Juan C. Castro-Alonso, David H. Uttal
    Pages 53-79

  5. Sex Differences in Visuospatial Processing

    • Juan C. Castro-Alonso, Petra Jansen
    Pages 81-110

  6. Instructional Visualizations, Cognitive Load Theory, and Visuospatial Processing

    • Juan C. Castro-Alonso, Paul Ayres, John Sweller
    Pages 111-143

  7. Interactive Science Multimedia and Visuospatial Processing

    • Juan C. Castro-Alonso, Logan Fiorella
    Pages 145-173

  8. Embodied Cognition, Science Education, and Visuospatial Processing

    • Juan C. Castro-Alonso, Fred Paas, Paul Ginns
    Pages 175-205

  9. VAR: A Battery of Computer-Based Instruments to Measure Visuospatial Processing

    • Juan C. Castro-Alonso, Paul Ayres, Fred Paas
    Pages 207-229
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Keywords

About this book

Visuospatial processing is key to learn and perform professionally in the domains of health and natural sciences. As such, there is accumulating research showing the importance of visuospatial processing for education in diverse health sciences (e.g., medicine, anatomy, surgery) and in many natural sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, physics, geology). In general, visuospatial processing is treated separately as (a) spatial ability and (b) working memory with visuospatial stimuli. This book attempts to link these two research perspectives and present visuospatial processing as the cognitive activity of two components of working memory (mostly the visuospatial sketch pad, and also the central executive), which allows to perform in both spatial ability and working memory tasks.

Focusing on university education in the fields of health sciences and natural sciences, the chapters in this book describe the abilities of mental rotation, mental folding, spatial working memory, visual working memory, among others, and how different variables affect them. Some of these variables, thoroughly addressed in the book, are sex (gender), visualizations, interactivity, cognitive load, and embodiment. The book concludes with a chapter presenting VAR, a battery of computer-based tests to measure different tasks entailing visuospatial processing.

With contributions by top educational psychologists from around the globe, this book will be of interest to a broad array of readers across the disciplines.


Editors and Affiliations

  • Center for Advanced Research in Education, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Juan C. Castro-Alonso

About the editor

Juan C. Castro-Alonso is Associate Researcher at the Center for Advanced Research in Education, Universidad de Chile. He is a Biochemist, Master in Communication and Education, and PhD in Education. His interests are visuospatial processing and spatial ability, cognitive load theory and working memory, educational psychology, STEM and biology education, sex and gender differences, multimedia learning, and embodied cognition. He is currently leading an investigation on how cognitive load and learners’ characteristics affect performance on VAR, a battery of computer-based instruments that measure visuospatial processing. Dr Castro-Alonso is an academic editor of PLOS ONE and has coauthored more than 15 journal articles and book chapters.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Visuospatial Processing for Education in Health and Natural Sciences

  • Editors: Juan C. Castro-Alonso

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20969-8

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Education, Education (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-20968-1Published: 15 August 2019

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-20971-1Published: 16 August 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-20969-8Published: 05 August 2019

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: VII, 229

  • Number of Illustrations: 37 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Educational Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Science Education

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