Spatial skills are of crucial importance, as high-level performance in many professions - such as engineering, architecture, interior design, technical fields, IT, medicine, and creative industries - depends on them. Spatial skills include spatial orientation, mental rotation, shape recognition, and the ability to perceive relationships. Well-developed spatial thinking contributes to effective problem-solving, accurate planning, and rapid decision-making, thereby significantly enhancing professional performance and work quality.
Spatial ability can be measured using various methods, primarily standardized tests and practical tasks. Spatial ability tests commonly used in engineering and technical education examine different aspects of spatial thinking, spatial perception, visualization, and manipulation. Several tools have been developed to assess this ability, with their original versions being paper-based:
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Mental Rotation Test (MRT): Measures the ability to mentally rotate objects. In the tasks, the participant must decide whether a rotated spatial shape matches the reference model.
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Mental Cutting Test (MCT): Assesses spatial cutting and mental visualization. In these tasks, an object is “cut” with an imaginary plane, and the participant must identify the resulting shape.
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Purdue Spatial Visualization Test (PSVT): Evaluates multiple elements of spatial visualization, such as rotation, transformation between views, and recognition of object nets.
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Heinrich Spatial Visualization Test (HSVT): Examines more complex spatial operations and finer distinctions. It includes assessing the relative position, orientation, and distance of basic shapes, as well as recognizing their rotations in different directions.
The combined use of these tests provides a comprehensive and reliable assessment of students’ spatial abilities and serves as an effective foundation for targeted skill development. Spatial ability can be improved; therefore, its development should be integrated into engineering education through various subjects, such as descriptive geometry and 3D modeling.
The perception of distance is a fundamental component of spatial perception. It refers to the ability to accurately judge the distances between objects and between oneself and objects in space. Distance perception is critically important in everyday life, as it fundamentally determines how we move, navigate, work, and orient ourselves in space. From the perspective of precise work - especially in engineering, technical, surgical, or industrial fields - accurate distance perception enables the precise fitting of components and error-free execution of cuts and assemblies. Distance perception also forms the basis of effective spatial design.
In modern digital environments, distance perception plays a key role in creating realistic spatial experiences and ensuring the authenticity of the user experience during 3D modeling, VR/AR systems, and simulations. Well-developed distance perception contributes to higher professional performance, faster decision-making, and fewer errors, making its development and measurement particularly important in technical and engineering education.
To measure spatial abilities and distance perception, we have designed and created several proprietary assessment tools that are well-suited for use in education and professional training, including engineering programs. These tools typically include traditional task types, but, leveraging the opportunities offered by digital technologies, the assessments are now conducted online. During the presentation, the assessment tools containing various task types and the results obtained so far will be demonstrated.
In our educational activities, the deliberate measurement and development of spatial abilities contribute to a higher level of mastery of engineering competencies, foster students’ independent, creative, and precise engineering thinking, improve academic performance, and reduce dropout rates.