Improvement and assessment of spatial ability in engineering education

The development of three-dimensional Computer Aided Design (3D CAD) technology has additionally spurred research into spatial ability to find the ways for its enhancement through teaching and instruction and to understand the mechanism of its assessment. The techniques involved in multimedia engineering environment of today as well as their inclusion into engineering curricula and courses have to be strongly supported by wider knowledge of spatial ability. This paper is a review of research results applied to engineering graphics education by respecting spatial ability as a recognized predictor of success in engineering. The development of engineering graphics teaching based on research suggestions about spatial ability represents an increasingly complex approach that puts additional stress on engineering graphics educators. Thus classical tests for the assessment of spatial ability are described, the applied strategies for their solving are presented, the selected obtained results are compared, and a distinction is drawn between the strategies employed for more complex spatial tasks that engineering is dealing with.