PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2017, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (7): 853-863.doi: 10.18306/dlkxjz.2017.07.007

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Influencing factors of middle school students' spatial thinking ability:A case study on senior one students of Baiyin No. 1 Middle School in Gansu Province

Jingyi WAN1,2, Xiaoxu LU1,*, Yuqi LU3, Fengzhen DU1, Jun WANG4,5, Beini JU1   

  1. 1. College of Teacher Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
    2. Baiyin No. 8 Middle School, Baiyin 730900, Gansu, China
    3. School of Geography Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
    4. School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
    5. Baiyin No.1 Middle School, Baiyin 730900, Gansu, China
  • Online:2017-07-31 Published:2017-07-31
  • Contact: Xiaoxu LU
  • Supported by:
    Key Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41430635;Project of Key Courses Construction for Undergraduates of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, No.14104/080;Project of Research Methods Courses Construction for Graduates of East China Normal University, No.14203/008/009

Abstract:

Spatial thinking ability is the basic ability of understanding geographical environment and a key geographic competence of students. Its influencing factors and mechanism need urgent attention for advancing spatial thinking theory. This study hypothesized that seven factors affect spatial thinking ability, including general intelligence level, living environment, interest in geography study, habit of using maps, interest in geographical problems, sensitivity about directions, and specialized geography knowledge. The level of spatial thinking ability and the seven hypothesized influencing factors of 126 samples from the Baiyin No.1 Middle School were measured by the spatial thinking ability test (STAT) measurement scales and factors’ measurement scales. The SPSS 23.0 software was used to analyze the related data. The samples were first divided into high, medium, and low score groups according to the level of spatial thinking ability, and general intelligence level, habit of using maps, and geography knowledge showed significant differences between the high and low score groups using independent sample T test. Then the samples were divided into high, medium, and low factor score groups, and general intelligence level, habit of using maps, specialized geography knowledge, and interest in geography study showed significant differences between the high and low factor score groups. The results indicate that general intelligence level, habit of using maps, and geography knowledge were necessary conditions of sample students’ high spatial thinking ability, and interest in geography study was also an important condition. The four factors were proven to be the main influencing factors of spatial thinking ability, and the level of influence from high to low was general intelligence, specialized geography knowledge, habit of using maps, and interest in geography study based on the result of the single factor linear regression analysis. The stepwise regression analysis result showed that general intelligence level and specialized geography knowledge had stronger influence on spatial thinking ability

Key words: spatial thinking ability, influencing factors, empirical research, Baiyin No.1 Middle School, Gansu Provincestar warehouses