ATMOSPHERE, GROUNDWATER, OCEAN: INVESTIGATING SPATIAL THINKING ACROSS FLUID-EARTH SCIENCE DISCIPLINES (Invited Presentation)

Collaborations between geoscientists, education researchers, and cognitive scientists have fruitfully identified spatial thinking skills that are relevant to success in solid-Earth science disciplines. Efforts in fluid-Earth science disciplines such as atmospheric science, hydrogeology, and oceanography are not yet as robust. With colleagues, I am working to increase our knowledge of the spatial thinking skills relevant to learning in fluid-Earth science disciplines that deal with dynamic fluids that are largely invisible and inaccessible to immediate observation. Atmospheric and oceanic processes are fundamentally convective across large geographic areas and through multiple layers, making visualization of these processes spatially difficult and cognitively demanding. The dynamic nature of fluids requires continual reinterpretation of complex data displays, creating an added layer of spatial challenge. Fluid-Earth disciplines are also heavily mathematical, without a natural bridge between abstract ideas and concrete fluid behavior. Improving spatial thinking skills in students may facilitate this cognitive leap. This presentation will share past, present, and future work, involving explicit measurement of spatial thinking skills and quantitative analysis, qualitative student case studies, and the use of physical models to understand student spatial reasoning in fluid-Earth science disciplines.