Spatial abilities and Mathematics; from the lab to the classroom

Join us on June 3rd for the UCL IOE Centre for Language, Literacy and Numeracy: Research and Practice summer lecture!

The Centre are delighted to be hosting Prof Emily Farran, who will be presenting her research on Spatial abilities and Mathematics; from the lab to the classroom, followed by a wine reception.

This event will be of interest to researchers, teachers, practitioners and parents.

This is a hybrid event. Attendees can join in person or online. Please select the appropriate ticket type when registering.

Read on for more details about the event and the speaker.

Spatial abilities and Mathematics; from the lab to the classroom

A robust finding in cognitive psychology is that training children’s spatial abilities is a proven route to improving mathematics performance. However, in most countries, these research findings have not been translated into practice and there is limited representation of spatial reasoning in school curricula. I will present projects which took place in England, where there is currently little emphasis on spatial reasoning in practitioner training or in the curriculum. A shared aim of these projects was to attempt to bridge the gap between research and practice. I will present the Spatial Reasoning Toolkit, a set of accessible resources designed to facilitate the transfer of research knowledge into practice and to equip practitioners to integrate spatial thinking into their curricula so that children develop the spatial skills they need to succeed in mathematics (and STEM). The toolkit has been adopted for inclusion in the early years and primary teacher training pathways by a national teacher-training organisation in England and included in a new spatial reasoning training pathway for primary school teachers run by the English government’s 40 Maths Hubs who have introduced the toolkit to 1,690 practitioners through their training programmes.

I will also present empirical studies including the Block Construction for Mathematics (BLOCs) project and the Spatial Cognition to Enhance Mathematical Learning (SPACE) project. These studies are examples of working with practitioners to implement teacher-led spatial training in the classroom. Based on the known association between LEGO® construction ability mathematical abilities, the aim of BLOCs was to determine why this relationship exists (i.e. what are the mediating mechanisms) and whether this relationship is causal. A final aim of BLOCS was to create an effective teacher-led spatial training package that could be feasibly implemented by teachers in the classroom. We measured the impact of teacher-led Lego construction training on Lego construction ability and a range of spatial and mathematical abilities in 7- to 9-year-olds (N= 195). We report evidence of both near and far transfer of spatial training. We used knowledge from BLOCs to identify key areas for further development in the SPACE project. The findings of this series of projects can be used to inform future development of teacher-led spatial training programmes and spatialised curricula to support mathematics learning. For links to projects and resources, see our spatial reasoning platform.

About the speaker: Prof Emily Farran

Emily Farran is Professor of Cognitive Development, at the University of Surrey, UK, where she directs the Cognition, Genes & Developmental Variability Lab. Emily completed her PhD at the University of Bristol in 2001. She then took on a lectureship position at the University of Reading, followed by a move to UCL Institute of Education in 2008, before joining the University of Surrey in 2018. She was recently awarded the 2024 Impact and Engagement award from the Developmental Psychology section of the British Psychological Society. The broad aim of her ‎research is to characterise typical and atypical development of cognitive functions within the context of the developing ‎brain. This includes a focus on the relationship between spatial thinking and Science and Mathematics achievement.

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