THE USE OF COMPUTER GAMES IN TRAINING SPATIAL
REASONING
Peter Blanchfield
School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, U.K.
Kamal Basha Madarsha
Institute of Education, International Islamic University Malaysia, Gombak, Malaysia
Mohd. Syarqawy Hamzah
Kulliyyah of Information and Communication Technology, International Islamic University Malaysia, Gombak, Malaysia
Keywords: Games Based Learning, Spatial Reasoning, Mental Rotation.
Abstract: Spatial reasoning including mental rotation ability has been seen to be linked to the ability to think
scientifically and to do abstract tasks such as programming. There has been some attempt in the past to
investigate ways in which navigating in hyperspace is affected by the ability to navigate in real spaces. The
purpose of the current study has been to examine differences between training approaches to improve spatial
ability using a video game and a block building approach. Understanding the differences of spatial
performance needed to perform the training activities will eventually lead to better development of training
procedure. The results show a greater relationship to gender than initial ability in the value of different types
of game (computer or otherwise) but this could have been masked by lack of computer game interest in the
female participants. There also would seem to be a limit to the level of improvement in skill that games can
provide.
1 INTRODUCTION
The terms “spatial visualization”, “spatial thinking”,
“spatial skills”, “spatial intelligence” and “spatial
ability” have all been used to describe aspects of
spatial reasoning. Spatial reasoning has been
described by Linn and Petersen (Linn and Petersen,
1985) as “skills in representing, transforming,
generating, and recalling symbolic, non-linguistic
information.” Such reasoning underpins our
understanding of how bodies interact with each
other, where they are located relative to each other
and so on. They are thus important abilities in
relation to the understanding of physical sciences.
Different authors have disagreed on how the
different aspects of spatial reasoning interact. For
instance, Linn and Petersen (Linn and Petersen,
1985)see spatial ability as consisting of spatial
perception, mental rotation and spatial visualization
as separate components whereas Sorby (Sorby,
1999) would promote the view that spatial
visualization is made up of mental rotation and
mental transformation.
A number of authors have proposed that spatial
skill can be learned. Sorby (Sorby 1999) would
suggest that spatial ability is innate but spatial skill
can be learned through training. Interestingly while
there appear to be gender differences, it has been
demonstrated that the use of training has equal effect
on the development of spatial skills, independent of
gender (Law et al., 1993).
A relevant question then is “how can the spatial
skills best be trained?” A number of computer based
and non-computer based approaches have been
attempted. Examples of purely non computer based
approaches are: kindergarten students were taught
piano keyboard lessons and the results claimed to
include improved spatial memory (Zafranas, 2004);
spatial reasoning was measured to be improved after
listening to Mozart (Piano Sonata in D for two
pianos) for 10 minutes a day for five days (Rauscher
et al., 1994); block building activity was shown to
improve mental rotation skill of kindergarten
525
Blanchfield P., Basha Madarsha K. and Syarqawy Hamzah M..
THE USE OF COMPUTER GAMES IN TRAINING SPATIAL REASONING.
DOI: 10.5220/0003883905250530
In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (SGoCSL-2012), pages 525-530
ISBN: 978-989-8565-07-5
Copyright
c
2012 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)
students (Casey et al., 2008). Computer based
methods include the usage of a 3D design software
(Dünser et al., 2006) and commercial video games
including Tetris (Terlecki et al., 2008, Okagaki and
Frensch, 1994) and Medal of Honor (Jing et al.,
2007, Spence et al., 2009). However, this was found
to produce greater improvements in spatial skills for
gamers than for non-gamers (Jing et al., 2007, Boot
et al., 2008).
The effect of training on spatial reasoning varies,
Rauscher et al (1994) reported temporary increase in
spatial reasoning after listening to Mozart for 10-
minutes, whereas Terlecki et al. (2008) reported the
effect lasting several month after repeated training
on Tetris . The effect may depend on the duration of
exposure to the training.
As a result of the diverse findings of other
researchers it was decided to conduct a test on the
usefulness of a computer game which would appear
to require mental rotation to complete quickly, to see
if exposure to this game over a prolonged period
would significantly affect the player’s mental
rotation skill.
2 THE EXPERIMENT
The purpose of this study was then to examine the
relationship among gender, video game expertise,
prior mental rotation (MR) ability and mental
rotation skills. It was expected that playing the video
game would improve the player’s mental rotation
skill through repeated practice – in line with the
ideas in (Sorby, 1999). To validate the approach a
control group was also chosen who undertook
alternative non-computer based training – involving
making block models based on pictures and words.
It was also expected that those with high MR ability
would perform better in both training methods. That
is that high mental rotation ability would give
improved performance in both the computer game
and the block manipulation exercise as both require
the mental rotation of images in order to understand
the activity. However, a counter theory would be
that those with experience in game play might
outperform what would be predicted because of
previously acquired game play skill.
3 METHODS
3.1 Participants
A group of 98 children aged 13 years old were
chosen as targets. The children were all in the same
school and took part in the experiment after school
voluntarily over a 4 week period. The children were
allocated to the experiment and control group
randomly but with even numbers of male and female
participants and as far as possible an even
distribution of gamers and non-gamers in both
groups.
3.2 Materials
3.2.1 The Video Games Experience Survey
The survey by Terlecki and Newcombe (Terlecki
and Newcombe, 2005) was used to gather
participants’ experiences related to video games
playing. There were 14 items being questioned
related to their experiences and preferences in
playing video games. Additional information
regarding the participants’ grade in various subjects
was also collected.
Figure 1: Example of VMRT item.
3.2.2 Vandenberg and Kuse Mental Rotation
Test (VMRT)
Various standardized measures of spatial ability
exist. In the area of mental rotation the Vandenberg
and Kuse Mental Rotation Test (Vandenberg, 1978)
is one of the most commonly used methods. The
original test consists of 20 items in five sets of four
items each. Each item consists of a target figure, two
correct alternatives and two incorrect “distracters”.
Examples of the stimulus figures are given in Figure
1. T is the target figure and M1 and M2 are the
“distracters”. The correct alternative figures can be
generated by rotating the target figure. The
distracters cannot be made by rotating the target.
The redrawn VMRT (Peters et al., 1995) was
used to determine the MR ability of the participants.
As Voyer et al. (Voyer et al., 1995) observed most
of the spatial tests were predominately created for
adults and children may have some issues in
completing them. As a result we reduced the number
of items in the VMRT from 24 to 12.
3.2.3 Bloxorz
The video game chosen was Bloxorz. A number of
versions of this game exist on line but to enable
CSEDU2012-4thInternationalConferenceonComputerSupportedEducation
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measurement of player performance during the game
a version of this game was developed using
Microsoft XNA. This version allowed each action of
a player to be recorded to allow a measure of how
many mistakes were made, how quickly the player
completed each level, how many attempts were
needed and so on. A typical task in the game is
illustrated in Figure 2. The player has to navigate the
block (shown in blue) around a maze by flipping it
horizontally and vertically. Different sections of the
board will appear or break if the player lands on
them in the right or wrong way. The objective is to
get from the start position to the exit in a minimum
number of moves. The game starts relatively easily
and steadily increases in complexity as the player
progresses in the game. There are 10 levels; players
have to complete each level in order to finish all
Figure 2: Typical level in the game used in Bloxorz
training module
levels. The progress of players was also recorded
after each play so that players can continue at the
point where they last played in every session. Each
student was given a designated computer where they
played throughout the experiment. Bloxorz was
chosen for three reason, it is analogous to the act of
mental rotation, similarity of stimuli with VMRT
and also girls preferred puzzle game more than
action games (Lucas and Sherry, 2004, Quaiser-Pohl
et al., 2006) and thus they should have lower bias
against such a game.
3.2.4 Block Building
A structured block building task was developed for
this study. In the block building play, structured
activity was preferred to free play because it is more
challenging and participants would be more focused
as a result of having a defined goal (Caldera et al.,
1999). For every session participants were given
different sets of objects to build. For the first two
sessions the participants were given an image of 10
everyday objects, and for the last two sessions, the
participants were given a list of 10 object names.
Participants were instructed to build the objects as
realistically as they could. Marks were given based
on the complexity of what was built and how closely
the construction resembled the objects being
modeled. The points, quantity of objects built and
the quantity of blocks used were recorded and this
data was used in the final analysis.
4 DESIGN AND PROCEDURE
The VMRT was given one week before the
treatment as a pre-test and one week after the
treatment as a post-test. Before the VMRT was
administered, the children were instructed on how to
answer the VMRT. The children were shown three
examples of the questions to familiarize themselves
with the test format. They were asked to take time in
answering the test correctly and there were no
penalties if they didn’t finish the task. Correctness
was stressed more than the completion of the tasks.
The sessions were scheduled over a 3 week
period and each student participated in four sessions
and one training session. In each session the
experimental group played with Bloxorz for 25
minutes and control group played with blocks also
for 25 minutes. According to Baeningger and
Newcombe (Baenninger and Newcombe, 1989), this
could be considered as a medium duration study and
training intervention should have some impact.
5 RESULTS
5.1 Survey
Out of the 98 children only 2 girls had not
previously played a video game. Out of the other 96
children only 36 (27 boys and 9 girls) considered
themselves to be actively playing video games. The
majority of those who do not actively play video
game gave the reason of “Not enough time”. Unlike
the majority of the boys more than half of the girls
rated themselves as not good at playing video
games.
5.2 Training
The relationship between VMRT pre-test score and
gender was examined using the analysis of variance
(ANOVAs) and yielded a significant effect, F(1, 97)
= 20.877, p = 0.000. According to the mean score,
the boys had significantly higher scores (M = 8.98)
than girls (M = 6.38). Based on the mean of the pre-
THEUSEOFCOMPUTERGAMESINTRAININGSPATIALREASONING
527
VMRT score which was 8, those below the mean
were put in the group Low MR and those above the
median were put into the group High MR. There
were a larger number of girls in the low MR group
compared to the number of boys in that group.
To determine the effects of video games practice
and block building practice with respect to gender,
VMRT scores and MR skills, an analysis of
covariance (ANCOVA) was used. Post VMRT
scores were used as the dependent variable and pre
VMRT scores were used as the covariance variable.
A significant main effect of gender was observed
F(1,89) = 4.104, p = 0.046 favouring boys (M =
8.719) over girls (M = 7.693). The main effect of the
training condition was found to be not statistically
significant, F(1,1,89) = 0.450, p = 0.504, suggesting
that training in different methods doesn’t effect
VMRT performance.
There was also a two way interaction that was
statistically significant. Gender and group
interaction was significant, F(1,1,89) = 4.176, p =
0.044; suggesting that training in different methods
depends on gender. Girls that trained with blocks
showed more improvement in VMRT scores than
boys in the same group. However boys that trained
with Bloxorz improved more in VMRT score than
girls as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Means of Pre and Post VMRT scores.
5.3 Block Building
A two way Factorial (2 X 2 Factorial) was used to
determine the effects of gender on block building
completion (boys and girl) and MR ability (low and
high). The main effect of gender was not significant,
F(1,46) = 0.143, p = 0.707. But the main effect of
prior MR ability was significant, F(1,46) = 7.036, p
= 0.011, it can be seen that subjects with high MR
ability (M = 18.93) built more structures than those
with low MR ability (M = 14.09). There was no two
way significant interaction.
A two way Factorial (2 X 2 Factorial) was used
to determine the effects block points per
construction on gender and prior MR ability. The
main effect of gender was significant, F(1,46)=
0.119, p < 0.05, Girls (M = 6.6673) on average
gained more points per construction than boys (M =
5.9342).
There was a two way interaction between gender
and prior MR ability suggesting that boys and girls
points per construction depended on the level of
prior MR ability. Girls that have high MR ability
gained more points per construction than boys with
the same MR level; however boys with low MR
ability gained more points per construction than girls
with the same level of MR, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Means points per construct.
Gender MR Ability Mean Std. Deviation
boy
low 5.6 0.4
high 6.1 0.7
girl
low 7.2 0.9
high 6.0 0.8
5.4 Bloxorz
A two way Factorial (2 X 2 Factorial) was used to
determine the effects of Bloxor level completion on
gender and MR background. The number of
completed level was used as the independent
variable. Gender and prior MR ability were used as
the dependent variables. The main effect of gender
was significant, F(1,44) = 4.068, p = 0.05, from the
Estimated Marginal Means, boys (M = 7.1364)
completed more levels than girls (M = 5.1538).
There was no significant two way interaction.
A two way Factorial (2 X 2 Factorial) was used
to determine the effects on moves per second of
gender and prior MR skill. The main effect of
gender was significant, F(1,44) = 9.884, p < 0.00,
from the Estimated Marginal Means, it can be seen
that boys (M = 1.1069) took significantly longer
time to move than girls (M = 0.930). The main effect
of prior MR skill was also significant, F = 4.342, p <
0.05, from the Estimated Marginal Means, it can be
seen that subjects with high MR ability (M =
1.0802) took significantly more time to move than
those with low MR ability (M = 0.8573). There was
no two way significant interaction.
6 CONCLUSIONS
As expected boys outperformed girls on the VMRT
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score, which is in line with previous studies (Linn
and Petersen, 1985, Peters et al., 1995). Evidence
from this experiment showing the relationship
between mental rotation training and gender to be as
illustrated in Figure 4. Girls with low mental rotation
ability did not show improvement in mental rotation
skill when exposed to the computer game but did
when exposed to the block building task. This was
strongly influenced by the alternate observation
(found from the survey) that the girls in general did
not consider themselves good at playing video
games. They generally were less enthusiastic for the
computer game activity – even though Bloxorz
would generally be thought of as a gender neutral
game. The low mental rotation ability boys,
however, improved far more strongly when they
played the video game. These results thus confirm
some findings (Cherney, 2008, Yang and Chen,
2010) but are less conclusive about the usefulness of
computer games per se in training mental rotation
skill. The result relating to the speed of play of
children with high mental rotation ability is
interesting. The number of levels completed was
higher than others but the speed with which they
completed the tasks was less. This could be
indicating that they are using their mental rotation
ability to solve the problem before moving. This is
reinforced by the number of errors made in
completing the levels.
Figure 4: Illustrating the changes in VMRT scores over
the period of the experiment.
There may be some confusion between the level
of game play experience and effect of gender in
relation to the skill building and competence in the
tasks. This is because of the much lower level of
female participants who considered themselves to be
gamers. Further experiments will be necessary.
Clearly the value of the training activity in
improving mental rotation skill is dependent on the
individual. Males in this age group were more likely
to be motivated by the idea of computer game play
than playing with Lego. Their perception of not
being good game players may have limited the low
MR girls’ interest in and satisfaction with the
computer game intervention – and not with the block
manipulation.
Mental rotation skill as part of the range of
spatial skills has value in developing an
understanding of science, mathematics and
engineering. It is thus important for better ways to
be found of improving the skill levels of children.
The Bloxorz game is typical of puzzle games
involving mental rotation tasks for their solution.
There was a significant improvement in measured
mental rotation score of male players with
previously low scores over the period of the
experiment and thus it should be expected that
encouraging them to play will improve their skills in
this area in the long term. However, the reaction of
the girls to this – especially relative to their
performance after using the block manipulation –
indicates that the right approach for such training is
strongly dependant on the person.
It is also noticeable that those with previously
high mental rotations skills are not significantly
affected by the game play (of either sort). This may
have been limited by the measurement tool and
further work should be done to test this.
Our experiment brings further light to the debate
on whether computer games can enhance
educational aims for all students. Clearly from our
study, those who find computer games engaging will
engage with the game and if it contains the right
mechanic to learn the subject they will learn.
However, computer games will not be the right
approach for all students and for those who find a
given game mechanic less engaging it is unlikely
that they will learn. In our case most of the boys
who began the experiment with low mental rotation
skill were gamers and learned through the process –
improving their mental rotation skill as a result.
Most of the girls who began the experiment with low
mental rotation skill were not gamers and did not
improve their mental rotation skill as a result of the
experiment.
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