Educational Pathways, Spatial Skills, and Academic Achievement in Graphic Expression in First Year of Engineering

Abstract

The subject of Graphic Expression, which is mandatory in the first year of engineering studies, showed poor academic results in recent years. This study analyzes the relationship and predictive capacity of various variables that previous research highlighted as relevant: prior academic preparedness, educational itinerary followed, mental rotation skills, videogame usage, as well as the gender and age of the students. A total of 161 first-year engineering students from a technical university in southern Europe participated in the study. Their spatial rotation skills were evaluated using the MRT-A, gathering information about the rest of the relevant variables and obtaining their academic results at the end of the course. The predictive capacity of the variables on academic performance was determined through linear regression techniques (grade in the subject, on a 0–10 scale) and logistic regression (pass/fail). All variables are significantly related to academic results in the expected direction, except for videogame usage and gender. No significant differences in spatial skills were found between genders, although differences were observed in videogame usage. The best predictors of performance are prior preparation and the educational itinerary followed. The results are discussed considering previous research, highlighting measures to improve results in Graphic Expression, with emphasis on training in spatial skills.