Geometry Playground Spatial Language Coding Manual

Written By Iliana

This audio and video coding scheme was developed to assess the spatial reasoning language used by adults and children while exploring interactive geometry exhibits at the Exploratorium, a science center in San Francisco, CA (. The scheme identifies spatial language utterances, measures their duration, and categorizes them into three levels: Static, Dynamic and Causal (National Research Council, 2006). The study coded video of 120 adult-child dyads, analyzing adults’ and children’s speech separately. The scheme resulted in good to excellent levels of inter-rater agreement, with Cohen’s Kappa statistics of .76 for adults and .72 for children (Fleiss, Levin, & Paik, 2004).

The full research study and results are described here:

Dancu, T. Gutwill, J., & Sindorf, L. (In press). Comparing The Visitor Experience At Immersive And Tabletop Exhibits. Curator, 58(4).

 

References:

  • Bloom, L., & Capatides, J. B. (1987). Sources of Meaning in the Acquisition of Complex Syntax: The Sample Case of Causality. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 43, 112-128.

  • Callanan, M. A., Shrager, J., & Moore, J. L. (1995). Parent-child collaborative explanations: Methods of identification and analysis. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 4(1), 105-129.

  • Casasola, M., Bhagwat, J., & Burke, A. S. (2009). Learning to form a spatial category of tight-fit relations: how experience with a label can give a boost. Developmental Psychology, 45, 711-723.

  • Dancu, T., Gutwill, G., & Sindorf, L. (2015). Comparing the Visitor Experience At Immersive and Tabletop Exhibits. Curator, 58(4).

  • Fleiss, J. L., Levin, B., & Paik, M. C. (2004). The Measurement of Interrater Agreement Statistical Methods for Rates and Proportions, Third Edition (pp. 598-626). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

  • Gentner, D. & Christie, S. (2008). Relational language supports relational cognition in humans and apes: A response to Penn, Holyoak & Povinelli. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 31, 137-183.

  • Linn, M. C., & Petersen, A. C. (1985). Emergence and Characterization of Sex Differences in Spatial Ability: A Meta-Analysis. Child Development, 56(6), 1479-1498.

  • National Research Council. (2006). Learning to Think Spatially: GIS as a Support System in the K-12 Curriculum. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.

  • Pruden, Levine, S., & Huttenlocher, J. (2011). Children’s spatial thinking: Does talk about the spatial world matter? Developmental Science, 14(6), 1417-1430.

  • Serra, M. (2003). Discovering geometry: An investigative approach. Emeryville, CA: Key Curriculum Press.

  • Tartre, L. (1990). Spatial Orientation Skill and Mathematical Problem Solving. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 21(3), 216-229.

  • Thesaurus.com (n.d.). Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition. Retrieved May 15, 2010, from Thesaurus.com website:  http://www.thesaurus.com

Population: Adults and/or Children (the study used Adult and Child pairings)

Test Location: Geometry Playground Spatial Language Coding Manual PDF

Iliana
Previous

Spatial Activity Survey