Improving Computational Thinking with Spatial Skills Development in Primary School

Spatial skills frequently correlate with many measures of computing success, and indeed with wider STEM achievement. Spatial skills training has also been shown to improve computing outcomes at multiple institutions of higher education with first-year university students. However, there is a good chance that even though we can improve the spatial skills of undergraduate students to help them succeed at computing, many students will have already opted-out of computing learning pathways in school due to poor spatial skills. Using a spatialised maths curriculum, we intend to improve the spatial skills of primary school children aged 8-9 and investigate the effect on their computational thinking. With this poster, we would like to share our work so that others can consider deploying similar programmes, and to hear feedback from the CS education community on what other aspects and factors we should consider.