Cognitive abilities of STEM students and their predictive validity

How spatial abilities and general abilities relate to academic achievements

Researcher Michal Berkowitz

Considerable research shows that advanced spatial abilities are a marker for entry into the STEM subjects. Yet there remain many unknowns about the cognitive foundations of STEM learning. How diverse are the cognitive abilities of STEM students? Do individual differences in cognitive ability between high ability students have an effect on their academic achievements? Is spatial ability important in all STEM areas? This project addresses these and related questions, assuming that STEM fields differ from others in their cognitive demands and that students differ in their cognitive profiles. In a correlational design, this study investigates the abilities of STEM students across modalities (i.e., spatial, numerical, verbal) and complexity levels (e.g., working memory and psychometric intelligence). These cognitive factors are then related to academic achievements across STEM areas such as mathematics or engineering.