Young pupils and visual-spatial ability/intelligence

Abstract

At Key Stage 1, the programme of study for Design
and Technology in the National Curriculum in Wales, in
relation to ‘Designing Skills’ (ACCAC, 2000:8), simply
states that, ‘Pupils should be taught to record their
ideas, e.g. using words, pictures, sketches and ICT.’
This paper provides details of a small scale study
centred on the extent to which infant children, as
guided learners, are able to utilise a more formalised
drawing strategy (orthographic projection) as a means
of generating, communicating and recording ideas,
thereby supporting young children’s ability to visualise
objects, or parts of an object from different
perspectives, in an appropriately realistic manner. A
key rationale for the study was that of identifying
‘relatively exceptional performance’, in respect of
visual-spatial awareness; that is, a recognition of
children who display an aptitude for depicting objects
(in this case design ideas) by way of utilising
appropriate graphical representations/viewpoints as a
means of achieving greater ‘visual realism’. Here,
realism is seen to be reflected by the children’s
recognition and representation of how their product is
to function: a vehicle carrying a chocolate cream egg
securely, while it runs down a slope, along their
classroom floor and through a finishing line (details
below). The study attempts to shed some light on this
issue by comparing output from what are termed
‘free’ and ‘taught/guided’ drawings. Initial results
suggest that, with guidance, young children generally
depict design ideas with a sharper focus on elements
relevant to the desired functioning of their product,
including a move away from what I have termed,
‘personal contextualisation’: the desire to include
components that, whilst indicative of young children’s
personal experiences, have limited practical bearing in
terms of that which will eventually be manufactured.