THE CRITICAL YET OVERLOOKED SPATIAL COMPETENCE IN LEARNING ASTRONOMY: DECODING SEMANTIC SPATIAL INFORMATION IN PICTURES

This study examined the impact of spatial ability on science achievement by distinguishing between domain-general and domain-specific spatial abilities, focusing on their relationship with the conceptual understanding of the apparent path of the sun. Additionally, the mediating effects of domain-specific spatial knowledge on the relationships between spatial ability and science achievement were tested. A mixed-methods design was used. Forty university students participated. Mental rotation and astronomical drawing tests were used to evaluate their general spatial ability and science achievement. The domain-specific spatial knowledge used in solving astronomical drawing tests was ascertained via interviews and analyzed, with results presented as static-type semantic spatial propositions and dynamic-type spatial skills. The results demonstrated an overlap between general spatial ability and domain-specific spatial knowledge, challenging the traditional dichotomy between them. Furthermore, domain-specific spatial knowledge fully mediated the relationship between general spatial ability and science achievement. These findings have significant implications for astronomy education, highlighting the importance of domain-specific spatial competence over general ability in solving domain problems and underscoring the need for explicit instruction in the decoding of semantic spatial information in pictorial representations, which is often overlooked in studies focusing on spatial skills training or the surface characteristics of scientific representations. Keywords: spatial ability, domain generality, domain specificity, semantic spatial knowledge, astronomy education