The spatial thinking abilities and synchronic thinking skills of undergraduates in history, geography, and social studies education

The study aimed to examine the spatial thinking abilities and synchronic thinking skills of undergraduate history, geography, and social studies education students in the context of specialization field, grade level, and gender variables. This study is a quantitative case study in the general screening model. The study population consisted of students from the geography and history departments of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the social studies education department of the Faculty of Education at a university in Türkiye. The study sample, conducted in the general screening model, consisted of 269 undergraduates. The first part of the questionnaire form used as the data collection tool in the study included questions about the participants' demographic information. The second part included the Turkish version of the 16-item Spatial Thinking Ability Test (STAT), and the third part of the questionnaire form included the 18-item Synchronic Thinking Skills Test (STST). The total scores obtained from the scales were used to interpret the data. It was determined that there was no statistically significant difference in the MDBT scores according to the field of study variable. In contrast, the SDBT scores showed an essential difference between the groups according to the field of study variable. It was understood that there was a significant difference in the MDBT scores between the groups according to the gender variable. Still, there was no significant difference in the SDBT scores between the groups.