Internationally, there is a growing consensus that spatial reasoning is strongly correlated to mathematics thinking and performance. Researchers in Mathematics, Education and Psychology fields (among others) are exploring the underlying nature of how spatial reasoning links to mathematics, and of how to improve spatial thinking. Our research has centered on building spatial skills with young children
as a foundation to support complex mathematics thinking. This includes identifying powerful ‘objects to think with’ and identifying powerful constructs within spatial reasoning such as mental rotations.

Dr. Bruce is a leading international researcher in spatial reasoning and mathematics education, as well as President and Vice Chancellor of Trent University in Canada. Together with her doctoral candidate, Jessica Bodnar, they will provide an overview of the current research on spatial reasoning as well as some engaging and useful strategies for improving spatial reasoning.