3.2.2 Pre- and Post-tests

The pre- and post-tests were similar to each other and comprised two parts, each designed to complement the other, in terms of investigating the particular spatial aptitude of the participants termed by Gaughran (1996), in his sub-factor theory discussed in Chapter One, as orientation.  Orientation was chosen because it was the closest of the five so-called sub-factors to correspond to the cognitive demands placed on participants during the wayfinding portion of the field intervention.  The objective behind administering the tests was therefore to investigate the extent to which the intervention could improve this aspect of spatial intelligence, with a view to helping the learner better make sense of the orientation and relative positioning of various objects on traditional topographic maps that are used in geography lessons in the formal curriculum.

The pre-test comprised:
a.    A test which required each participant to match pairs of objects rendered in three-dimensions according to their angular rotation.  For example, in Figure 3 below, students were required to say which of the pairs, A, B, or C, represented a rotation which matched that of the leftmost pair.

Students were given a minute each to complete five such matching exercises, after a personalised one-to-one briefing and demonstration with the researcher.  Students’ performances were recorded in terms of the time taken for each exercise, as well as for the accuracy of matching.
b.    The orientation of a QuickTime VR panoramic scene to match, within five minutes (and again after a personalised demonstration), a 1:10000 map of the same area – students were scored by the time taken, the accuracy of the orientation and the accuracy of their location on the map of the axis of panoramic rotation.

This test was designed to be the conceptual obverse of the preceding test on matching three-dimensionally rendered objects – instead of the requiring the viewer to change his virtual position around a given object, this test presented the viewer at the axis of rotation of a photographic-quality panorama of an actual scene.  The scenes were all photographed in Singapore, and depicted a variety of urban and suburban landscapes.

Between the pre- and post-tests, there was typically a period of two to three weeks, during which the intervention was carried out in the field.  During the conduct of the tests themselves, participants who had already completed the test were separated from those who had yet to take it.  Similarly, post-tests were similar but not identical to the pre-tests, and were differentiated in terms of the sequencing and perspective.

<- 3.2.1 Research neighbourhoods          -> 3.2.3 Orienteering task