Engineering Design and Spatial Skills: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract This article reports the results of a systematic review of the literature on spatial skills in the context of engineering design. The review sought to identify what spatial skills assessment tools are being used in the studies of engineering design, what experimental approaches are being used to investigate the relationship between spatial skills and design, and what the outcomes of the studies were. The review revealed an inconsistent pattern of beliefs among researchers regarding the relationship between spatial skills and engineering design skills. While correlational evidence exists to link spatial skills test scores and engineering design performance, most experiments were not designed to demonstrate a causal relationship. The review highlights areas for future research to improve our understanding of the relationship between spatial skills and engineering design skills, including the need for more discipline-specific assessments and more research involving practicing designers. The review concludes with caution against focusing on spatial skills instead of emphasizing practical engineering design graphics skills such as sketching and computer-aided design (CAD).