Using 3D Virtual Technologies to Train Spatial Skills in Engineering* JORGE MARTI ´ N GUTIE ´ RREZ** Universidad de La Laguna, Escuela Superior de Ingenierı ´a Civil e Industrial. Campus de Anchieta, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. E-mail: jmargu@ull.edu.es MELCHOR GARCI ´ A DOMI ´ NGUEZ and CRISTINA ROCA GONZA ´ LEZ Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Dpto. Cartografı ´a y Expresio ´ n Gra ´ fica en la Ingenierı ´a. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Spain. E-mail: mgarcia@dcegi.ulpgc.es, croca@dcegi.ulpgc.es Engineers are required to have good levels of spatial skills in order to operate in a professional environment. Consequently, we may state that spatial skills are a professional skill which engineers must acquire. In this work, a methodology based on 3D virtual technologies and tools have been implemented in terms of the curriculum of the subject of Engineering Graphics. The experimental study has been carried out with different groups of students from several engineering degrees who studied that subject, using different 3D virtual technologies. Once the subject is completed, the results indicate that there is a significant difference between the spatial ability levels acquired by the groups which had 3D technology support compared with those which didn’t. Regardless of the technology used, the improvement is quite similar over both groups, without any significant differences. The academic performance of the students is much better on the part of those groups using these technologies compared with those who complete the course following traditional methods. Keywords: spatial skills; virtual reality; augmented reality; PDF3D, engineering education; professional skills; professional competencies 1. Introduction The learning process using conventional methods can cause students to struggle when it comes to memorizing and understanding. When students engage in self-study, they also paradoxically increase their cognitive level. The heavy load of information in the working memory will prevent information being registered in the long term memory while taking part in such an activity [1]. Even when there have been practices conducted for various subjects, it’s not possible to perform practi- cally all the contents in the syllabus as they can involve large, dangerous and costly equipment [2]. Bearing this in mind, it is useful having a dynami- cally cognitive device to overcome this problem, such as multimedia animation or the use of course- ware and teaching aids which are both practical and suitable for such topics. While developing knowledge, students use their mental schema to visualize or develop pictures and images. The visualization is a way of thinking in which images are produced to recall a memory. Among all the definitions that exist, we must under- line the inclusion of the ability to manipulate mental images and the ability to interpret visual informa- tion in the brain [3]. Spatial ability is one of the most intensely studied skills in the field of human cognition. It has con- sequences in all scientific and technical fields, and it’s still a very active subject in the fields of both psychology and engineering, despite the large amount of investigation and scientific work per- formed already. It’s very common to find a high level of spatial ability in people working in both engineering and architecture related activities [4]. The development of spatial skills by engineering students is directly connected to future success in their professional field [4–6] and is critical for under- standing the content of engineering graphic subjects [7]. This capability can be described as the ability to picture three-dimensional shapes in the mind’s eye. Acquiring this ability can be done through an indirect process by means of Engineering Graphics subjects where students perform sketching tasks to create and read orthographic and axonometric projections [8]. However, there is another approach available that is based on the development of specific training for the development of spatial skills. From our perspective as teachers, we realize what difficulties are experienced by first year engineering students while learning Technical Drawing, mainly because of low levels of spatial ability in engineering, and that’s why we feel that there is a need to create tools and methodologies to improve this ability. 2. Engineering and spatial skills There is evidence which indicates that strong spatial skills are required for achievement in science, tech- * Accepted 15 July 2014. 323 ** Corresponding author. International Journal of Engineering Education Vol. 31, No. 1(B), pp. 323–334, 2015 0949-149X/91 $3.00+0.00 Printed in Great Britain # 2015 TEMPUS Publications.