Peer Tutoring-Based Project-Based Learning and Visual-Spatial Ability among Geography Education Students
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Objective: This study examined changes in university students’ visual-spatial ability following participation in a Peer Tutoring-based Project-Based Learning (PjBL) program.
Methods and Materials: A quantitative quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design was used with 45 undergraduate Geography Education students enrolled in a Basic Geographic Information Systems course. Visual-spatial ability was assessed before and after the intervention. Data were summarized descriptively and analyzed using a paired-samples t-test and normalized gain (N-gain).
Findings: Visual-spatial ability increased significantly from pretest to posttest, t(44) = -25.07, p < .001, with a mean pretest-posttest difference of -28.58 points (95% CI [-30.88, -26.28]) and a very large within-group effect size (Cohen’s d = 3.74). The mean N-gain was 0.65 (SD = 0.13), indicating moderate improvement; 68.9% of students were in the moderate-gain category and 31.1% were in the high-gain category.
Conclusion: Peer Tutoring-based PjBL was accompanied by substantial improvement in visual-spatial performance during the instructional period. Because the study lacked a comparison group, the findings should be interpreted as evidence of pretest-posttest change rather than definitive causal evidence of intervention effectiveness.
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