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Spatial skills are essential tools for engineers and architects during their training and career. However, consecutive curricula, in particular those in the European Higher Education Area, are assigning increasingly less credits to Graphic Expression courses, resulting in insufficient attention to the development of those skills. Considering this situation, over the past few decades many Graphic Expression teachers have conducted studies that analyse several methods for training spatial skills. This paper describes some of the main studies and their results, in which a major conclusion is that freehand sketching exercises are the most effective to develop spatial skills, more than modelling with CAD software or using innovative tools and specific applications.

Spatial visualization and sketching are essential skills for engineers and architects during their training and career. However, successive curricula, in particular those resulting from the European Higher Education Area, have caused a marked decline in spatial skills of students pursuing technical degrees. This paper describes the methodology introduced during the academic year 2012/2013 in several technical degrees at the University of Granada (Spain), designed to enhance the spatial and sketching skills of students by means of a series of complementary activities in Graphic Expression courses. The standardized tests administered to students at the beginning and at the end of the course revealed a major improvement in those who participated in these activities.

[ES] La visión espacial y el bocetado a mano alzada son competencias fundamentales de todo ingeniero o arquitecto, tanto durante su formación como en el desempeño de su profesión. Sin embargo los sucesivos planes de estudio, en particular los derivados del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior, han supuesto una importante merma en las habilidades espaciales de los estudiantes de las titulaciones técnicas.Este artículo describe la metodología implantada durante el curso académico 2012/2013 en varios grados técnicos de la Universidad de Granada, diseñada para mejorar las habilidades espaciales y de bocetado de sus estudiantes mediante una serie de actividades complementarias en las asignaturas de Expresión Gráfica. Los test estandarizados administrados a los estudiantes al principio y al final del período lectivo han puesto de manifiesto una importante mejora en aquéllos que han participado en estas actividades, [EN] Spatial visualization and sketching are essential skills for engineers and architects during their training and career. However, successive curricula, in particular those resulting from the European Higher Education Area, have caused a marked decline in spatial skills of students pursuing technical degrees.This paper describes the methodology introduced during the academic year 2012/2013 in several technical degrees at the University of Granada (Spain), designed to enhance the spatial and sketching skills of students by means of a series of complementary activities in Graphic Expression courses. The standardized tests administered to students at the beginning and at the end of the course revealed a major improvement in those who participated in these activities