Methods for training the spatial skills of students pursuing technical careers

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.