Hemispheric dominance and student performance in an engineering-graphics course

Factors affecting student performance in an engineering-graphics class were examined. The factors of sex, handedness, and eye dominance were considered in relation to hemispheric dominance and performance. The effect on student performance of introducing special right-brain oriented problems into a regular class also was considered.

The characteristics of handedness, sex, and eye dominance were related to the three hemispheric dominances established by Torrance's SOLAT test and to performance. A nonequivalent control group quasi-experimental design was used. The special problems were introduced at the rate of one each for eight consecutive weeks into selected sections of State Technical Institute at Knoxville's fall 1981 DR 101 course. Three of the five available sections received this treatment. Drawings, the evidence of performance, were collected on a regular basis and rated by consulting experts. The ratings of the initial drawings provided the initial measures of student performance which were used to test for homogeneity of variance. The entire portfolio of each student's drawings was rated by each of three consulting experts, and the average of the three ratings was used as a measure of the student's class performance.

The findings were that right-brain students performed better than left-brain students in an engineering graphics class, and integrated-brained females performed better than integrated-brained males.