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Annamária-Enikő Salat and László Séra: Enhancing spatial visualization through the use of transformational geometry tasks

This study reports the results of a background study on an experimental geometry program aiming the development of visual-spatial abilities. Subjects were 12- and 13- year -old pupils in the 6th grade. The spatial group (n=20) participated in a 4 month 3 lessons/week program, while the control group (n=20) had traditional geometry lessons (Experiment 1). The program targeted concepts related to reflection (of a point, a line segment or a figure; in a point or a line), iteration (creating surfaces), construction, decomposition, rotation (cone, cylinder, spherical surfaces, full rotation), translation (shifting; paralellism, proportionality, etc.), sectioning (area, etc.). At the end of the transformational geometry (visualization) program, differences were found between the performance of the two groups on geometry tests and especially regarding the visual factor of the Surface Creation Test. The present paper also discusses issues concerning teaching for explicit executive strategies in solving geometry tasks (the steps of problem comprehension, locating useful information, planning, execution, monitoring; Experiment 2.)

MAGYAR PEDAGÓGIA 102. Number 4. 459-473. (2002)

Levelezési cím / Address for correspondence: Salat Annamária-Enikő, Babeš-Bolyai Tu¬do¬mány¬egyetem Pszichológia Kar, Kolozsvár. Séra László, ELTE Pszichológiai Intézete, Budapest.

 
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Magyar Tudományos Akadémia