A study of the effect of trainings on spatial visualization and on the cognitive development of college students on their problem-solving ability in mathematics

• Main Author: Lezarda, Lorna P.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1988
• Subjects: Space perception; Problem solving; Mathematics
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_doctoral/1266
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study investigates the effects of training on spatial visualization and on the cognitive development, and their interaction, on the problem-solving ability of college students in mathematics, controlling for mental ability. It also develops activities used in training students on spatial visualization. The subjects were four groups of freshmen agriculture students enrolled in College Algebra. One group was trained on spatial visualization, the second group on the cognitive development, the third group on both spatial visualization and the cognitive development, while the fourth group did not receive any formal training. A spatial visualization test, a cognitive development test, a problem-solving test in algebra and a problem-solving test in geometry were given as pretests and posttests. Analyses of covariance, correlation, and t-test for significant differences were applied. The results also showed that the training on spatial visualization significantly improved the mathematical problem-solving ability of students, particularly in algebra, as well as their spatial visualization ability. On the other, the training on the cognitive development similarly improved significantly the algebraic problem-solving ability, as well as the cognitive ability, of the subjects. However, it was found that there was no significant interaction between the training on spatial visualization and the training on the cognitive development in the prediction of students' achievement in mathematics.