ERIC Number: EJ1129023
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Feb
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: N/A
Effects of a Classroom Intervention with Spatial Play Materials on Children's Object and Viewer Transformation Abilities
Vander Heyden, Karin M.; Huizinga, Mariette; Jolles, Jelle
Developmental Psychology, v53 n2 p290-305 Feb 2017
Children practice their spatial skills when playing with spatial toys, such as construction materials, board games, and puzzles. Sex and SES differences are observed in the engagement in such spatial play activities at home, which relate to individual differences in spatial performance. The current study investigated the effects of explicitly providing spatial play activities in the school setting on different types of spatial ability. We presented 8- to 10-year-old children with a short and easy-to-adopt classroom intervention comprising a set of different spatial play materials. The design involved a pretest-posttest comparison between the intervention group (n = 70) and a control group without intervention (n = 70). Effects were examined on object transformation ability (i.e., a paper-and-pencil mental rotation and paper folding task) and viewer transformation ability (i.e., a hands-on 3D spatial perspective-taking task). Results showed specific effects: there were no differences between the intervention and control group in progress on the two object transformation tasks. Substantial improvements were found for the intervention group compared to the control group on the viewer transformation task. Training progress was not related to sex and socioeconomic background of the child. These findings support the value of spatial play in the classroom for the spatial development of children between 8 and 10 years of age.
Descriptors: Intervention, Play, Games, Puzzles, Foreign Countries, Elementary School Students, Grade 3, Grade 4, Experimental Groups, Control Groups, Spatial Ability, Pretests Posttests, Mathematics Education, Perspective Taking, Short Term Memory, Elementary School Mathematics, Visualization, Toys, Gender Differences, Socioeconomic Status, Statistical Analysis, Correlation, Comparative Analysis, Intelligence Tests, Questionnaires, Multivariate Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Tests/Questionnaires; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 3; Primary Education; Early Childhood Education; Grade 4; Intermediate Grades
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Netherlands
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Vandenberg Mental Rotations Test; Raven Progressive Matrices
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A