Costruire strumenti per lo sviluppo dell’intelligenza visuo-spaziale in età prescolare: il modello software VIEP-app

Abstract

The health emergency caused by Covid-19 and the suspension of teaching activities in presence have required a total rethinking of the school system. Kindergarten has been most affected by the consequences of an exclusively remote system. The purpose of this paper is to present the theoretical-empirical premises of a playful-educational software model, the VIEP-app, a user-friendly application, aimed at increasing visual-spatial skills through a cognitive enhancement program that could be used in distance learning experiences. From a methodological point of view, this paper reports the experimental evidence relating to the connection between visual-spatial intelligence and the preschool period, using first and second level studies (systematic reviews or meta-analyzes). The review process made it possible to aggregate the different sources into three thematic areas: (i) the components of working memory; (ii) the exercise on executive functions in visual-spatial tests; (iii) the didactic effectiveness of the cognitive enhancement programs. The paper also concludes with some summary considerations on the possible research trends and their advancements are presented.