Visuospatial Abilities Training with Digital Games in a Primary School

Freina, Laura; Bottino, Rosa Maria; Ferlino, Lucia

doi:10.17083/ijsg.v5i3.240

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(29 reference statements)

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“…, other studies show statistically significant improvements with the use of STEM games in schools (e.g. Freina et al, 2018).…”

Section: Stem Learning With Gamificationmentioning

confidence: 91%

Research on Outdoor STEM Education in the digital Age. Proceedings of the ROSETA Online Conference in June 2020

Aaron¹,

Branchetti²,

Roberto³

2020

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Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Kein Teil des Werkes darf ohne schriftliche Einwilligung des Verlags in irgendeiner Form reproduziert oder unter Verwendung elektronischer Systeme verarbeitet, vervielfältigt oder verbreitet werden. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, electronic, mechanical, recording, photocopying, or otherwise, without the permission of the copyright holder.

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“…, other studies show statistically significant improvements with the use of STEM games in schools (e.g. Freina et al, 2018).…”

Section: Stem Learning With Gamificationmentioning

confidence: 91%

Research on Outdoor STEM Education in the digital Age. Proceedings of the ROSETA Online Conference in June 2020

Aaron¹,

Branchetti²,

Roberto³

2020

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“…For example, origami/paper folding, the number board game, counters, Cuisenaire rods, Unifix cubes, paper money, pattern blocks, base-10 blocks etc., are often used in the math classroom. A recent study by Freina et al (2018) found that digital games supported the development and consolidation of visuospatial abilities in students of the last 2 years of the primary school, and such a training would have a positive impact on their mathematics performance. Similar results were obtained by Otten et al (2020) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving middle school students’ geometry problem solving ability through hands-on experience: An fNIRS study

Shi

Dong²,

Zhao³

et al. 2023

Front. Psychol.

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Hands-on learning is proposed as a prerequisite for mathematics learning in kindergarten and primary school. However, it remains unclear that whether hands-on experience aids understanding of geometry knowledge for middle school students. We also know little about the neural basis underlying the value of hands-on experience in math education. In this study, 40 right-handed Chinese students (20 boys and 20 girls) with different academic levels were selected from 126 seventh-grade students in the same school, who learnt “Axisymmetric of an Isosceles Triangle” in different learning style (hands-on operation vs. video observation). Half of them operated the concrete manipulatives while the other half watched the instructional videos. The learning-test paradigm and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technique were used to compare the differences in geometry reasoning involved in solving well-structured problems and ill-structured problems. Behavioral results showed that hands-on experience promoted students’ performances of geometry problem-solving. Students with lower academic level were more dependent on hands-on experience than those with higher academic level. The fNIRS results showed that meaningful hands-on experience with concrete manipulatives related to learning contents increased reactivation of the somatosensory association cortex during subsequent reasoning, which helped to improve the problem-solving performance. Hands-on experience also reduced students’ cognitive load during the well-structured problem-solving process. These findings contribute to better understand the value of hands-on experience in geometry learning and the implications for future mathematics classroom practices.

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“…Initially, some studies were focused on the development of logical reasoning [22,23]. Later, a project was organized aiming to foster primary school students' visuospatial abilities and assessing the impact of such a training on their performance in mathematics [24]. During the development of these projects, even though students enjoyed playing with most of the selected games, they showed a deeper commitment when they could be more creative and active.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the development of these projects, even though students enjoyed playing with most of the selected games, they showed a deeper commitment when they could be more creative and active. For example, creating virtual houses in Minecraft (a sandbox digital game where players can build objects with a variety of different blocks in a 3D virtual world) was particularly appreciated by nearly all the students [24]. Starting from this observation, and from results of previous research projects on collaborative programming with tangibles in primary schools [25], a new project was started.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fostering Computational Thinking skills in the Last Years of Primary School

Freina

Bottino²,

Ferlino³

2019

IJSG

Self Cite

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The introduction of Computational Thinking (CT) in Italian compulsory schools is on the way, and there is a general need for new methodologies to support teachers’ work. A one-year long learning path supporting the development of CT skills in primary school students through game making activities was defined and tested in a case study with one grade 5 class. All students in the class were actively involved regardless of their personal interest, their participation was generally high, their skills increased along the project, and the main objectives were reached. Nevertheless, results suggest that a longer time span is needed for students to master deeply the new concepts and tools, class organization proved to be crucial and this confirms the need for an adequate teachers’ training before introducing CT in classroom activities. Students demonstrated to be on the right path to approach CT through game making, but they still need to be guided in taking the player’s perspective and making their games easy to be understood and played. At the end of the case study, the learning path was revised and is now in use in a three-year long project in a primary school.

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Visuospatial Abilities Training with Digital Games in a Primary School

Cited by 9 publications

References 16 publications

Research on Outdoor STEM Education in the digital Age. Proceedings of the ROSETA Online Conference in June 2020

Research on Outdoor STEM Education in the digital Age. Proceedings of the ROSETA Online Conference in June 2020

Improving middle school students’ geometry problem solving ability through hands-on experience: An fNIRS study

Fostering Computational Thinking skills in the Last Years of Primary School

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