The Effect of Geometry-Based Brain Teasers on the Geometric Thinking Levels and Spatial Visualization Skills of Middle School Students

Abstract

In this study, the effects of geometric-based brain teasers on the geometric thinking levels and spatial visualization skills of middle school students were examined. A single-group pre-test-post-test experimental design, which is a quantitative research method, was used in the study. The study sample comprised 20 middle school students attending a public school. Within the scope of the study, the experimental group played the familiar games, such as Tangram, Motif, Equilibrio, and Penta Block, as well as the Geoboard-GT and Geoboard-SV games designed by the researchers and applied to the geoboard for a total of six weeks. The Turkish adaptation of the Van Hiele Geometry Test (developed by Usiskin, 1982, and adapted by Duatepe, 2000) and the Spatial Visualization Test developed by Olkun (2003b) were used as data-collection instruments. In the data analysis, the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test, a nonparametric test, was used because the group’s pre-test and post-test scores did not follow a normal distribution. The findings revealed that students’ Van Hiele Geometry post-test scores increased significantly compared with their pre-test scores across specific levels, total scores, and assigned levels. A significant difference was found between the pre-test and post-test scores on the spatial visualization test, favoring the post-test. In addition, although a significant difference was observed in favor of post-test scores for the spatial and area measurement sub-dimensions of the spatial visualization test, no significant difference was observed for the numerical-spatial and mental rotation dimensions.