An Implementation for the Use of Mathematical Games in the Development of Secondary School Students' Spatial Abilities

Abstract

An education in which students are not active may result in individuals who lack creativity and cannot overcome their own problems. Mathematics teaching can be productive in environments based on group work, without memorisation and where students can be active. Our age needs individuals who have 21st century abilities and this need will increase. For this reason, it has become important to develop some abilities such as research, questioning, reasoning, critical thinking, generating alternative solutions to problems and spatial thinking in curricula. Mathematics practices are of great importance in the attainment of these abilities. Understanding geometric shapes and their properties plays an important role in the development of spatial thinking in students. The purpose of this research is to improve the spatial abilities of secondary school students through mathematical games. The research includes the implementation processes of the "I Live 3D with Games" project accepted within the scope of TUBITAK 2209/A University Students Domestic Research Projects Support Programme. Sixth grade students who are registered in an public secondary school in the province of Istanbul participated in the study. A quasi-experimental design was adopted with a total of 80 students in the control (n=40) and experimental groups (n=40). The use of mathematical games was conducted only with the experimental group. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the spatial abilities of both control and experimental group students. However, the increase in the post-test scores of the experimental group was more effective compared to the control group.