Casual relations among 12th grade students' geometry knowledge, spatial ability, gender and school type

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Thesis Type: Doctorate

Institution Of The Thesis: Middle East Technical University, Turkey

Approval Date: 2012

Thesis Language: English

Student: Ayşegül Eryılmaz Çevirgen

Supervisor: BEHİYE UBUZ

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to invetigate the causal relationships among 12th grade students’ geometry knowledge regarding prisms and pyramids, spatial ability, gender, and school type. Path analysis was used to test the relationships among knowledge factors (declarative, conditional, and procedural knowledge), spatial ability factors (spatial visualization, mental rotation, and spatial perception ability), gender (female and male), and school type (general high schools and Anatolian high schools). Knowledge factors and spatial ability factors were determined by carrying out confirmatory factor analysis for the Prisms and Pyramids Knowledge Test and Purdue Spatial Visualization Test separately. Results revealed the bilateral relations among students’ declarative, conditional and procedural knowledge; and the bilateral relations among spatial visualization, mental rotation, and spatial perception ability. When relations among spatial ability factors and knowledge factors were examined, the importance of the students’ spatial abilities on geometry performance was exposed explicitly. Spatial visualization and mental rotation ability have positive direct effects on all knowledge factors. Additionally, spatial perception ability have positive direct effect on declarative and procedural knowledge. On the other hand, school type has positive direct effects on students’ geometry knowledge factors and spatial ability factors. These effects exposed the superiority of students in Anatolian high schools in respect of students in general high schools. Moreover, direct effects of gender on mental rotation ability, spatial perception ability, and declarative knowledge were found. Although, results presented the male superiority in mental rotation and spatial perception abilities, direct effect of gender on declarative knowledge indicate the female advantage.