Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2023
Journal Title
Frontiers in Education
Volume Number
8
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1189674
Version
Publisher PDF: the final published version of the article, with professional formatting and typesetting
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a CC BY License.
Keywords
mathematics vocabulary, spatial vocabulary, mathematics achievement, elementary school, spatial abilities
Abstract
This study describes the development and initial validation of a mathematics-specific spatial vocabulary measure for upper elementary school students. Reviews of spatial vocabulary items, mathematics textbooks, and Mathematics Common Core State Standards identified 720 mathematical terms, 148 of which had spatial content (e.g., edge). In total, 29 of these items were appropriate for elementary students, and a pilot study (59 fourth graders) indicated that nine of them were too difficult (< 50% correct) or too easy (> 95% correct). The remaining 20 items were retained as a spatial vocabulary measure and administered to 181 (75 girls, mean age = 119.73 months, SD =4.01) fourth graders, along with measures of geometry, arithmetic, spatial abilities, verbal memory span, and mathematics attitudes and anxiety. A Rasch model indicated that all 20 items assessed an underlying spatial vocabulary latent construct. The convergent and discriminant validity of the vocabulary measure was supported by stronger correlations with theoretically related (i.e., geometry) than with more distantly related (i.e., arithmetic) mathematics content and stronger relations with spatial abilities than with verbal memory span or mathematics attitudes and anxiety. Simultaneous regression analyses and structural equation models, including all measures, confirmed this pattern, whereby spatial vocabulary was predicted by geometry knowledge and spatial abilities but not by verbal memory span, mathematics attitudes and anxiety. Thus, the measure developed in this study helps in assessing upper elementary students' mathematics-specific spatial vocabulary.
Original Publication Citation
Ünal ZE, Ridgley LM, Li Y, Graves C, Khatib L, Robertson T, Myers P and Geary DC (2023) Development and initial validation of a mathematics-specific spatial vocabulary scale. Front. Educ. 8:1189674. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2023.118967
Digital USD Citation
Ünal, Zehra E.; Ridgley, Lisa M.; Li, Yaoran; Graves, Cassandra; Khatib, Lora; Robertson, Taryn; Myers, Perla; and Geary, David C., "Development and Initial Validation of a Mathematics-Specific Spatial Vocabulary Scale" (2023). School of Leadership and Education Sciences: Faculty Scholarship. 68.
https://digital.sandiego.edu/soles-faculty/68