The Development of Spatial Representation Through Teaching Block-Building in Kindergartners

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Liman Cai¹  Jiutong Luo²  Hui Zhang⁴  Jinling Ying¹ 

[1] School of Education, South China Normal University;Advanced Innovation Center for Future Education, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University;Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong;Teacher’s College, Shihezi University

关键词: children;    block-building;    spatial representation;    linguistic representation;    graphic representation;    model representation;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.565723

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

This study investigated the effects of the teaching block-building intervention on overall spatial representation and its three sub-forms, namely linguistic, graphic and model representations, in kindergartners. Eighty-four children (39 girls and 45 boys), aged 5–6 years old, were randomly selected and equally divided into two groups, i.e., experimental group and control group. The experimental group received the intervention of teaching block-building for 14 weeks (45 min each time, once a week), while children in the control group freely played with blocks for the equivalent time. Children’s spatial representation performances were measured in both pre- and post-tests by the Experimental Tasks of Spatial Representation for Children . The results showed that: (1) teaching block-building could promote not only the overall spatial representation but also all three sub-forms of spatial representations; (2) there was no gender differences regarding the effect of teaching block-building on neither the overall nor three sub-forms of spatial representations; (3) after the intervention, the diversity of children’s choices regarding the use of sub-forms spatial representations was also promoted in the experimental group. In summary, these results contributed to a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the effects of teaching block-building on spatial representation among children in kindergartens.

【 授权许可】

CC BY