Visualization Process and Children’s Literature Books: the development of geometrical skills in Preschool

Abstract

The research aimed to assess the impact of the visualization process and the use of children’s stories in the geometric skills development of preschool children at a public institution in Bogotá, Colombia. It was a cross-sectional, quasi-experimental research with a mixed approach. A control and an experimental group were held, in which 25 children participated (aged between 5 and 6). The 50 children performed the activities proposed in an instrument (pre-test and post-test), which had a validation process with another group of students. The intervention process had eight sessions to develop aspects of geometric visualization and paths of seeing in geometry through the four classical entries of geometry under the perspective of Duval. The main result shows that children developed geometric skills in the different classical geometry entries (Botanist, Surveyor, Builder, and Inventor), especially in the first two. Similarly, the activities proposed from the content of children’s stories, in addition to being meaningful and motivating for children, developed valuable competencies in their geometric and spatial thinking through diverse processes. Likewise, the participation of the parents produced an active family-learning process around geometry, which increased motivation and engagement.

Finally, we encourage teachers of all levels of schooling to conduct research that promotes the development of geometric skills in a dynamic manner, significant, where students are builders of their knowledge, and the teacher facilitates and accompanies these processes. Ideally, this research will be supporting material in future research proposals focused on geometric knowledge creation.