What the Hex(agon)?: Investigating Preschoolers’ Spatial Reasoning Within a Challenging Shape Puzzle

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Sunday 11:45 am
  In Poster Session: SIG-RME Poster Session: Explorations of the Mathematics Teaching and Learning Experience

Abstract

Puzzles are common in preschool classrooms and in many homes, but research on the development of children’s intuitive puzzle-solving strategies is limited. This poster proposal reports early results from the use of a novel measure of spatial reasoning using a challenging shape puzzle task with preschool children. We focus on children’s attempts to place a specific piece into the puzzle, both successful and unsuccessful. Qualitative analysis of 68 assessment videos show that preschoolers' attempts to place shapes in their correct positions are not random. Rather, many children’s attempts demonstrate attention to features of shapes, such as regularity, not previously documented in the literature.

Authors

• Emily Perkins, San Diego State University

• Nicholas C. Johnson, San Diego State University

• Carlos Alejandro de Alba, San Diego State University