CONTEXT

Spatial abilities are considered as cognitive functions that enable humans for spatial manipulation of objects, spatial orientation and to solve visuospatial tasks (Sjölinder, 1998). According to another interpretation, the perception of the two and three dimensional shapes, the detected information, objects and the understanding of relations, as well as the use of solving the problems is what we mean by spatial ability (Sera – Karpati – Gulyas, 2002). While according to a third interpretation, spatial ability is manifested by two and three dimensional shapes of mental representations of creating, transforming and analysing the properties (Carpenter – Shah, 1998).

A number of studies deal with the storage of visuospatial and verbal information, processing of system-wide connections and the characteristics of the system and their different approaches (Paivio, 1977; Kosslyn, 1975).

It can be said that the most important components of the spatial abilities are the spatial orientation and the visuospatial operations, which latter was put in the centre of our research.

PURPOSE

The operational aspect of visuospatial cognition can be interpreted as visuospatial thinking (Piaget – Inhelder, 1971). That said, if you want to explore the development of students' thinking condition, it can be done through graphical tasks which trigger the thinking operations.

Accordingly, the aim of the research was to determine development of the thinking skills of secondary vocational school students.

APPROACH

The most basic operations of visual thinking – similar to the conceptual thinking – is analysis and synthesis (representative intelligence). The presence of the object is not required for the operations, carried out by mental imagery (with images), it can be performed based on a real image of the object (projection, axonometric diagram), but also without it.

Cubes, truncated as stimulus and axonometric projection images were used in their development tasks. In addition to triggering the elementary mental operations, tasks that require complex operations (mental rotation, spatial image) were used as well. The phases of mental rotation is representation, the rotation, the comparison, the decision about identity or difference (Shepard – Judd, 1976), while according to another approach, attention is visual scanning, visual memory and perceptual decision. The spatial image is created by integrating multiple points of view, based on experience and observation of the change of perspective, objects and spatial relations can be recalled, imagined and operations can be performed with them by axonometric manner.

The complex spatial image involves visual space, spatial image, the mental placement of objects and the operations executed there. The spatial image is affected by reconstructive (on the basis of projection reconstruction) and constructive (spatial correlations understanding of the concept of spatial transformation) detection.

Considering the above, the following types of tasks were used in our research for investigating the mental operations:

I. Operations which require primary mental tasks

1. Mental analysis: Disassembling formations built from axonometric cubes

2. Mental synthesis: Creating a complex object made from axonometric truncated columns

II. Operations which require complex mental tasks

1. Mental rotation: a) With two-dimensional shapes; b) With axonometric shapes

2. Mental mirroring: With axonometric shapes

3. Spatial image: a) The merge of three projections with different point of views, based on isometric image; b) Connection of two projections to a given point of view with merging; c) Combining six-course perspective projection, putting and moving, rotating and connecting to isometric shapes.

Our approaching longitudinal studies were carried out between 2008 and 2011, the first year on paper, then in the next three years in online form.

The study was conducted in collaboration with Mérei Ferenc Institute of Education and Career Guidance and the support of the Municipality of Budapest Mayor's Office of Education, Child and Youth Protection Department in Hungary.

The students of 41 secondary vocational schools in Budapest took part in the examination. About 4,000 students participated in the examination considered representative as for the geographical position of the school and the gender and specialization of the students.

OUTCOMES

When students are compared, the differences are virtually revealed. Effective learning can only occur if the teacher chooses teaching methods, forms and tools of work (teaching strategies), and the different characteristics of the students are taken into account as well.

The preference of visual or conceptual thinking is an individual cognitive characteristic. However, it is important to emphasize the fact that it is not enough just to narrow the factors influencing the effectiveness of cognitive learning side, the development of thought, perception and memory development is also greatly influenced by it.

Our research is focused on the mental development of spatial operations.

The students received immediate evaluation and interpretation of the results upon completion, which greatly contributed to the development of their self-esteem, self-image shaping.

Another agent of the feedback was the head teacher and teachers who taught the class who could get both educational and useful information more efficiently based on the results of the class. Therefore an online platform could be formed where teachers could watch the results of their classes, as well as its assessments and interpretations immediately after the measurement. This contributes greatly the choice of appropriate teaching strategies.

CONCLUSIONS

Components of the mental operations of the studies show different levels of progress, but progress. The axonometric image greatly simplifies alignment of individual projections. The synthesis operations proved to be less developed due to greater use of axonometric shapes of complex relations and visual memory.

The level of development of basic mental operations is very different. The average results of the analysis are the double of their syntheses. The factors of mental operations of the latter were the least developed. It was also contributed in the lower performance, that throughout the mental adaption, more and more complicated components were simultaneously stored in the visual memory. The spatial relations of the tasks also differed, the non visible should have been inferred in the analysis of the relations of the building blocks.

Similar differences were showing in the two tasks of spatial notion. As expected the given axonometric image made the spatial connection of the projections much more easier. The best average result was by this task but with the highest standard deviations.

Only a slight difference was diagnosed in relation with the rotation and mirroring of axonometric shapes and the ability of mapping and manipulating the spatial elements.