Abstract

In geometry, a breach of the didactic contract currently occurs at the time of the primary-secondary transition with regard to spatial visualization. Although iconic visualization (which spontaneously associates a drawing with objects that have been seen and experienced in reality) is practiced in primary education, the acquisition of non-iconic visualization (in terms of a network of straight lines, points etc.) is left entirely up to the student at secondary school. This is without doubt the hardest essential threshold students need to be helped across in the teaching of geometry. The aim of this study was to develop non-iconic visualization in students at the end of primary education in order to facilitate their transition to the theoretical approach to geometry in secondary. The students in the experimental groups showed relative improvements in overall performance that were greater than those of the students in the control groups. The students in the experimental groups were also found to have started to develop visual acuity in the analysis of figures. The results of this study provide guidelines for teachers’ work.

Keywords: Mathematics; Geometry; Didactic; Visualization; Primary/secondary; Learning; Teaching.