Associations and Indirect Effects Between LEGO® Construction and Mathematics Performance

McDougal, Emily; Silverstein, Priya; Treleaven, Oscar; Jerrom, Lewis; Gilligan-Lee, Katie Anne; Gilmore, Camilla; Farran, Emily K.

doi:10.31234/osf.io/5hvpx

Cited by 7 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…Another way to achieve improved quality could be through building construction models from instructions. Children's accuracy at building Lego models from instructions relates to mathematics and recruits spatial skills (McDougal et al., 2023a). Building to instruction may therefore recruit spatial skills more effectively than free play, for example, visuospatial working memory is needed to hold in mind spatial information when following instructions but may not be recruited as frequently during free play.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only measures relevant to the current paper are presented here, but for details of the original projects see McDougal et al. (2023a, 2023b).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Weekday and weekend ratings were combined to create a frequency score out of eight for each activity type (concrete or digital). The validity of this measure was estimated by examining its association with participants' accuracy on a Lego construction task (concrete and digital versions, McDougal et al., 2023a, 2023b). Concrete Lego construction task accuracy was positively correlated with concrete construction play frequency ( r (437) = .134, p = .005) and digital Lego construction task accuracy was positively correlated with digital construction play frequency ( r (185) = .235, p = .001).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For full administration procedures see McDougal et al. (2023a). Performance was measured as raw score out of 30.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Construction play is a common childhood activity involving the manipulation of objects such as bricks, blocks or puzzle pieces, assembled to construct a model, structure or image. Performance on block construction tasks is positively associated with spatial ability and mathematics performance (McDougal et al., 2023a); therefore, it is possible that increased experience with construction play activities could be a mechanism for better spatial ability and mathematics achievement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Construction play frequency and relations with spatial ability and mathematics performance

McDougal,

Gilligan‐Lee,

Gilmore

et al. 2023

British J of Dev Psycho

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The nature of the home mathematics environment (which includes numerical and spatial activities at home) is related to children's spatial and mathematics performance. The current study investigated concrete and digital construction play frequency and relations with spatial and mathematical skills. Participants aged 7–9 years (N = 634) reported their frequency of construction play (concrete and digital) and completed direct measures of spatial ability and mathematics performance. Correlations between measures revealed no association between construction play frequency and outcome measures. This suggests that quantity of construction play is not pertinent for spatial and mathematics skills, however future research should explore whether quality of play is an important factor.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only measures relevant to the current paper are presented here, but for details of the original projects see McDougal et al. (2023a, 2023b).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For full administration procedures see McDougal et al. (2023a). Performance was measured as raw score out of 30.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Construction play frequency and relations with spatial ability and mathematics performance

McDougal,

Gilligan‐Lee,

Gilmore

et al. 2023

British J of Dev Psycho

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Practitioners' perspectives on spatial reasoning in educational practice from birth to 7 years

Bates

Williams

Gilligan-Lee

et al. 2023

Brit J of Edu Psychol

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Background: There is a growing evidence base for the importance of spatial reasoning for the development of mathematics. However, the extent to which this translates into practice is unknown. Aims: We aimed to understand practitioners' perspectives on their understanding of spatial reasoning, the extent to which they recognize and implement spatial activities in their practice, and the barriers and opportunities to support spatial reasoning in the practice setting. Sample: Study 1 (questionnaire) included 94 participants and Study 2 (focus groups) consisted of nine participants. Participants were educational practitioners working with children from birth to 7 years. Methods: The study was mixed methods and included a questionnaire (Study 1) and a series of focus groups (Study 2). Results: We found that whilst practitioners engage in a variety of activities that support spatial reasoning, most practitioners reported little confidence in their understanding of what spatial reasoning is. Conclusion: Informative and accessible resources are needed to broaden understanding of the definition of spatial reasoning and to outline opportunities to support spatial reasoning.

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Assessing the impact of LEGO® construction training on spatial and mathematical skills

McDougal

Silverstein

Treleaven

et al. 2023

Developmental Science

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Lego construction ability is associated with a variety of spatial skills and mathematical outcomes. However, it is unknown whether these relations are causal. We aimed to establish the causal impact of Lego construction training on: Lego construction ability; a broad range of spatial skills; and on mathematical outcomes in 7–9‐year‐olds. We also aimed to identify how this causal impact differs for digital versus physical Lego construction training. One‐hundred and ninety‐eight children took part in a six‐week training programme, delivered twice weekly as a school lunch time club. They completed either physical Lego training (N = 59), digital Lego training (N = 64), or an active control condition (crafts; N = 75). All children completed baseline and follow‐up measures of spatial skills (disembedding, visuo‐spatial working memory, spatial scaling, mental rotation, and performance on a spatial‐numerical task, the number line task), mathematical outcomes (geometry, arithmetic, and overall mathematical skills) and Lego construction ability. Exploratory analyses revealed evidence for near transfer (Lego construction ability) and some evidence for far transfer (arithmetic) of Lego training, but overall transfer was limited. Despite this, we identified key areas for further development (explicit focus on spatial strategies, training for teachers, and embedding the programme within a mathematical context). The findings of this study can be used to inform future development of Lego construction training programmes to support mathematics learning.

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Associations and Indirect Effects Between LEGO® Construction and Mathematics Performance

Cited by 7 publications

References 49 publications

Construction play frequency and relations with spatial ability and mathematics performance

Construction play frequency and relations with spatial ability and mathematics performance

Practitioners' perspectives on spatial reasoning in educational practice from birth to 7 years

Assessing the impact of LEGO® construction training on spatial and mathematical skills

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