Differences Between Dyslexic and Non-Dyslexic Students in the Performance of Spatial and Geographical Thinking

Abstract

Dyslexia is a specific form of learning disability which comes along with diverse difficulties, both in learning, social and emotional fields. It obstructs the development of the individual at all levels of education. This research investigates students' spatial and geographical thinking and whether there is a differentiation of these abilities between dyslexic and non-dyslexic ones. For this purpose, 50 questionnaires were distributed to 25 dyslexic and 25 non-dyslexic students aged 14 using opportunity sampling from different areas (rural, urban). The questionnaire included spatial thinking exercises like mental rotation, plan views, shapes folding -unfolding and mental manipulation of shapes and exercises by which geographical thinking is examined, according to the Greek geography curriculum. The results indicated that the non-dyslexic students had better performance than the dyslexic ones in all cases, except one, this of 2D 3D exercise. The most significant difference was in the section of plan views, mental rotation and folding -unfolding, whereas in the shapes mental manipulation, both children's groups faced difficulties. Although the research sample was limited, the results supported our hypothesis that non-dyslexic students would perform better on spatial and geographical thinking assessments.

Effectiveness of game-based educational material for developing spatial thinking of dyslexic students: A case study in Lower Secondary School

“…In this way, we could choose teaching approaches that would develop this different learning ability of dyslexic students (Passadelli & Klonari, 2018). Therefore, teachers need to be supportive and adapt their teaching based on the skills and deficits of their students (Klonari & Passadelli, 2019b). Consequently, it is necessary to apply alternative teaching strategies that could be based on new technologies to provide effective teaching and learning for all students (Abdurrahman et al, 2019).…”

“…Since spatial science is directly connected with Geography, the Geography teachers should teach spatial science with an interactive way in order students to develop it. Klonari & Passadelli, (2019b) stated that although all students face difficulties in spatial thinking, the issue for dyslexic students is more acute. Dyslexia is a learning disability that affects various areas of academic performance .…”

Spatial and Geospatial Thinking of Secondary Education Students in Greece

“…Thus, it is an area that needs further investigation. Now, in Greece although the Secondary Education Curriculum includes the development of spatial skills, in pilot research in 2019 we found that most students face problems with spatial thinking and, especially, students with dyslexia (Klonari and Passadelli, 2019). So, this research aimed to investigate spatial abilities of a larger sample of students to draw more accurate conclusions that will help a wider educational community to better handle students' spatial weaknesses.…”

Geography Teachers’ Knowledge of and Perceptions on Dyslexia

“…Many researchers report that dyslexia is created by four causes: perceptual deficits [17][18][19][20][21], memory deficits [22,23], language processing deficits [7], and visual processing deficits [24][25][26]. Dyslexia does not only affect reading and writing but it has also been proved to cause topographic disorders and orientation problems [27][28][29][30].…”