Effects of imagery representations and question aids in comprehension of geometry texts by elementary school children, junior-highschool and college students

Abstract

In a series of causal modeling analyses, imagery rotation and several other measures of geometry skill were used as predictors of comprehension-monitoring activities of young students when they read word problems of axis-and point symmetry. In Experiment I, close causal relationship was obtained for younger students, as compared to the cases of older ones, between their abilities to rotate imagery representations and efficiency in monitoring their own problem solving activities. In Experiment 2, similar results were obtained for sixth, but not for fourth graders. The results were discussed in terms of growth of perceptual and metacognitive control in geometry tasks.